That’s Amore (1953) – Dean Martin

The following article is interspersed with extracts from the Wikipedia reference below:

I first heard this unforgettable classic song about love in the 1987 movie Moonstruck which I reviewed back in 2021. The soundtrack is a great montage of Italian music including Giacomo Puccini’s Musetta’s Waltz and O Soave Fanciulla from his opera La Boheme. That’s Amore (En. That’s Love) had to be a staple of every Italian household in Brooklyn. That’s Amore also appears in the Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film Rear Window. It is delivered by one of the greatest singers of the swing era Dean Martin. Dean has that smooth, pure Italian voice and it became his signature song. Music critic Joe Queenan said That’s Amore was one of many songs in the 1950’s credited for helping restore Italy’s image as a magical land of romance that had been ruined after the reign of fascist Mussolini.

That’s Amore first appeared in the soundtrack of the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy film The Caddy, released in 1953. Lewis commissioned composer Harry Warren and lyricist Jack Brooks to write songs for Martin to sing in the movie. According to Lewis, he personally paid them $30,000 secretly in the hope that one would be a hit for Martin. In the film here the song is performed mainly by Martin, with Lewis joining in and then the other characters in the scene follow. It received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song of that year, but it lost to Secret Love from Calamity Jane starring Doris Day.

On November 7, 1953, Martin’s record of the song, with You’re the Right One (which was recorded at the same session as “That’s Amore“) on the flip side, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard charts. That’s Amore was used as the title for a 2001 video retrospective of Martin’s career; and his son, Ricci Martin, titled his 2002 biography That’s Amore: A Son Remembers Dean Martin.

[Intro: Choir]
(In Napoli where love is king)
(When boy meets girl)
(Here’s what they say)

[Chorus: Dean Martin]
When the moon hits your eye
Like a big pizza pie, that’s amore
When the world seems to shine
Like you’ve had too much wine, that’s amore

[Bridge: Dean Martin]
Bells will ring, ting-a-ling-a-ling
Ting-a-ling-a-ling and you’ll sing, “Vita bella”
Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay
Tippy-tippy-tay like a gay tarantella

[Verse: Dean Martin]
When the stars make you drool
Just like a pasta e fasule, that’s amore
When you dance down the street
With a cloud at your feet, you’re in love

When you walk in a dream
But you know, you’re not dreaming, signore
Scusami, but you see
Back in old Napoli, that’s amore

[Chorus: (Choir) & Dean Martin]

[Bridge: (Choir) & Dean Martin]
(Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling)
(Ting-a-ling-a-ling and you’ll sing, “Vita bella, vita bella, vita bella”)
(Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay)
(Tippy-tippy-tay like a gay tarantella) Lucky fella

[Verse: Dean Martin & Choir]
When the stars make you drool
Just like a pasta e fasule, that’s amore (That’s amore)
When you dance down the street
With a cloud at your feet, you’re in love

When you walk in a dream
But you know, you’re not dreaming, signore
Scusami, but you see
Back in old Napoli, that’s amore

[Outro: Dean Martin]
(Amore) That’s amore

References:
1. That’s Amore – Wikipedia