Following Lucio Dalla's death, the song entered the Italian Singles Chart, peaking at number two for two consecutive weeks.
Lucio Dalla told the origin and the meaning of the song in an interview to one of the main Italian newspapers, the Corriere della Sera.
He stopped by the coastal town of Sorrento and stayed in the Excelsior Vittoria Hotel, coincidentally in the very same room where many years earlier the tenor Enrico Caruso spent some time shortly before dying.
Unfortunately he lived a very difficult and rather unhappy life, having had many challenges and problems with Italian opera houses, but gained more fame and success in the United States.
Guardò negli occhi la ragazza, quegli occhi verdi come il mare He looked into the eyes of the girl, those eyes as green as the sea Poi all'improvviso uscì una lacrima e lui credette di affogare But then, a tear fell, and he thought he was drowning Sorrento is referred to as "Surriento", which is the name in the Neapolitan language.