Tommy Cash, Espresso Macchiato: the English lyrics & meaning

The Estonia song at Eurovision 2025, Espresso Macchiato by Tommy Cash, is getting viral: let’s explore the lyrics, the English translation, and the meaning.

It was definitely the most entertaining song of Eurovision 2025, with an ironic and absurd attitude that made it stand out among all the others. It’s no surprise that the public voted for it in droves, pushing it to the top positions in the final ranking: Espresso Macchiato by Tommy Cash is an incredibly catchy and visually stimulating track. The lyrics are a collection of phrases that are not immediately easy to understand, and everyone wants to know more about their meaning in English. It’s an intriguing journey: let’s explore it together, and you’ll also find the full translation at the end of this article.

Espresso Macchiato: the English lyrics, their meaning & the inspiration

Espresso Macchiato is a lighthearted song about living a carefree life. The lyrics are full of stereotypes sung in Italian, as if spoken by a typical tourist who knows only a few words of that language. In this way, Tommy Cash creates a song that’s fun to listen to, where the sound of the words becomes more important than their actual meaning.

The chorus is simply asking a loved one for a coffee:

My Love
My Love
Espresso Macchiato, Macchiato, Macchiato, please
Please
Espresso Macchiato Corneo

“Corneo” is a completely made-up word—it doesn’t exist in either Italian or English. According to some, it’s a caricature of the Italian word cornetto, which means “croissant,” a typical pairing with coffee in an Italian breakfast. But that’s just a theory. The truth is what we mentioned earlier: more than their meaning, it’s the way the words sound that really matters, and that word fits the chorus perfectly in terms of sound and rhythm.

The Estonian singer hasn’t said much about how the song was created, but the way it’s built—the melody and the use of words chosen simply for their sound—has reminded some people of a song from many years ago: the one Charlie Chaplin sings near the end of his film Modern Times. Watch it below and discover all the similarities.

The remaining verses in Espresso Macchiato include many other Italian stereotypes: a cigarette with coffee, a sweating mobster, coffee curing depression, cooking spaghetti, and opening a restaurant. In Italy, some people felt offended by the use of these clichés, but as you can imagine, Tommy Cash is simply using words that a general audience would recognize as “Italian,” with no serious intent behind them.

Hey beautiful, I’m Tommy
Addicted to tobacco
I like my coffe, very iomportant
I have no time to talk, sorry
My days are very busy
And I just own this little restaurant

You can discover the full translation of the lyrics in Espresso Macchiato below. Make sure to take it all lightly: Tommy Cash presented himself as a clown, singing a song meant to make people laugh. The use of those clichés simply serves its purpose.

Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave

The official video and the complete English lyrics