Come prima

This article is about a pop song in Italian translated into English as "For the First Time". For other uses, see For the First Time.

"Come prima" (English: As Before) is an Italian song, with lyrics by Mario Panzeri and music by Vincenzo Di Paola and Sandro Taccani.

The most popular version in Italy was by Tony Dallara (Antonio Lardera). A recording by the Marino Marini Quartet made the United Kingdom charts in 1958. The song was also recorded by Domenico Modugno. All these recordings were made in 1958.

The melody was used for a French language song entitled "Tu me donnes", a hit for Dalida in 1959. It was also used for an English language song, "More Than Ever" (lyrics by Mary Bond), recorded in the United Kingdom by Malcolm Vaughan with the Michael Sammes Singers (HMV catalogue number POP 538) (14 weeks on the UK chart, peaking at #5), Robert Earl (4 weeks on the UK chart, peaking at #26), Eve Boswell, and others. Another English language lyric by Buck Ram, under the title "For the First Time" (closer to the original Italian title), was recorded in the United States by Polly Bergen in 1958 (Columbia Records catalog number 41275). This version was also performed by Mario Lanza in his last film, For the First Time (1959). Other performers were Dean Martin, the Platters, Tony Reno & the Sherwoods (the latter in 1965), and Golpes Bajos in 1985. Also it was recorded by Muslim Magomayev in 1961. Cliff Richard also sang in Italian on the "When In Rome" LP.

This song was also cover-versioned in Japanese in 1991, sung by Hong Kong actress Gloria Yip.

External links

• Lyrics (Italian)