"Eh, Cumpari!" is a novelty song

Novelty song

A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...

. It was adapted from a traditional Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 song by Julius La Rosa

Julius La Rosa

Julius La Rosa is an American traditional popular music singer who has worked in both radio and television since the 1950s.-Early years and big break:...

 and Archie Bleyer

Archie Bleyer

Archie Bleyer was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive.-Early life:He was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. He began playing the piano when he was only seven years old...

 in 1953

1953 in music

-Events:*February 6 – Contralto Kathleen Ferrier, already terminally ill with cancer, leaves Covent Garden Opera House on a stretcher after being taken ill on the second night of her run in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice....

, and sung by La Rosa with Bleyer's orchestra as backing on a recording that year.

The song reached #1 on the Cash Box

Cash Box magazine

Cashbox magazine was a weekly publication devoted to the music and coin-operated machine industries in the USA which was published from July 1942 to November 16, 1996...

 charts and #2 on the Billboard charts in 1953. As a result, the song was also featured in a performance by Dennis Day

Dennis Day

Dennis Day born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty, was an Irish-American singer and radio, television and film personality.-Early life:...

 on The Jack Benny Program

The Jack Benny Program

The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.-Cast:*Jack Benny - Himself...

on CBS Radio

CBS Radio

CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...

.

Another popular version was recorded in the mid-1970s by The Gaylords, in middle of which a comical letter from someone in "the old country" is read, culminating with a joke about Alitalia Airlines

Alitalia

Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. , in its later stages known as Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. in Extraordinary Administration, was the former Italian flag carrier...

.

The song also appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather III as sung by Talia Shire

Talia Shire

Talia Shire is an American actress most known for her roles as Connie Corleone in The Godfather films and Adrian Balboa in the Rocky series.-Personal life:...

, who played Connie Corleone

Connie Corleone

Constanzia "Connie" Corleone , is a fictional character from The Godfather by Mario Puzo. In the films, Connie is portrayed by Talia Shire, the sister of director Francis Ford Coppola....

. (See The Godfather Part III (soundtrack)

The Godfather Part III (soundtrack)

The Godfather Part III is the soundtrack from the movie of the same name, released in 1990 by Columbia, United States.- Track listing :#"Main Title" – 0:42#"The Godfather Waltz" – 1:10#"Marcia Religioso" – 2:51...

).

Washington D.C. radio shock jock

Shock jock

Shock jock is a slang term used to describe a type of any radio broadcaster who attracts attention using humor that a significant portion of the listening audience may find offensive. The term is usually used pejoratively to describe provocative or irreverent broadcasters whose mannerisms,...

 "The Greaseman

The Greaseman

Doug "The Greaseman" Tracht is an American radio, television, and movie personality. Tracht is best known for his morning show on WWDC-FM in Washington, D.C., during the 1980s where he took over the morning drive time slot from Howard Stern and his controversial comments made on that show.Tracht...

" regularly used the song as one of his "bits" during the 1980s.

The song is a cumulative song

Cumulative song

A cumulative song is a song whose verses are built from earlier verses, usually by adding a new stanza to the previous verse. A simple cumulative song having n verses is structured as-Examples of cumulative songs:* "The Twelve Days of Christmas"...

, in which each verse contains all of the previous verse as well. It is sung in Southern Calabrian dialect and is about the sounds of musical instruments.

A rough translation reads as follows:

Hey buddy, [music] is playing.

What is playing? The whistle.

And what does it sound like—the whistle?

[vocalized instrument sound] the whistle, [nonsense rhythm words]

etc.

• u friscalettu = whistle [small flute]
• a saxofona = saxophone
• u mandolinu = mandolin
• u viulinu = violin
• a trumbetta = trumpet
• a trombona = trombone