"We No Speak Americano" is a song by Australian duo Yolanda Be Cool and
producer DCUP. It was released on the independent Australian label Sweat It
Out on 27 February 2010. The song samples the 1956 Italian song "Tu Vuò Fà
L'Americano" by Renato Carosone, written by Carosone and Nicola Salerno. "We No
Speak Americano" became a hit in Europe, Australia, and Latin America as well as
a top 40 hit in the U.S. and Canada. It also won the 2011 ARIA award for "Best
Dance Release." The song has sold over 1 million digital copies in the United
States as of 10 April 2011. The song was featured on the soundtrack
of the 2011 films The Inbetweeners Movie, Hop, the 2012 film Madagascar 3:
Europe's Most Wanted and the 2013 film The Great Beauty. It also featured in
Episode 2 of the 2011 Korean drama adaptation City Hunter and on the video
games Zumba Fitness 2 and Just Dance 4. "We No Speak Americano" was later
sampled by Cuban American rapper Pitbull for his Spanish-language tune "Bon,
Bon", crediting Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP as producers of his song. American
gymnast Gabby Douglas used the song in her gold medal-winning final floor
routine at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Critical reception Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the song
a mixed-to-positive three-star review stating:
"We No Speak Americano" is a club smash built around a socking great sample from
an old Italian language hit from the 1950s - to which the knob-twiddling trio
have added beats as bouncy and eager-to-please as a Labrador pup at
din-dins time. The result is far from unappealing but roughly as repetitive as
the musings of a drunken depressive, so enjoy it now before that mate of a mate
with a fondness for novelty ringtones gets hold of it.
Music video The official music video for the song,
directed by Andy Hylton is a take on classic silent film comedies and
features a Chaplinesque Italian protagonist in New York City, in a bid
to raise some quick cash to propose to the young woman that he met earlier in
the video. This music video appeared in an episode
of Beavis and Butthead. Cover versions
The Chipettes covered this song for the Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked:
Music from the Motion Picture album and in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.
This version is mashed with Miami Sound Machine's "Conga".
Dutch Hardstyle DJ and producer Ran-D made a bootleg remix of this song
entitled "Pas Americano". For the video game Just Dance 4, a cover
by in-house artists was produced. Said artists are credited as "Hit the Electro
Beat". Credits and personnel
Lead vocals — Yolanda Be Cool Lyrics — Johnson Peterson, Sylvester
Martinez, Duncan Maclennan, Renato Carosone, Nicola Salerno
Producer — Johnson Peterson, Sylvester Martinez, Duncan Maclennan
Mastering engineer — Robin Petras Charts and certifications
= Chart succession= Other versions
= Marco Calliari version= In the UK, a cover version sung by
Quebec-born Italian singer-songwriter Marco Calliari entered the Singles Chart
peaking at number twenty-six. = Russian Parody=
In Russia, a parody version of the track appeared in the summer 2010, with vocals
in Russian by the band Трикотаж featuring Dj Solovey. This version was
entitled Подзаебало, with the lyrics па-падзаебало mirroring pa-parle
americano of the original. The new lyrics make references to the record
heat wave in Russia of summer 2010, The Twilight Saga, Lady Gaga, and other
current socio-cultural events. = "Por Panamericana" and "El Chocoano"=
In Argentina, various parody versions of the song were made. Among them, one
resulted in very successful hit, that would even be played at discos as a
companion for the original song. The best-known version is called "Por
Panamericana", and the voice recorded on the record tell a story about being
stopped by the police at the Panamerican Highway for speeding. Los Cantores de
Chipuco also made their own parody of this song, called "El Chocoano".
= "Bi Bi pro Americano"= After Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the
United States Congress, Noy Alooshe spoofed it by using parts of the speech
to the tune of "We No Speak Americano". = Hand dance video=
In July 2010, Irish dancers Suzanne Cleary and Peter Harding released a
music video filmed by Jonny Reed. Using "We No Speak Americano" as background
music, the video features Cleary and Harding performing an elaborately
choreographed tabletop dance using only their hands and arms, and wearing
deadpan expressions throughout the song. By February 2015 it had been watched 9.7
million times. = "We No Speak Huttese"=
A parody of the song titled "We No Speak Huttese" can be found in Kinect Star
Wars for the Xbox 360 Kinect peripheral. It is featured in the Galactic Dance Off
mini game. The vocals are replaced with Jabba The Hutt's and the instrumentals
are replaced with the Max Rebo band. References
External links Official music video on Vimeo