"Cuccurucucù" is a 1981 song by Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, from his best-selling album La voce del padrone.
The song's lyrics consists of fragments of memories of Battiato's youth, [1][2] even if some biographical verses were eventually modified and adjusted for metric and sound purposes, eg.
[2] The title as well as the refrain and part of the melody are citations of Tomás Méndez' "Cucurrucucú paloma".
[1][2] The song also includes citations and references to other songs which marked Battiato's adolescence, including Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" and "Like a Rolling Stone", The Beatles' "Lady Madonna" and "With a Little Help from My Friends", The Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" (which Battiato will eventually cover in his album Fleurs), Mina's "Le mille bolle blu", Nicola Di Bari's "Il mondo è grigio, il mondo è blu", and Milva's "Il mare nel cassetto".
[1][2] American soprano Marilyn Turner[1] and, uncredited, Giuni Russo, serve as backing vocalists.