Due vite

"Due vite" is a song recorded by Italian singer-songwriter Marco Mengoni for his eighth studio album, Materia (Prisma) (2023). It is the lead single and opening track on the album, released by Sony Music on 8 February 2023. The song was written by Mengoni with Davide Petrella and Davide Simonetta. Simonetta also produced the track together with E.D.D. The song was Mengoni's winning entry for the Sanremo Music Festival 2023, the 73rd edition of the Italian musical festival, which doubled as the selection of the Italian act for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. It finished in fourth place at the Eurovision final with 350 points. Prior to the contest, "Due vite" reached number one in Italy and San Marino.

A bilingual French-Italian version of the song, titled "La Dernière Chanson" ("The last song"), was released on 13 October 2023.

Background and composition
Mengoni spoke about the meaning of the song: "It is my never-ending story because it is the story of a relationship between reason and the unconscious. I am devoting a lot of hours a week to my thoughts with a professional and I am realising that my unconscious gives me more realistic input than everyday life. I speak about this double life in the song: the life of the night and dreams that becomes more real than the dreams themselves, and the life I live every day. [...] I am a sinner, I am one who makes mistakes. There are slaps and you have to go on in life. There are moments of boredom and downsides that are needed like all things: for me, 'Due vite' is this." Mengoni dwelt on the inspiration for the song, found in the figure of Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla, explaining that: "It is a song full of words, a continuous tension that never seems to explode until the moment I leave my vocal cords there, at Sanremo. It wasn't easy to tackle this piece, but the great thing is that we got carried away by Lucio Dalla, letting him inspire us, remembering him. I approached singing in this way: little breath, lots of words and a lot of tension to then explode." The song also marks the singer's third participation at the Sanremo Music Festival after "Credimi ancora" in 2010 and "L'essenziale", winner of the Sanremo Music Festival 2013, with which he represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.

Reception
The song was mostly well received by Italian critics. In its review of the Sanremo 2023 songs, Corriere della Sera gave "Due vite" an 8/10, describing the song as a "classic ballad" that "doses melody and rhythm well", where "thoughts chase each other". Also Valentina Colosimo from Vanity Fair states that the song "allows Mengoni to show off all his singing skills", bringing the viewer "a ton of feelings". Fabio Fiume from All Music Italia rated the song 7.5/10, writing the song is a "modern piece that respects both its vocal beauty and its best prerogatives to be personal". The Panorama critic Gabriele Antonucci gave the song a 8.5 rating, he praised Mengoni's performance as "masterful", with a perfect combination of "voice, words and arrangement". Less enthusiastic was the review by Francesco Prisco of Il Sole 24 Ore, assigning a score of 6-/10, writing that "Mengoni does Mengoni: the thing he does best", suggesting a lack of originality compared to his previous works.

Music video
The music video for the song was directed by Roberto Ortu. The filming took place on the dunes of Piscinas in Sardinia.

Certifications
!scope="row"|Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)
 * Platinum
 * 15,000‡