Top 10 Måneskin Songs

8 min readOct 2, 2021

By now the success of the Måneskinis worldwide. Their stage presence, their way of singing and playing, their ability to express emotions and to approach a youthful world has now been seen by many people. They have been really good and I really appreciate their journey.

Although their discography is only at the beginning, I think we can venture a small ranking of the best songs of the Roman band.
I am not a music expert, but I have followed the Måneskin since their debut at X-Factor, but you must not take this ranking as the truth. Some places may vary, but I will try to explain why I chose these songs and why I am in that position.

I will insert links at the bottom of the article to be able to buy their records, and Spotify or YouTube links for some songs will be linked in the title of each song.

Having said that we can start with the ranking.

10. Chosen — from Chosen

Their first song on an important stage, sung at X Factor in the now distant 2017. It was immediately a success, watching the video on YouTube you immediately notice some lines that will accompany them until their worldwide success: the voice of Damiano, the presence on the stage of all the components, the now-iconic movement that Damiano and Vic make when singing: “Follow me, now”, and not to forget Ethan’s drums, which in my opinion immediately showed great potential. Even the text, in a certain sense prophetic, and sung in English in front of an Italian evening audience, was a success. For this reason, I would like to place it in tenth place in the ranking.

9. Morirò da Re — from Il Ballo Della Vita

Already here we pass to a higher step. In Italy rock is not a favorite genre, we are still too attached to pop, and if the rock is heard it is usually heard in English (foreign artists), but here it was not the case. With this single that has exploded, Damiano proves to be a great singer full of skill and expressiveness. The music, the drums, and how they managed to bring a text completely in Italian, I think make this song important for their career.

8. Le parole lontane — from Il Ballo Della Vita

Perhaps more for personal taste than for real importance I insert this song here. Le parole lontane can excite. Text with almost simpler words, but which still give great emotions. It sounds quieter than Morirò da Re or Chosen, much more like Torna a casa, but still, I can’t deny that this song is full of emotion. Thomas’s guitar manages to bring Damiano’s emotions to life with the help of the lyrics.

7. LA PAURA DEL BUIO — from Teatro D’Ira: Vol. I

We are on their latest album. Teatr D’Ira: Vol. I, great success, with more rock sounds, and very popular even in Italy with texts in Italian, which should not be underestimated. Text that perhaps I would not include among the best, but a very interesting melodic line, which manages to take the whole record to a higher level. In the second album I have to admit that everyone has reached higher levels, both instrumentally and vocally, everyone, but above all, the three instrumentalists have overcome themselves and have had a great chance to express fully with their music, which I was not able to hear so much before. Perhaps it was fault of record or public needs. Now I notice more freedom, I talk about it in general throughout their album, but I write it here as the first song from that album on the list.

6. Torna a casa — from Il Ballo Della Vita

Song with a beautiful text, immense success, perhaps even more than Morirò da Re, but above all we see another side of the rock group: the more melodic and I would say angelic. Damiano’s writing becomes more poetic, and symbolic in this piece, his voice calmer, but still very expressive. Here the band realigns itself to an almost more pop sound, but at the same time, it shows a determination and a vitality that has determined its success since its first steps.

5. ZITTI E BUONI — from Teatro D’Ira: Vol. I

The track that made them win Eurovision, powerful and expressive, brings to light the most rock part of the group, which I appreciated, and as an Italian, I appreciated their victory very much. They worked a lot and it shows in their music. Song in Italian, very powerful sonorities, scratchy voice but that does not lose its precision and emotion, which is not easy. Stronger instrumentals, but which in any case do not overpower the vocals. Provocative text that did not fail to make people appreciate their energy and their desire to do.

4. I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE — from Teatro D’Ira: Vol. I

Arrived at the world charts, a very sensual, provocative song, with different sounds from their entire album. I didn’t really like the featuring they did with one of the icons of punk music, Iggy Pop, so I’ll just consider the song from their album. In the song we hear a piece of music where the bass is the master. Vic has managed to create a very captivating melodic line that has managed to give a maintained rhythm to Damiano’s singing. Although it is not one of my favorites, I feel comfortable putting it in this position for its importance and even for its beautiful guitar solo, which the young Thomas managed to compose.

3. CORALINE — from Teatro D’Ira: Vol. I

A beautiful ballad, that’s written in Italian. Sounds that can excite, even if they do not quite sound like Torna a casa or Le parole lontane, Damiano’s voice manages to stay above the instruments even in moments of greatest power. For those who understand Italian, this text is very beautiful, very introspective in human complexes, and of social criticism in some ways. Much appreciated even if perhaps not as well known as other songs.

2. FOR YOUR LOVE — from Teatro D’Ira: Vol. I

In some ways a piece similar to ZITTI E BUONI, but which I think is on a higher level than the one that made them win Eurovision. Here we notice more Thomas’ guitar, Ethan’s drums, and Vic’s bass in almost all of the song, to then explode in the beautiful solo. Damiano’s voice, as usual, is very sensual and in the refrain, he expresses himself very well without hiding the other instruments. Less known, but which I think deserves this place for their technical ability and their expressiveness. As far as I am concerned with the lyrics, I think we can imagine love relationship regarding Damiano, but I don’t intend to assert this, so as not to fall into error.

1. VENT’ANNI — from Teatro D’Ira: Vol. I

I still remember when the music video for the song came out in November 2020. For a while here in Italy, there was a certain silence at the overall media level about the Roman band, but with this song, I think they made themselves heard again in one of the best possible ways. It’s a fantastic ballad in my opinion: provocative, introspective text, it shows their desire to do, their desire not to give up, and to show others what they are, without being subjugated by criticism. The video that perhaps takes up and pays homage to The Beatles with their Strawberry Fields Forever, but where they give their personal touch. Clothes and sensuality are shown with studied attires and poses. The music is a continuous evolution, starting from the guitars that play only a few notes under the voice of Damiano, to then explode in the chorus, and finally a solo that in my opinion showed the real Thomas. And to conclude I can say that the Italian lyrics made this song important, for their ability not to use only English for their songs and for being able to produce an Italian masterpiece.

Covers

Other Måneskin songs are really good, but I didn’t put them in the previous chart because they are covers. But I don’t want to exclude them from this article, so here are three of the coolest covers they’ve done.

Beggin’

Another worldwide success, so much so that many thought it was theirs. The song is by Madcon. Perhaps the others in the band do not shine particularly because of the original instrumentals, but Damiano certainly manages to bring to light his scratchy voice, with funk and perhaps soul sounds, very catchy and certainly appreciated by many.

Back To Black

The famous song by Amy Winehouse is reinterpreted by the Måneskin in their rooftop session. No electric sounds are used, Thomas and Vic play acoustic instruments, and Ethan doesn’t use full drums, he just gives the rhythm. Here, however, we notice their presence more, but again Damiano shows his ability to excite. He is not even afraid to leave the pronouns of the song despite being a male, which is noticeable and shows their openness to sexual and gender identity issues. They don’t spoil the song at all, even though Winehouse may be unattainable for so many, I think they did a great job given that it was a cover they did a long time ago.

Amandoti

I think this is one of the best Måneskin songs. The text is by Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, if you want to, go and listen to the song on YouTube,and while you’re there, stop to listen Måneskin’s live performance. There are no Spotify links to this song, but various videos where they perform it. Damiano’s voice is perfect: quiet and clean when it needs to be, powerful and biting at other times, his expressiveness shows itself more than any other song. The text is subject to continuous debates (if you want to go and look for the reasons), but still poignant and well written, but above all well interpreted by the Italian band. There are no words for Damiano’s voice, but above all for the beautiful accompaniment and the beautiful solo. I think Ethan’s drums are at his best moments when he plays this cover, the same thing for the guitar and the bass of the other members (the instrumental was remade by the group, it is not like that in the original song). If only they had been the authors of the song I think it would have easily deserved the first place.

I hope that the list has been to your liking and that maybe it has introduced you to new songs or new covers.