"Have you ever wondered what English songs sound like if you don't speak English?," asks TikTok creator Daniel Wall in his video which has amassed over six million views.
The footage, which was shared on October 24, then shows a picture of an artist on screen, whose name is Adriano Celentano.
Wall explains: "Well, luckily we have Adriano who has actually written a song to mimic the way English sounds to non-English speakers!"
Speaking into the camera, the TikToker then explains Celentano created the gibberish song because "He said he wanted to do this because he wanted to inspire people to communicate more."
"Check out these lyrics, these lyrics actually sound like English. Let's listen to it now."
The video then cuts to Celentano performing his song, which is titled "Prisencolinensinainciusol" and was released in 1972.
The Italian songwriter sounds just like he is singing English words, although they are not, and it is baffling internet users.
The TikTok video, which can be viewed here, is captioned: "Have you ever wondered what English songs sound like if you don't speak English? #singer #songwriter #todayilearned #english #throwbacksongs #originstory #song #language #adrianocelentano #gibberish."
@danielswall Reply to @javikal Have you ever wondered what English songs sound like if you don’t speak English? #singer #songwriter #todayilearned #english #throwbacksongs #originstory #song #language #adrianocelentano #gibberish
♬ original sound - Daniel Wall
Wall's clip has so far been liked more than 980,200 times and nearly 6,000 people have taken to the comments section to share their thoughts on it.
One TikToker, Cow, wrote: "Why can I hear it, but not."
Another person, Playmaker Sports, added: "It sounds familiar but I don't know what he's saying."
Heisenberg typed: "You know what English songs sound like to non-English speakers? The exact same, except the words don't have meaning."
Lol revealed: "My brain isn't functioning when I hear this song."
Pasalach stated: "A lot of you missed the point didn't you? It mimics the sounds of English while having no meaning, same situation as not knowing the language."
E<3 revealed: "Fun fact my grandad knows every single word to this song because when he was in Italy he thought it was English so he learnt the lyrics to impress," alongside a string of laughing-face emojis.
Crow commented: "I feel like I have unlearned 10 years of English lessons."
Jette shared: "English is my second language and from what I can remember when I couldn't speak English, that is pretty accurate."
Speaking on National Public Radio's show "All Thing Considered" back in 2012, using an interpreter, Celentano, who is now 83, explained why he wrote the song.
"Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did," he said.
"So at a certain point, because I like American slang—which, for a singer, is much easier to sing than Italian—I thought that I would write a song which would only have as its theme the inability to communicate.
"And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn't mean anything."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
