Speaking of Tunisia, Dany Brillant is a popular Tunisian-French vocalist. Here he performs Tu Vuo' Fa L'americano, a swinging Italian number by Renato Carosone you may have heard in "The Talented Mr. Ripley." The song has been covered by everyone from Brian Setzer to Sophia Loren, which gives us an excuse to post a picture of Sophia Loren.
"Tu vuò fà l'americano" means, literally, "You pretend to be American", or more idiomatically, "You're an American wannabe." The song is a humorous putdown of an Italian who acts American--drinks whiskey and soda, dances to rock and roll, plays baseball and smokes Camels--yet still relies on his parents for support.
According to Carosone, who wrote the song in collaboration with Nick Salerno in 1956, the lyrics "were deeply based on the American Dream, interpreting jazz and its derivatives as a symbol of an America, lively land of progress and well-being, but always Neapolitan-style, folding that symbol in a sly parody of its customs."
Sophia Loren sang it, too: as if we needed an excuse
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