Along with 'Jack The Lad', 'Paninaro' was one of the B-sides to 'Suburbia'. It was also released as a single on its own in Italy and the UK.
Production and Recording[]
Paninaro was produced by the band themselves, and is the first track which features Chris on lead vocals, although he speaks the lyrics, rather than sings them.
'Paninaro' was re-produced and re-recorded in 1995 as 'Paninaro 95' and released as a single in conjunction with the b-sides compilation 'Alternative'.
Lyrics[]
This song was written entirely by Chris, and was originally based on an idea brought forth by Tom Watkins , who later removed himself from the project. The Paninari is the name of an Italian youth cult, and the band decided to use this word as their main hook. Said Neil,
I liked the fact that all the trendies in Milan loathed the Paninari, because they all like Wham! and Duran Duran and Madonna. We thought, 'How fabulous - so do we'. I like fashion cults, and theirs were the kind of clothes we liked.
The band wanted to remove Vercase from the lyrics because Vercase was not really a designer favoured by the Paninari, but it was edited out of every version except the 12". The recording of Chris in the middle of the song is from a 1986 Entertainment Tonight interview with the band.
Passion and love and sex and money Violence, religion, injustice and death Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh Girls, boys, art, pleasure Girls, boys, art, pleasure Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh Food, cars, travel Food, cars, travel, travel New York, New York, New York New York Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh Armani, Armani, ah-ah-Armani Versace, cinque Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh Armani, Armani, ah-ah-Armani Versace, cinque Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh I don't like country-and-western I don't like rock music I don't like, I don't like rockabilly or rock 'n' roll particularly Don't like much really, do I? But what I do like I love passionately Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh You, you're my lover, you're my hope, you're my dreams my life, my passion, my love, my sex, my money violence, religion, injustice and death Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh Don't like much really, do I? Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh But what I do like I love passionately Paninaro, Paninaro, oh, oh, oh