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To purchase the sheet for this song click the link below. Please consider supporting us on Patreon: “Speak Softly Love (Love Theme from The Godfather)“ is a song written for The Godfather (1972), the first film in The Godfather trilogy. While its instrumental version is simply known as “The Godfather Love Theme“, “Speak Softly Love“ is the vocal version. The lyrics are by Larry Kusik but the music itself is by Nino Rota. The signature musical theme that opens the piece closely models a theme that appears early in “Preludio - Povero Ernesto!“ in the opera Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848).[citation needed] A similar melody also appears in the Overture to La Forza del Destino by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901).[citation needed] There are also different sets of lyrics for the song in Italian (“Parla Più Piano“), French (“Parle Plus Bas“) and also in Sicilian (“Brucia La Terra“). The Sicilian version is sung by Anthony Corleone (Franc D'Ambrosio) in The Godfather Part III. Rota had used a more comedic version of the song for the 1958 film Fortunella. When this was discovered, Rota's score for The Godfather was disqualified from consideration at the 1973 Academy Awards; it had been nominated for Best Original Score. However, Rota's score for The Godfather Part II won the 1974 Academy Award for Best Score, despite containing the same piece. The song was originally recorded by Andy Williams. Other artists, such as Al Martino, and Bobby Vinton, have also recorded the song, among many others: Plácido Domingo is the best known operatic tenor to have recorded the song. He performed the Italian version, “Parla più piano“. Swedish pop group Bombi Bitt recorded the song on their album Wine Coloured Days in 1990 (City Records). Slash of Guns N' Roses regularly performs it in concerts for a guitar solo. Jamaican singer Ken Boothe recorded a reggae version. Matt Monro's version features on the 1982 album The Very Best Of Matt Monro. Sergio Franchi recorded the theme song his 1976 DynaHouse album 20 Magnificent Songs. He recorded it as a medley with “I Have But One Heart“ on two other 1976 albums. A clip on YouTube shows him singing the medley in an unidentified TV appearance. Satan's Pilgrims have performed a surf rock version as well. Harry Connick Jr. recorded it under the title “Parle Plus Bas“, and included it as a bonus track in France for his album Come by Me (1999)
