Che sarà

Feliciano's recorded version was successful in Italy, in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Japan.[1] It was an even greater success in Latin America and Spain in Feliciano's Spanish version, titled "Qué será". Feliciano's version peaked at number one in Spain.[2] An English-language version titled Shake A Hand charted in Scandinavia but not in the Top Tens of the US or the UK.[3]

The song is featured in the classic Bulgarian film from 1982, A Nameless Band. In the particular scene the singer Reni (played by Katerina Evro) announces "Che sarà" as "a song for love, parting, and something more."

In 2021 Ricchi e Poveri recorded the song with José Feliciano for the album ReuniON (DM Produzioni, 19439875041), also released in Russia.

The lyrics of the song describe the singer's sadness at having to leave his native village (Paese mio che stai sulla collina, disteso come un vecchio addormentato; "Oh my village set on the hill, lying down like an old sleeping man") and were inspired by Cortona, a small town in Tuscany where the lyricist, Franco Migliacci, had lived for many years.[4] For Jimmy Fontana, who wrote the music, the song is devoted to Bernalda, his wife's home village.[5]

Coincidentally, the Cortona story echoes the personal history of José Feliciano, who was born in the hill village of Lares in Puerto Rico, and who left it for New York, joining many other Puerto Rican migrants to the US. In fact, the Spanish version of the song is considered by many in the Latino population to be a "migrants' hymn".[6]