You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Italian. (January 2019) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 3,067 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at [[:it:Balla Linda]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|it|Balla Linda}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

"Balla Linda" is a song by Italian musician Lucio Battisti released on 20 April 1968 ^[1] With this song Battisti participated in the Cantagiro 1968 where he obtained a good success.

Writing

Music and lyrics to the song were written by Italian songwriter Mogol and Battisti. The track is a pop song with lyrics and atmosphere recalling the lightheartedness of Summer. The text speaks of a girl named Linda. She is neither beautiful, intelligent nor bewitching, but her carelessness, sincerity and fidelity manage to make the protagonist forget his former companion, who had taken advantage of him and then left him. ^[2]

The text is structured on a climax: the words of the first strophes of the song are melancholic ^[3] and list some negatives sides of Linda, contrasted with the positive sides of the previous companion. In the following verses, the defects of the latter surface.

Finally in the refrain, the protagonist, who is obviously happy with her choice, dedicates the whole scene to Linda and invites her to dance with enthusiasm.

Reaction

According to music critic Renzo Stefanel, Linda «is so pure that her dance seems almost [...] the metaphor of the lightness of life coined by Nietzsche». ^{[4] [5]}

Track listing

• "Prigioniero del mondo/Balla Linda" – 45 rpm single (Dischi Ricordi (SRL 10495)) – 1968

1. "Prigioniero del mondo" (Battisti, Carlo Donida) – 3:28
2. "Balla Linda" (Lucio Battisti, Mogol) – 3:08

The Grass Roots' cover

In the autumn of 1968, a few months after Battisti's release, the song was noted by American producer Steve Barri, who decided to make a version in English and have it performed by the Californian group The Grass Roots. The English version took the title of "Bella Linda"; new lyrics were written by Barri together with Barry Gross, while the orchestral arrangement was done by Jimmie Haskell. ^[6] "Bella Linda" was released in the United States in November 1968 as the A side of the single Bella Linda / Hot Bright Lights (Some pressings are misprinted as "Della Linda"). It was included on the album Golden Grass, as well as many subsequent compilations. In January 1969, the single was released in Great Britain, Canada and Australia. It made #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.

References