"A te" | ||||||||
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Single by Jovanotti | ||||||||
from the album Safari | ||||||||
Released | March 2008 | |||||||
Format | Digital download | |||||||
Genre | Pop | |||||||
Length | 4:24 | |||||||
Label | Universal | |||||||
Writer(s) | Jovanotti, Franco Santarnecchi | |||||||
Jovanotti singles chronology | ||||||||
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"A te" is a song recorded by Italian singer-songwriter Jovanotti and written by Jovanotti himself with Franco Santarnecchi. After being included in the album Safari, the song was released as the second single from the set. Launched during the Sanremo Music Festival 2008, where Jovanotti was invited as a guest, the single became a commercial success, reaching the top spot of the Italian Singles Chart for eight consecutive weeks, later becoming the best-selling single of 2008 in Italy.
In 2009, the song received a nomination for the Mogol Award, created with the purpose to recognize the Italian song with the best lyrics.
"A te" is a romantic piano ballad, written by Jovanotti and Franco Santarnecchi and produced by Michele Canova. The song is a love declaration to Jovanotti's partner, Francesca Valiani, who became his wife in September 2008. During an interview, when questioned about the inspiration for the song, Jovanotti explained: "I tried to put together the best love declaration I could write, even being far from reality... In fact I wrote it while I was far away from Francesca, and maybe in that status of distance I found the right inspiration".
According to Jovanotti, he wrote the lyrics in one go. He added: "I composed the music with my pianist Franco Santarnecchi, and the melodic line was coming out more or less defined, while I was writing the lyrics. It's a song which is based on the strength of words". In a 2011 interview, he confirmed that he wrote the song in five minutes only, claiming that "it was already inside" of him.
The song was premiered during the fourth night of the 58th Sanremo Music Festival, when Jovanotti performed as a musical guest. The video album Nessuna ombra intorno features a live performance of "A te", recorded during the Safari tour in 2008. The album Oyeah, released in December 2009 in the United States only, includes an "official live bootleg" version of "A te", while 2011 video album Live 'Ora' in tour features a recording of a live performance of the song during the Ora tour. Another live recording of the song was included in Jovanotti's 2012 live album Lorenzo in concerto per Jovanotti e orchestra, with a new arrangement by Paolo Buonvino.
The song became a commercial success in Jovanotti's native Italy. It debuted on the Italian FIMI Top Digital Downloads chart in January 2008. After spending four weeks in the top 20, peaking at number 6 during its third week, the song fell out the chart, but re-entered it in March of the same year, following Jovanotti's performance during the Sanremo Music Festival 2008. In mid-April 2008, "A te" reached the top spot of the chart, holding it for eight consecutive weeks. After becoming the best-selling single of the year in Italy, "A te" completed its chart run within the Italian top 20 in January 2009, after 45 non-consecutive weeks on the chart. The single was also certified multi-platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry. In Switzerland, "A te" spent 25 weeks on the Singles Top 75, peaking at number 21 and thus becoming Jovanotti's second highest charting single behind "Gimme Five", which peaked at number 11 in 1988.