"Core 'ngrato" (Neapolitan: [ˈkɔːrə ŋˈɡrɑːtə]; "Ungrateful Heart"), also known by the first words "Catarì, Catarì" (short and dialectal form for Caterina, a female first name), is a 1911 Neapolitan song by emigrant American composer Salvatore Cardillo with lyrics by Riccardo Cordiferro (real name Alessandro Sisca).
[1] It was adopted by Enrico Caruso but it is not known whether he commissioned Cardillo and Sisca to write it.
[2] It is the only well-known standard Neapolitan song to have been written in America.
[3] In the song, Catarì's lover reproaches the girl for thoughtlessly and heartlessly rejecting his abiding love for her; he implores her not to forget that he has given her his heart and that his soul is in torment; and he says he has confessed his feelings to a priest, who advised him to let her go.
Tutt' è passato, e nun nce pienze cchiù!, which approximates in English to "Ungrateful heart, you have stolen my life!