«Brividi» by Mahmood & Blanco: meaning & lyrics

Two voices, one feeling that gets under your skin: «Brividi» won the 2022 Sanremo Festival and represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was sung by Mahmood, a Milanese singer with an Egyptian father and a Sardinian mother, and Blanco, then an 18-year-old newcomer from Brescia province. The single was released on 2 February 2022 by Island Records and Universal Music and reached number 1 in Italy. Its title means “Shivers” or “Goosebumps”.

It earned 8-times platinum from FIMI, the Italian music industry association, for 800,000 units from sales and streams. «Brividi» topped Italy's year-end chart for 2022 and came sixth at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin. Here you can find out how the song came about, what its lyrics mean and which version to listen to first.

How did «Brividi» come about?

Alessandro Mahmoud, known as Mahmood, was born on 12 September 1992 in Milan and grew up in the Gratosoglio neighbourhood in the city's south. He had already won Sanremo in 2019 with «Money» and placed second at the Eurovision Song Contest. Riccardo Fabbriconi, known as Blanco, was born on 10 February 2003 in Brescia and grew up in Calvagese della Riviera, a small town near Lake Garda. His debut album «Blu celeste» had come out in September 2021.

The person linking the two was Michelangelo, producer Michele Zocca. He had produced «Blu celeste», and Mahmood had long wanted to work with him. The three began work on the song in July 2021. Michelangelo sketched the music in the studio, then each singer wrote the part he would sing. Blanco has said he wrote the song for a particular person. Mahmood said it also grew out of the difficult months both had experienced.

At the Sanremo Festival, Italy's major song competition, the two entered as a duo in February 2022. They won the 72nd edition ahead of Elisa, the singer from Trieste, and Gianni Morandi, a veteran of Italian pop. The day after release, «Brividi» had already broken Italy's daily Spotify streaming record. It entered the official chart at number 1; later came 8-times platinum for 800,000 units and number 1 in the 2022 year-end chart. It also topped the chart in Switzerland.

What is «Brividi» about?

«Brividi» is about a love in which one person gives a great deal and fears receiving nothing in return. At its centre, according to Mahmood, is the feeling of being wrong afterwards, in Italian sbagliato. The shivers of the title arise when the right person says the right word.

The two writers deliberately did not want to define the emotions in their song. The lyrics were meant to stay open so that as many people as possible could see themselves in them. Even so, two men singing a love song together prompted considerable discussion in Italy, and it is precisely this openness that made «Brividi» so important to many young listeners.

The Lyrics, Verse by Verse

You can find the full lyrics on Spotify and Apple Music; here we look at their imagery. Mahmood opens the song with a verse about closeness that also brings uncertainty. A person in love stands exposed before the other and feels the brividi, the shivers that mean both happiness and fear.

Blanco takes the second verse with his rougher, younger voice. The same love sounds more impatient and vulnerable when he sings; the fear of not being enough for the other person grows louder. The result is a conversation between two people who both want to give and both have doubts.

In the chorus, their voices come together. Here the song concentrates on the wish to love well even while repeatedly feeling inadequate. That blend of tenderness and self-doubt captures the mood of a generation more open about its feelings than its parents.

What does «Brividi» sound like?

Musically, «Brividi» is a slow R&B ballad. Michelangelo keeps the arrangement restrained and gives the voices plenty of space. Mahmood, who took singing lessons from a baritone as a teenager, sings with wide, ornamented melodic lines. Blanco counters him with a direct, rougher voice.

The appeal lies in the interplay. When both voices overlap in the chorus, two first-person narrators become one shared feeling, and the song builds to its peak without a large orchestra.

«Brividi» on video

At the top of this article is the official video, released on Mahmood's YouTube channel on 2 February 2022. Attilio Cusani directed it, and filming took place in the Netherlands, including Burgerbrug, Camperduin beach, Amsterdam and the Musis concert hall in Arnhem. Below it is their performance in the Eurovision Song Contest final in Turin on 14 May 2022. Mahmood and Blanco performed ninth among 25 entrants and finished sixth with 268 points.

Available for listening on streaming services:

Who has covered «Brividi»?

As the song is still young, there is no major cover yet, but there are some notable reinterpretations. Meduza, the Italian production trio from the house scene, made a dance-floor remix. Singer LaFez from Sicily attracted attention online with an emotional cover.

One particularly original version comes from Oblivion, the musical comedy quintet from Bologna. In February 2023, the group posted a rendition in the style of an operatic tenor on social media, showing how well the melody suits a powerful voice.

The shivers come from summers in Orosei

Mahmood's mother, Anna Frau, comes from Orosei, a small town in Nuoro province on Sardinia's east coast. He spent his childhood summers there, speaks Sardinian well and has more than a hundred cousins on the island. When explaining where the image of the shivers in the title came from, Mahmood expressly pointed to those summers in Orosei.

Visitors to the area will find some of the Mediterranean's most beautiful coastline on the Gulf of Orosei. South of the town, limestone cliffs near Cala Gonone, a seaside resort in the municipality of Dorgali, plunge steeply into the sea. Further south lies the famous Cala Goloritzé with its rock pinnacle. Our guide to Sardinia Travel Guide.

Conclusion: a love song that crosses boundaries

«Brividi» brings together two generations of Italian pop and speaks openly about doubts in love. That is why the 2022 Sanremo winner has endured far beyond the festival. For more winning songs, begin with the 2018 Sanremo winner «Non mi avete fatto niente» by Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro, or with «Due vite», with which Marco Mengoni, the singer from Ronciglione, won in 2023. You can find all our song portraits in the overview of Italian music.