At the 2022 edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, Mahmood and Blanco captured the hearts of the audience with Brividi (Chills), a powerful ballad about a dying love between two people of an unspecified gender. Having won Sanremo, the song was automatically selected as the Italian entry for Eurovision 2022 in Turin.
Below you can watch their performance on YouTube, follow along with the Italian lyrics and, if you are in doubt about the meaning, check out the English translation at the end of the article.
Mahmood & Blanco – Brividi – Listen on YouTube
Mahmood & Blanco – Brividi – Italian Lyrics
Ho sognato di volare con te
Su una bici di diamanti.
Mi hai detto sei cambiato,
Non vedo più la luce nei tuoi occhi
La tua paura cos’è?
Un mare dove non tocchi mai
Anche se il sesso non è
La via di fuga dal fondo
Dai, non scappare da qui
Non lasciarmi così
Nudo con i brividi
A volte non so esprimermi
E ti vorrei amare, ma sbaglio sempre
E ti vorrei rubare un cielo di perle
E pagherei per andar via,
Accetterei anche una bugia
E ti vorrei amare ma sbaglio sempre
E mi vengono i brividi, brividi, brividi
Tu, che mi svegli il mattino
Tu, che sporchi il letto di vino
Tu, che mi mordi la pelle
Con i tuoi occhi da vipera
E tu, sei il contrario di un angelo
E tu, sei come un pugile all’angolo
E tu scappi da qui, mi lasci così
Nudo con i brividi
A volte non so esprimermi
E ti vorrei amare, ma sbaglio sempre
E ti vorrei rubare un cielo di perle
E pagherei per andar via,
Accetterei anche una bugia
E ti vorrei amare ma sbaglio sempre
E mi vengono i brividi, brividi, brividi
Dimmi che non ho ragione,
Vivo dentro una prigione,
Provo a restarti vicino
Ma scusa se poi mando tutto a puttane
Non so dirti ciò che provo, è un mio limite
Per un ti amo ho mischiato droghe e lacrime
Questo veleno che ci sputiamo ogni giorno
Io non lo voglio più addosso
Lo vedi, sono qui,
Su una bici di diamanti, uno fra tanti
Nudo con i brividi
A volte non so esprimermi
E ti vorrei amare, ma sbaglio sempre
E ti vorrei rubare un cielo di perle
E pagherei per andar via
Accetterei anche una bugia
E ti vorrei amare, ma sbaglio sempre
E mi vengono i brividi, brividi, brividi
Mahmood & Blanco – Brividi – English Translation
I dreamed of flying with you
On a diamond bike.
You told me you changed,
I no longer see the light in your eyes
What is your fear?
A sea where you never touch
Even if sex isn’t
The escape route from the bottom
Come on, don’t run away from here
Don’t leave me like this
Naked and shivering
Sometimes I don’t know how to express myself
And I would like to love you, but I’m always wrong
And I’d like to steal a pearl sky from you
And I would pay to leave,
I would also accept a lie
And I would like to love you but I’m always wrong
And I get chills, chills, chills
You, who wake me up in the morning
You, who soil the bed with wine
You, who bite my skin
With your viper eyes
And you, you are the opposite of an angel
And you, you are like a boxer in the corner
And you run away from here, you leave me like this
Naked and shivering
Sometimes I don’t know how to express myself
And I would like to love you, but I’m always wrong
And I’d like to steal a pearl sky from you
And I would pay to leave,
I would also accept a lie
And I would like to love you but I’m always wrong
And I get chills, chills, chills
Tell me I’m not right
I live inside a prison,
I try to stay close to you
But sorry if I screw everything up
I can’t tell you what I feel, it’s my limit
For an “I love you” I mixed drugs and tears
This poison that we spit on each other every day
I don’t want it on me anymore
You see it, I’m here,
On a diamond bike, one among many
Naked and shivering
Sometimes I don’t know how to express myself
And I would like to love you, but I’m always wrong
And I’d like to steal a pearl sky from you
And I would pay to leave,
I would also accept a lie
And I would like to love you but I’m always wrong
And I get chills, chills, chills
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
