«Tra te e il mare» by Laura Pausini: Meaning & Lyrics

A sea between two people and a woman who no longer wants to wait: that’s what «Tra te e il mare» is about. Laura Pausini released the song in late summer 2000 as the first single from her album of the same name on CGD East West, a Warner Music Italia label, and it reached the Top 10 on the Italian singles chart. The title translates to „Between You and the Sea.“ It was not written by Pausini herself, but by her friend and colleague Biagio Antonacci, the singer-songwriter from Milan.

The song has been part of her concerts ever since. Pausini has performed it as a duet with Antonacci, with the singer Elisa, and with Gianni Morandi, the singer and TV host. The Spanish version made it onto the Latin charts in the U.S., and in 2020, Pausini performed the song alone in the empty Colosseum in Rome.

How did «Tra te e il mare» come about?

Laura Pausini was born on May 16, 1974, in Faenza, a small town in the Romagna region, and grew up in the neighboring town of Solarolo. In 1993, she won with «La solitudine» at the Sanremo Festival, Italy's most important song contest, in the newcomer category. Seven years later, she recorded her fifth studio album, with which she finally left behind the youthful themes of her early records.

Biagio Antonacci contributed the title song. The singer-songwriter, born on November 9, 1963, in Milan and raised in the suburb of Rozzano, wrote the lyrics and music for his girlfriend and colleague. It marked the beginning of a long collaboration: «Vivimi» followed in 2004, and in 2015 he wrote three more songs for her, including «Lato destro del cuore.».

The song was produced by Pausini herself, Alfredo Cerruti, and arranger Dado Parisini. The single began airing on the radio in early September 2000, and the 14-track album followed on September 15. «Tra te e il mare» entered the Top 10 of the Italian singles chart and remained in the Top 20 for 13 weeks. By early 2001, the album had gone quadruple platinum in Italy, which at the time corresponded to 400,000 copies sold.

What is «Tra te e il mare» about?

«Tra te e il mare» tells the story of a long-distance love. A woman keeps waiting for a man who leaves and returns, and realizes she can no longer bear this life. She demands a decision and prefers a clean break to the endless waiting.

The sea is more than just a backdrop here. It symbolizes the distance between the two of them and, at the same time, a life of its own beyond their relationship. You wouldn’t know from listening to the song that a man wrote this story from a woman’s perspective. Pausini sings it as if it were her own.

The Lyrics, Verse by Verse

You can find the full lyrics on Spotify and Apple Music; here, we're focusing on the visuals. At the beginning, the narrator describes how much her life depends on this man. She lives off what he leaves behind, and loses her strength as soon as he's gone again.

In the second verse, her inner conflict becomes palpable. She waits alone in a city that isn’t her own, and can no longer divide herself between him and the sea. The chorus marks the turning point: Either he’ll come back for good, or he’ll stay where he is.

In the end, there’s an accusation that many will likely recognize. Every time, he promised it would be the last time, and every time, he left again. The narrator senses that she has grown up through this experience. The song leaves the story’s ending open, yet the direction is clear. The Sea, in Italian mare, in the end, represents the freedom she reclaims rather than longing.

What does «Tra te e il mare» sound like?

Musically, «Tra te e il mare» is a 3:49-minute pop ballad. Dado Parisini, who arranged the entire album, plays the keyboards himself. He is joined by Massimo Pacciani on drums, Cesare Chiodo on bass, and three electric guitarists, including Andrea Braido. The string parts were recorded by a London chamber orchestra.

The album was recorded at studios in Milan, Bologna, London, and Los Angeles. The band brings energy to the chorus, while the strings give it a sense of expansiveness.

«Tra te e il mare» on video

At the very top of this post is the official music video from 2000. It was directed by Alberto Colombo and produced by Marco Salom; a video for the Spanish version, «Entre tú y mil mares,» was created at the same time. Below that, you can see Pausini performing live at Le Zénith in Paris. The recording from March 2005 is taken from «Live in Paris 05,» her first live album.

Available for listening on streaming services:

Who covered «Tra te e il mare»?

After Pausini, the most important performer is the songwriter himself. Biagio Antonacci, whom many know primarily through «Iris (Among Your Poems)» In 2003, he first recorded the Spanish version as a duet with Pausini for his album *Cuanto tiempo… y ahora*. Five years later, he released his own Italian version.

Pausini has performed the song live with many guests. On December 2, 2001, she sang it with Antonacci at the Mediolanum Forum in Assago, near Milan. This was followed on June 21, 2009, by a duet with Elisa at the «Amiche per l’Abruzzo» benefit concert at Milan’s San Siro Stadium, which Pausini had organized for the victims of the L’Aquila earthquake. In November 2009, she sang it with Gianni Morandi on his show «Grazie a tutti» on Rai 1, and in 2014, Antonacci, Pausini, and Eros Ramazzotti, the pop star from Rome, together on stage at San Siro.

Pausini re-recorded the song in 2013 for the Spanish-speaking market. The new version was released in late January 2015 as a duet with Melendi, the Spanish singer-songwriter from Asturias. The accompanying video was filmed in Madrid and references the Hollywood movie «Mr. & Mrs. Smith.».

Why did Laura Pausini sing the song in the empty Colosseum?

On August 4, 2020, a massive explosion destroyed large parts of the Port of Beirut. Singer Mika, who was born in the Lebanese capital, subsequently organized the «I Love Beirut» benefit concert, which was livestreamed on YouTube on September 19, 2020. Laura Pausini joined the event from the Colosseum in Rome, where she performed an acoustic version of «Tra te e il mare.».

A song about distance in an empty amphitheater in the midst of the pandemic: It was fitting. The Colosseum, the largest amphitheater of ancient Rome, is usually one of Italy’s most visited sites. To find out how to avoid lines and what else you should see around the Roman Forum, check out our overview of the Places of interest in Rome.

Conclusion: a farewell song that will stay with you

«Tra te e il mare» shows just how good a song can be when the songwriter and the singer are perfectly in tune. If you want to hear more from Laura Pausini, start with her breakthrough album «La solitudine» from 1993 or with «Strange Loves», her 1994 entry in the Sanremo Music Festival. You can find all the song profiles in our overview of the Italian music.