Alfa and D'Alessio, the sea in a song that unites Genoa and Naples

With a song titled "Genoa and Naples," there couldn't have been any other debut. Last night, surprisingly, on the Marassi pitch, before the football match that ended with an Italian victory thanks to goals from De Bruyne and Vergara, a new duo appeared with a new song, born in the name of "an ancient twinning, between seaside cities, between songs, between football teams."

At first there was only Alfa's voice: "When you love too much, a love is harder to maintain/ because we are two port cities/ we are not made to last." Then came Gigi D'Alessio's: "You walk inside my soul/ and can disappear in a moment/ even if we are far away/ we are not different like/ Genoa and Naples."

Alfa's idea: a bridge song

The idea, the spark, came from Andrea De Filippi, 26, from Genoa: "I've wanted to do something with Gigi for a long time, let's say ever since he beat me at Sanremo 2024 on the cover night, winning alongside Geolier," explains the young singer-songwriter who loves duets with his senior colleagues, from Vecchioni to Jovanotti, including Manu Chao.

«So when I came up with this bridge song I immediately tried to involve him in the project».

"It was easy to convince me: I respect Alfa as an artist and as a person, I'd already confessed it to him, and the song, melodic as I like it, struck a chord with me. Every time I come to Genoa to sing, I feel at home. So Andrea came to my house, we combined voices and crew, and... the song was born without any difficulty."

Six hours at the table, two in the studio

The song's birth was anything but conventional. "We spent six hours eating and two recording," recalls the "Bellissimissima" singer.

However, the two artists share many similarities, even musically. "We share many things, even musically: I think of masters like Fabrizio De André and Gino Paoli, who wrote and sang in Neapolitan."

A bond that, for D'Alessio, also extends to the table. "Even our culinary culture unites us, with a dish called Genovese, but it's authentic, Neapolitan," adds the man from "Non dirgli mai."

Two cities, one soul

"Two port cities, two cities that embrace you when you arrive, two important schools of song," D'Alessio emphasizes.

Alfa, on the other hand, looks to Naples as a model. "Well, I'd like Genoa to imitate Naples," Andrea confesses, "in the football league, in the world of music, in the extraordinary tourism development the city is experiencing, in being at the center of a narrative that begins in books and reaches TV series by way of records."

"About ten years ago, the ancient Partenope brought about a new singing revolution, returning to the center of the national scene as it had done so many times before, from classical melody to Neapolitan power. Now the new Genoese school is also starting to gain importance."

Football as another love story

“We are two hearts in the same sea/ and our Sunday will always be special,” the two lovers and, ideally, the two cities promise each other in the lyrics.

A bond that also passes through football. "Football is passion, it's another love story, it brings joy and sorrow," concludes D'Alessio, who took two months off.

«Greece, Sardinia, Acciaroli… Beautiful, with my kids, Francesco and Ginevra… But also tiring, I almost suggest going to piano bars to escape and… rest».

The sea that holds Genoa and Naples together

Meanwhile, there's Marassi, the rediscovered twinning between the teams and, then, once the song is over, the kick-off.

What remains is the message entrusted to the music: «I can't understand how others manage/ to see the sea only a few days a year/ and never look beyond/ because the horizon can't be seen in the city/ and the sea keeps us with its prumes/ but I don't know that you're a fool/ only to me/ You're not just a woman, you're not me and you».

A refrain that thus becomes the meeting point between two cities distant on paper, but close in history, culture, music, football and above all, the sea that has always defined their identity.