| Love Theme from The Godfather | |
| Artist: | Nino Rota (music) and Carlo Savina (conductor) |
| Type: | single |
| Cover: | Love theme from the godfather film version (US single).png |
| Caption: | US single for the instrumental film version |
| Album: | The Godfather |
| B-Side: | The Godfather Waltz (Main Title) |
| Released: | 1972 |
| Length: | 2:37 |
| Label: | Paramount |
| Composer: | Nino Rota |
"Love Theme from The Godfather" is an instrumental theme from the 1972 film The Godfather, composed by Nino Rota. The piece was lyricized in English by Larry Kusik into "Speak Softly, Love", a popular song released in 1972. The highest-charting rendition of either version was by vocalist Andy Williams, who took "Speak Softly Love" to number 34 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100[1] and number seven on its Easy Listening chart.[2]
Larry Kusik wrote the original, English lyrics, and Nino Rota composed the score. A previous version of the theme had been used in the 1958 Italian film Fortunella.[3] Different sets of lyrics for the song have been written in French (Parle plus bas), Italian (Parla più piano), Portuguese (Fale baixinho), Sicilian (Brucia la terra), and Spanish (Amor háblame dulcemente). Dalida sings the French version; the Sicilian version is sung by Anthony Corleone (Franc D'Ambrosio) in The Godfather Part III. It was first heard in America in 1969 on The Merv Griffin Show sung by Angela Bacari in English and Italian.
Rota's score for The Godfather was nominated for a 1973 Academy Award for Best Original Score. However, it was disqualified from consideration when the academy learned Rota had used a more comedic version of the song for the film Fortunella (1958).[4] Nonetheless, Rota's score for The Godfather Part II won the 1974 Academy Award for Best Score, despite the fact that it contained the same piece.
The first version of the song to reach any of the charts in Billboard magazine was "Love Theme from The Godfather" by pianist Roger Williams. His instrumental recording debuted in the issue dated 1 April 1972, and "bubbled under" the Hot 100 for five weeks, peaking at number 116,[5] and another piano rendition by Ferrante and Teicher got as high as number 28 Easy Listening during its four-week chart run that began in the 8 April issue.[6] The version that the film's music director, Carlo Savina, and his orchestra recorded for the soundtrack first charted on the Hot 100 in the 22 April issue and made it to number 66 during a nine-week chart run.[7] It also reached number 24 on the Easy Listening chart during its three weeks there that began in the 20 May issue.[8]
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 66 |
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 24 |
| Love Theme from The Godfather (Speak Softly, Love) | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Andy Williams |
| Album: | Love Theme from "The Godfather" |
| B-Side: | Home for Thee |
| Released: | April 1972 |
| Recorded: | 18 February 1972[9] |
| Genre: | Pop, easy listening, soft rock |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Dick Glasser |
| Prev Title: | Music from Across the Way |
| Prev Year: | 1972 |
| Next Title: | MacArthur Park |
| Next Year: | 1972 |
The Andy Williams version of "Speak Softly Love" also made its first appearance in the 8 April issue and reached number 34 on the Hot 100 during its 11 weeks there[1] and number seven Easy Listening over the course of 12 weeks.[2] A recording of the song by Al Martino debuted on both of those charts in the 29 April issue and peaked at number 80 during its four weeks on the Hot 100[10] and number 24 on the Easy Listening chart, where it also spent four weeks.[11]
In the UK Williams began a run of nine weeks on 5 August of that year that led to a number 42 showing.[12] In Spain, his version was a number-one hit, staying at the top of the charts for 15 weeks.
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Spain (AFYVE)[13] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 34 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 7 |
| UK Singles Chart | 42 |
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 80 |
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 24 |