A boy at the kitchen table, a kung fu movie playing on TV, and a father who’d rather talk about money than feelings: «Soldi» by Mahmood captures an entire childhood in just a few scenes. In 2019, the Milanese artist won the Sanremo Festival with this song and shortly thereafter placed second at the Eurovision Song Contest—with one of the most modern songs Italy has sent to the international stage in a long time. «Soldi» simply means „money,“ and that’s exactly what everything revolves around: an absent father, a closeness that can’t be bought, and a wound that the song transforms into an irresistible chorus.
Profile
- Artist: Mahmood (Alessandro Mahmoud)
- Published: February 2019, album «Gioventù bruciata»
- Lyrics/Music: Alessandro Mahmoud, Dario „Dardust“ Faini, Charlie Charles (Paolo Alberto Monachetti); Production: Charlie Charles & Dardust
- Genre: Pop with trap, R&B, and Arabic influences („Moroccan pop“)
- Special features: Winner of Sanremo 2019, 2nd place at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest
The Story Behind the Song
Alessandro Mahmoud, born in 1992 in Gratosoglio, a suburb of Milan, grew up with his Sardinian mother; his Egyptian father left the family when the boy was still young. He later formed his stage name from his father’s last name, Mahmoud, and the English phrase „my mood.“ «Soldi» was released in February 2019 as an entry in the 69th Sanremo Festival—and caused a minor sensation: Although the live audience had favored another contestant, the combination of the jury’s votes and televoting propelled Mahmoud to first place. The victory sparked a heated debate that extended into the political sphere, where some sought to dismiss the song as „not Italian enough“—even though Mahmood was born and raised in Milan.
As Italy’s representative, he traveled to Tel Aviv in May 2019 for the Eurovision Song Contest. There, «Soldi» finished in second place with 472 points—Italy’s best result in years—and won the Best Composition Award at the Marcel Bezençon Awards. The song went platinum multiple times in Italy, enjoyed international success, and was the most-streamed Eurovision song of all time on Spotify for a long time, until it was surpassed by the winning entry „Arcade“ in 2021.
What is «Soldi» about?
«Soldi» is an autobiographical song about a father who leaves, and about the money that comes between people where love should actually be. Mahmood tells the story from the perspective of both the child and the young man: of a figure who is rarely there, who hides behind cigarette smoke and empty promises, and who only gets in touch again when he needs something. The chorus revolves around this very word—money—and turns it into both an accusation and bitter mockery: as if a handful of bills could make up for the lack of affection.
Lyrics & Meaning
The text thrives on a few, very precise scenes. Right at the beginning, the child is sitting in front of the TV eating, while the father casually asks if the child is happy—a question that hangs in the air because the one who asks it is already distracted again the next moment. From such everyday scenes emerges the portrait of a man who announces grand plans and leaves behind small disappointments.
The focus is on the chorus, in which the father keeps bringing up money. Mahmood flips the perspective: The son accuses his father of valuing only money and bitterly offers to settle everything with money if he can’t think of anything else. What sounds like a catchy, danceable tune is, in reality, a reproach.
One striking moment is the line sung in Arabic, in which a father’s voice tenderly calls the child to him—„my son, come here.“ It breaks into the Italian lyrics like a memory that can’t be shaken off: the sound of one’s roots, the longing for closeness, and the pain of its absence—all in a single phrase. It is precisely this shift in language that makes «Soldi» so special—it brings Mahmood’s dual heritage directly into the song.
Toward the end, the tone shifts from lament to defiance: The narrator makes it clear that he doesn’t need the money—and thus the affection reduced to mere money. The painful childhood memory becomes an assertion of self. It is precisely this mixture of anger, melancholy, and dignity that resonates far beyond the narrator’s own family history.
«Soldi» in the video
At the top of the page, you’ll find the official music video for «Soldi» by Mahmood (directed by Attilio Cusani), which has now racked up well over 100 million views. Below that, right here in the text, you can watch the live performance with which Mahmood took second place at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest final in Tel Aviv—one of the most intense stage performances of the evening.
You can listen to «Soldi» on all major streaming platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Music.
That's what makes this song special
Mahmood himself once described his style as „Moroccan pop“—a blend of Italian pop, trap, R&B, and Arabic sounds. «Soldi» exemplifies this perfectly: a minimalist, driving beat; a chorus consisting more of repetition, handclaps, and fragments than of the classic verse-bridge structure; and, right in the middle, an Arabic line that serves as an emotional break. This „cubist“ chorus, as critics have described it, became the song’s trademark.
It is also noteworthy just how much «Soldi» became a political issue. The fact that a child of Egyptian-Italian descent competed for Italy in Europe’s biggest music competition was cheered by some and viewed with suspicion by others—of all times, during a period of heated debates on immigration. Mahmood always responded calmly, pointing out that he was „100 percent Italian“ and was simply writing about his own story.
His success was no fluke: In 2022, Mahmood returned to Sanremo and won the festival for a second time—in a duet with Blanco and the song «Brividi.» This makes him one of the defining voices of Italian pop music of his generation. But «Soldi» remains the song that started it all.
Conclusion
«Soldi» is more than just a catchy tune with a clapping chorus: it’s a son’s deeply personal reckoning with an absent father, wrapped up in a sound that has audibly propelled Italian pop into the 21st century. If you want to understand why this song took half of Europe by storm in 2019, listen closely—and you’ll discover, behind the word „money,“ a story about everything that money simply can’t buy. You can find more profiles of great Italian songs in our Music Section.
