It was released in 1966 as a double A-side single by Celentano, with "Chi era lui" on the flipside, composed by Paolo Conte with lyrics by Mogol and Miki Del Prete.

Although the song tells a personal story about the loss of a childhood home, it is on a more general level also a wistful lament about the rapid urbanisation during the Post–World War II economic expansion in Europe and the loss of known environment and arable land ("...là dove c'era l'erba, ora c'è una città..." / "...perchè continuano a costruire le case, e non lasciano l'erba...").

Being a prominently discussed phenomenon at the time and a widely felt sentiment, this may have contributed to the song's large success and to its many cover versions and translations into other languages.

In the same year of its original release, Giorgio Gaber recorded a cover version, that was published twice as an attachment to the Italian music magazine Pop.

In February 2013, the Italian group Almamegretta, together with James Senese, Marcello Coleman and Clementino, performed the song on the fourth evening of the 2013 Sanremo Music Festival.