“Soldi” the song that will represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest, tells of how money changes relationships in a family according to Mahmood.
Mahmood who will represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 has spoken of the message of his song “Soldi”. The song is a “personal outburst” built on the relationship that the singer had with his father.
The singer was born in Milan to a mother from Sardinia and a father from Egypt, however his father was absent from his life after the age of 6. Mahmood explained that his father has married four more times and left children around the world.
The song incorporates memories of his childhood and the way money has changed the relationship with his father. The Arabic lyrics in “Soldi” are drawn from a phrase that Mahmood remembers being told as a child. The words “Waladi waladi habibi ta’aleena” translate as “my son, my son, love, come here”. The words take Mahmood back to a specific point in time;
I do not speak Arabic, but there are sentences that I remember, which are part of my childhood…It was a perfect memory. Singing those sentences reminds me of a specific scene, at a certain moment in my life
Mahmood explains that;
My song is a personal outburst, to make people understand that, after having been children, one becomes something more: a critical sense is born towards parents, life, the way of seeing things. Money tells a story
The song doesn’t talk specifically about what money can do materially, but the impact it has on a family. The way that it can change relationships and the way we interact with people.
Source: Eurofestival News
Italy debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and has participated a total of 42 times to date. Italy returned to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 having last participated in the contest in 1997, the country has withdrawn from the contest on a number of occasions in the past. Italy has won the contest twice, the first time being in 1964 and the latest being in 1990. Italy’s hosting of the contest in 1991 has been remembered as one of the most chaotic contests to date. Since their return in 2011 Italy has finished in the top 10 on six occasions.