Napule è

The song was composed by Daniele in 1973, when he was 18 years old.^[1][4] Daniele initially considered to have it performed by Peppino di Capri.^[2] Along with its B-side "'Na tazzulella 'e cafè" and "Cammina Cammina", the song was a last-minute addition to his debut album Terra mia.^[2]

After listening to the song's demo, producers and label decided the song deserved a more rich, orchestral arrangement than the lo-fi arrangements of the other songs of the album, and the task was entrusted to Antonio Sinagra, a Naples Conservatory professor who was fresh from the arrangements for Roberto De Simone's musical La Gatta Cenerentola.^[2] Sinagra also composed the oboes and mandolins intro.^[2][4] Jazz musician Amedeo Tommasi played the piano, but asked to be credited as Amedeo Forte.^[2] The single was eventually chosen as leading song of the album, and premiered in a show of the private radio Capitale Eurosound.^[4] Daniele performed it in an episode of the RAI musical show Senza Rete.^[2]

The song has been described as a 'jewel [...], one of the most striking, poetic and realistic portraits of Naples',^[5] and as 'regenerating lymph for the new Neapolitan song, the manifesto of a generation's hopes and disillusions'.^[4]

Artists who recorded the song include Mina, Luciano Pavarotti, Gino Paoli, Laura Pausini, Drupi, Teresa De Sio, Fiordaliso, Roberto Murolo, Mario Trevi.^[4][5]