The song was copyrighted officially in 1905, and has become one of the most popular of this traditional genre; others include "'O sole mio", "Funiculì funiculà", and "Santa Lucia".

Tradition holds that the origin of the song dates to 1902, when Guglielmo Tramontano, mayor of Sorrento, asked his friend Giambattista De Curtis to write the song for the Prime Minister Giuseppe Zanardelli, then vacationing at his seaside hotel, the Imperial Hotel Tramontano; it was claimed that the piece was meant to celebrate Zanardelli's stay.

Some claim the song is a plea to Zanardelli to keep his promise to help the impoverished city of Sorrento, which was especially in need of a sewage system.

More recent research indicates that the song may merely have been reworked for the occasion; family papers indicate that the brothers deposited a copy with the Italian Society of Authors and Editors in 1894, eight years before they claimed to have written it.

Spira tantu sentimento, Comme tu a chi tiene mente, Ca scetato 'o faje sunnà.

Guarda, guà chistu ciardino; Siente, siè 'sti sciure 'arancio: 'Nu prufumo accussì fino Dinto 'o core se ne va.

Vide 'o mare de Surriento, Che tesore tene 'nfunno: Chi ha girato tutt' 'o munno, Nun ll'ha visto comm'a ccà!