Moving on again, this time from the Austrian capital Vienna to the Italian capital Rome. Rome’s history spans 28 centuries. While Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it a major human settlement for almost three millennia and one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Europe.
“Arrivederci Roma” is the title and refrain of a popular Italian song, composed in 1955 by Renato Rascel, with lyrics by Pietro Garinei and Sandro Giovannini. It was published in 1957 as part of the soundtrack of the Italo-American musical film with the same title, released as Seven Hills of Rome in English. In the movie, the song is sung by the leading character, played by the American singer and actor Mario Lanza. Carl Sigman wrote the lyrics for the English-language version of the movie.
“Spanish Steps of Rome” is a song Toto from their 1999 album ‘Mindfields’. Spanish Steps of Rome” shows yet another facet of Paich’s vocals: a haunting subtlety that dances under Steve Lukather’s acoustic guitar flourishes and Simon Phillips’ gentle groove. There’s a seamlessness to his vocals that makes them just slide into place on this track. No other Toto vocalist would have fit for “Spanish Steps of Rome,” an understated gem that marks the close of Mindfields.
“Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day” is a song by English musical group Morcheeba. It was released in Europe in July 2000 as the lead single from their third studio album, Fragments of Freedom (2000), and was given a UK release later that month. The song is the group’s biggest hit in their native United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 34. In New Zealand, the song reached number two and was the 13th-most-successful single of 2000. Elsewhere, the single reached the top 40 in Australia, Italy, and Switzerland. “Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day” is reported to have reached the top 10 in 10 countries.
“The Fall of Rome” is a track from ‘All Fall Down’ the eighth studio album by recording artist Shawn Colvin, released in 2012. The album is Colvin’s second studio release on Nonesuch Records and features collaborations with Emmylou Harris and Patty Griffin. Shawn Colvin describes the ending of an era. It’s not entirely clear if she means to describe the actual fall of the empire, but it seems to be metaphorical; she also makes references to other catastrophic endings, including the sinking of the Titanic and the destruction of Pompeii.
“The King of Rome” was a successful racing pigeon, winning a 1,001-mile race from Rome, Italy, to England, in 1913. Dave Sudbury wrote a song in the 1980s about the King of Rome and its owner, Charlie Hudson. It tells how: ‘On the day of the big race a storm blew in A thousand birds were swept away and never seen again’ indicating the dangers related to the pigeons’ races. The song was most notably recorded by June Tabor in 1988. She had heard Sudbury perform the song at the Northern Arts Council’s ‘Songsearch’ contest in the late 1980s, where she was a judge. Hudson came in fourth. Brian McNeill, another finalist at the event, has said: “‘The King of Rome’ was head and shoulders above every other song sung on the night, and should have won.”
