Now a real Christmas gift, this one a friend of mine told me about and I think you may like it.
Goma Laca is a project to investigate and rework old Afro-Brazilian records, usually issued only on 78rpm at the start of the 20th century. Those include many traditional Afro-Brazilian genres, like capoeira, embolada, praieiras, cocos, and other genres. It is — obviously — a musical mine, one which is still unexplored.
This CD here presents reworking of these tracks by new Brazilian recording artists, such as Lucas Santtana, Juçara Marçal, and Karina Buhr. They are all situated at the “middle”, so to speak, of Brazilian music ambient right now, they are not popular artists neither household names, instead they’re part of a renewing of MPB for a younger audience. For all of those reasons, maybe you don’t know them — or all of them.
I confess I was usually suspicious of these younger artists, but after listening to this album I’ve noticed I had to change my mind. Maybe it is the original material which is so strong, maybe they were all inspired working on an important project like this.
Anyway, click on the cover below to go to the album’s site and then click on “Baixe o disco”. The liner notes are also availabe, but they are only in Portuguese. If you have any question, send me a note here on the comments and I’ll translate it. And on this link you can find the original 78rpm recordings.
PS: Goma-laca stands in Portuguese for shellac, the material used to make 78rpm records back then.
Então é Natal, e o que você fez? O ano termina, e nasce outra vez Então é Natal, a festa Cristã Do velho e do novo, do amor como um todo Então bom Natal, e um ano novo também Que seja feliz quem souber o que é o bem
Então é Natal, pro enfermo e pro são Pro rico e pro pobre, num só coração Então bom Natal, pro branco e pro negro Amarelo e vermelho, pra paz afinal Então bom Natal, e um ano novo também Que seja feliz quem, souber o que é o bem
Então é Natal, o que a gente fez? O ano termina, e começa outra vez Então é Natal, a festa Cristã Do velho e do novo, o amor como um todo Então bom Natal, e um ano novo também Que seja feliz quem, souber o que é o bem
Harehama, há quem ama Harehama, ha Então é Natal, e o que você fez? O ano termina, e nasce outra vez Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Mururoa, ha…
É Natal, é Natal, é Natal
I’ve noticed I have already spoke about Simone’s Christmas album on the last year’s Christmas post here on the blog, but now I have an occasion to delve deeper into its meaning and significance…or not.
Simone’s album became a sort of (bad) tradition among Christmas celebrations in Brazil. Simone was born on 1949 and started her career around the 70s. She was always more of a pop singer, in the vein of Barbra Streisand or something like that. She was more famous in 80s, when she made a bunch of shows which broke attendance records. In the 90s I don’t know what else she did besides this Christmas album.
Susan Sontag famously wrote about camp, or the so-bad-it’s-good way of talking about some cultural products. I know that in English there is the word tacky, which can be related to vulgar. Tacky can be translated in Brazil as brega, but even brega has something noteworthy about it, at least as a musical movement in Brazilian pop history. Then there’s the word kitsch. I don’t know in which of the tree categories can Simone’s album be classified.
Actually, the idea behind the album came to her after realizing that Brazil doesn’t have a tradition of Christmas albums such as the ones that are released in the United States. So she recorded an whole album of Christmas, which was sold not only on record stores but also on supermarkets, newsstands, restaurants etc. So this is one of the most sold Brazilian albums, whose figures are counted in the millions and it is still edited every single Christmas.
I think there’s a reason why in Brazil the phonographic industry doesn’t revolve around Christmas. To begin with, our tradition is/was a lot different from that of the States. In the US, Christmas songs developed from Christmas carols, and the tradition of popular or neighborhood choirs is something that stands even now. In Brazil, religion and religious dates are not something to be sung upon. Then there’s the fact that December in Brazil is hot, so recording albums that people listening in their homes with their families doesn’t seem to make sense. Anyway, this album has stuck upon as a burden every Brazilian teenager has to face when their parents or relatives play it on Christmas celebrations.
But what about the lyrics to this one? Actually, it is a Portuguese recasting of “Happy X-Mas (War is Over)”, by John Lennon. The lyrics are really the same, with one exception:
So this is Christmas And what have you done Another year over And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas I hope you have fun The near and the dear ones The old and the young
A very merry Christmas And a happy New Year Let’s hope it’s a good one Without any fear
And so this is Christmas For weak and for strong For rich and the poor ones The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas For black and for white For yellow and red ones Let’s stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas And a happy New Year Let’s hope it’s a good one Without any fear
And so this is Christmas And what have we done Another year over And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas I hope you have fun The near and the dear one The old and the young A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year Let’s hope it’s a good one Without any fear
War is over over If you want it War is over Now…
The difference on the two versions of the song comes at the end. While John Lennon wrote a pacifist song related — I think — to the Vietnam War and everything that was happening in the 70s, Simone veered towards a mystical/scatological sense. While John Lennon writes
War is over over If you want it War is over Now…
Simone says
Harehama, há quem ama Harehama, ha Então é Natal, e o que você fez? O ano termina, e nasce outra vez Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Mururoa, ha…
The first two verses try to dabble on a Hare Krishna chant, and the last one just names places that were hit by atomic bombs: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Mururoa atoll, where France tested nuclear weapons in the 60s and 70s. I know that in a pacifist setting it sounds understandable to put references to nuclear explosion sites, but as this is a Christmas song recorded in the 90s, the overall feeling it creates is just of what the hell is going on here?
Anyway, merry Christmas to you all! I don’t know if I’ll keep up the pace of this blog in the next year (I really hope so), but let me just say I already have my next Christmas special programmed…
Nã, nã, nã, nã, nã, na Pedi você Prá esperar 5 minutos só Você foi embora sem me atender Não sabe o que perdeu Pois você não viu, você não viu… Como eu fiquei Pedi você Prá esperar 5 minutos só Você foi embora, embora, embora Sem me atender… Pois você não viu… Não sabe o que perdeu Pois você não viu, não viu, não viu Como eu fiquei Dizem que foi chorando, sorrindo, cantando Os meus amigos, meus amigos, até disseram Que foi amando, amando Pois você não sabe, você não sabe E nunca, e nunca, E nunca, e nunca, E nunca, e nunca, e nunca Vai saber porque Pois você não sabe quanto vale 5 minutos, 5 minutos Na vida Pois você não sabe e nunca vai saber porque Pois você não sabe quanto valem 5 minutos Na vida
Translated lyrics:
No, no, no, no, no, no I asked you to wait just five minutes But you went away without seeing me You don’t know what you’ve lost Because you haven’t seen How I became asked you to wait just five minutes But you went away without seeing me You don’t know what you’ve lost Because you haven’t seen How I became They say I was crying, laughing, singing My friends, my friends said That I was loving, loving But you don’t know And you never, never And you never, never And never, never ever Will know because You don’t know how much five minutes Are worth in life You don’t know and you’ll never known How much five minutes are worth
So even alchemy has an end…With this song I finish the task of translating A Tábua de Esmeralda. I hope you have learned anything from the translations and the commentaries. I wish I was a scholar on Brazilian music or something like that, but even though I’m not an expert, I try to do my best here.
This song always seemed a little bit displaced on the album for me, but translating it I noticed it isn’t. Why don’t you wait just a couple of seconds, a minute, two, three, or even five? Why? You’ll never know how much time is worth if you’re always in a hurry.
One nice thing in this song is its use of the strings. According to the technical info to the album, the arrangements were composed by Oscar Milito, who was a piano player on Bossa Nova era and later a studio musician. He recorded with almost everyone during that era, but certainly he isn’t nearly as famous as the Tropicália arranger Rogério Duprat. Here you can hear a song by Marcos Valle to the Brazilian novela “Selva de Pedra” whose arrangements are by Milito.
Another arranger on the album was Hugo Bellard, who recorded with everybody relevant those days, according to Wikipedia. Besides recording with Ivan Lins, he also worked with “Pery Ribeiro, Leny Andrade, Marcos Valle, Banda Veneno de Erlon Chaves, Taiguara, além de tocar em discos de Raul Seixas (Raulzito), Marcos Valle, Marisa Gata Mansa, Doris Moteiro, Lucio Alves, Herminio Belo de Carvalho, João Nogueira, Tito Madi, Evinha, Roberto Ribeiro, Geraldo Vespar, Milton Nascimento, Agnaldo Timoteo, Silvio Cesar, O Terço” and others.
———
Only now I’ve seen this Tiny Mix Tapes piece about this album. It says a lot of the things I’ve said here, on a better English and much more concise than I did here. And it features some addition information, so I encourage you to take a couple of minutes to read it.
———
I’m thinking about translating Gal Costa’s first album, that one released in 1969. I’ll start this later week on a more slow pace, but I plan to end this in a week. Before I start translating that album, I’ll post something Christmas-related tomorrow. See ya.
Hermes Trismegisto e sua celeste tábua de esmeralda
Hermes Trismegisto escreveu com uma ponta de diamante em uma lâmina de esmeralda
O que está embaixo é como o que está no alto, e o que está no alto é como o que está embaixo.
E por essas coisas fazem-se os milagres de uma coisa só. E como todas essas coisas são e provêm de um pela mediação do um, assim todas as coisas são nascidas desta única coisa por adaptação.
O sol é seu pai, a lua é a mãe. O vento o trouxe em seu ventre. A terra é seu nutriz e receptáculo.
O Pai de tudo, o Thelemeu do mundo universal está aqui. O Pai de tudo, o Thelemeu do mundo universal está aqui.
Sua força ou potência está inteira, se ela é convertida em terra.
Tu separarás a terra do fogo e o sutil do espesso, docemente, com grande desvelo. Pois Ele ascende da terra e descende do céu e recebe a força das coisas superiores e das coisas inferiores.
Tu terás por esse meio a glória do mundo, e toda obscuridade fugirá de ti. e toda obscuridade fugirá de ti.
É a força de toda força, pois ela vencerá qualquer coisa sutil e penetrará qualquer coisa sólida. Assim, o mundo foi criado. Disso sairão admiráveis adaptações, das quais aqui o meio é dado.
Por isso fui chamado Hermes Trismegistro, Por isso fui chamado Hermes Trismegistro,
tendo as três partes da filosofia universal. tendo as três partes da filosofia universal.
O que disse da Obra Solar está completo. O que disse da Obra Solar está completo.
Hermes Trismegisto escreveu com uma ponta de diamante em uma lâmina de esmeralda (2x).
This is the high-point on the album, the song from where the album takes its title and, yet, I won’t translate it here. Why? Because there is already a translation of this song. How? Let me explain.
I have already tried to outline of the Hermetic philosophy here and I think I’ve mentioned that it was deeply related to alchemy. Alchemy’s chief text is this piece here, known in its Latin name as the Tabula Smaragdina, or Emerald Tablet. The Emerald Tablet explains how alchemy is done.
Starting with the principle that there is a correspondence between everything in the universe, celestial and below, alchemy holds that one thing can be changed into another. Alchemy proceeds by separating the diverse elements and then adapting those different elements into different configurations. Usually this was done with some chemical apparatuses, using fire, air, or other of the primordial elements. By making this, the alchemist gathers a holding on the constitution of things, becoming a kind of a master of Nature.
There is one point of contention here — which can be seen in the translation — which is the so-called thelema, rendered by Jorge Ben as thelemeu. The thelema would be the principle that makes the transition from one element into another possible. It would be a dynamic fluid that holds all things together. The contention is if the thelema was another element besides air, fire, etc. or a completely different thing. That doesn’t seem to bother Jorge Ben too much.
Anyway, the Emerald Tablet was originally an Arabic text and then was translated into Latin and other languages. In English, it received a translation by Isaac Newton (yes, that Isaac Newton) and there is another translation in the 17th century. I’ll post both here, which are as follow:
– Isaac Newton’s translation
Tis true without lying, certain & most true.
That which is below is like that which is above & that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing
And as all things have been & arose from one by the mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
The Sun is its father, the moon its mother, the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth is its nurse.
The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.
Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.
Separate thou the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross sweetly with great industry.
It ascends from the earth to the heaven & again it descends to the earth & receives the force of things superior & inferior.
By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world
& thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.
Its force is above all force. For it vanquishes every subtle thing & penetrates every solid thing.
So was the world created.
From this are & do come admirable adaptations whereof the means (or process) is here in this. Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world
That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished & ended.
– The 17th century translation published on the Theatrum Alchemicum (1613)
This is true and remote from all cover of falsehood
Whatever is below is similar to that which is above. Through this the marvels of the work of one thing are procured and perfected.
Also, as all things are made from one, by the [consideration] of one, so all things were made from this one, by conjunction.
The father of it is the sun, the mother the moon. The wind bore it in the womb. Its nurse is the earth, the mother of all perfection.
Its power is perfected. If it is turned into earth,
Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle and thin from the crude and [coarse], prudently, with modesty and wisdom.
This ascends from the earth into the sky and again descends from the sky to the earth, and receives the power and efficacy of things above and of things below.
By this means you will acquire the glory of the whole world,
And so you will drive away all shadows and blindness.
For this by its fortitude snatches the palm from all other fortitude and power. For it is able to penetrate and subdue everything subtle and everything crude and hard.
By this means the world was founded
And hence the marvelous conjunctions of it and admirable effects, since this is the way by which these marvels may be brought about.
And because of this they have called me Hermes Tristmegistus since I have the three parts of the wisdom and philosophy of the whole universe.
My speech is finished which I have spoken concerning the solar work
There is also the Latin translation which is the basis for all of the translations above:
Verum, sine mendacio, certum et verissimum:
Quod est inferius est sicut quod est superius, et quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius, ad perpetranda miracula rei unius.
Et sicut res omnes fuerunt ab uno, meditatione unius, sic omnes res natae ab hac una re, adaptatione.
Pater eius est Sol. Mater eius est Luna, portavit illud Ventus in ventre suo, nutrix eius terra est.
Virtus eius integra est si versa fuerit in terram.
Separabis terram ab igne, subtile ab spisso, suaviter, magno cum ingenio.
Ascendit a terra in coelum, iterumque descendit in terram, et recipit vim superiorum et inferiorum.
Sic habebis Gloriam totius mundi.
Ideo fugiet a te omnis obscuritas.
Haec est totius fortitudinis fortitudo fortis, quia vincet omnem rem subtilem, omnemque solidam penetrabit.
Sic mundus creatus est.
Hinc erunt adaptationes mirabiles, quarum modus est hic. Itaque vocatus sum Hermes Trismegistus, habens tres partes philosophiae totius mundi.
Completum est quod dixi de operatione Solis.
As you can see, Jorge Ben’s song is an exact translation of the Emerald Tablet. I don’t know if he just composed the music to an already existing Portuguese translation or if he translated it himself from some modern language. It is interesting, nonetheless, to see Jorge Ben and Isaac Newton on the same page!
Jorge Ben’s song has a little introduction in which he just states that “Hermes Trismegistus wrote on an emerald tablet using a diamond stylus”.
And below you can see an artistic rendition of the Emerald Tablet from a book by Heinrich Khunrath in the 17th century.
PS: you may have noticed that I’ve skipped two songs on A Tábua de Esmeralda, “Zumbi” and “Brother”. I did that because the former was already translated here, and the latter was composed in English.
Apressado, pensativo, desconfiado Olhando prá todos os lados Pois ele soube Que na cidade As apostas subiram dizendo que ele Não vai dar conta do recado
Que viúva é essa? Que todos querem mas têm medo Têm receio de ser dono dela Dizem que ela tem um dote Físico e financeiro invejável (eu quero ver!)
O namorado da viúva Passou por aqui
Namomorarado da viúva Namomorarado da viúva
Translated lyrics:
The widow’s lover The widow’s lover
The widow’s lover Passed by
In a hurry, pensive, suspicious Looking both sides Because he knew that in the city The stakes are high telling That he won’t make it
Who’s that widow That everybody wants but everyone is afraid They fear being her owner They say she has an enviable Physical and financial dowry
The widow’s lover Passed by
The widow’s lover The widow’s lover
I thought this song was just a strange love song, but actually it is much stranger than that. According to that interview I’ve mentioned on “O homem da gravata florida” post, this song is about another alchemist figure: Nicolas Flamel.
Nicolas Flamel was a 13/14th-century French scrivener and manuscript-seller who, according to Wikipedia (once again!), was thought after his death to have been an alchemist. One of his achievements, according to legend, was that he discovered the Philosopher’s Stone and immortality. Unfortunately, there seem to be no evidence that Flamel is in this world anymore.
The widow in the song was his wife Pernelle, who was a rich widow who had survived already two marriages when she married Flamel. After burying two husbands, I would also be afraid to marry her.
One thing I didn’t know was that the cover to A Tábua de Esmeralda comes from a hieroglyphical book attributed to Nicolas Flamel. Actually, when I saw his name on that interview I noticed that on the cover there is the inscription “Figures de N. Flamel”. Actually, it comes from a drawing took from some figures — so it seems to be — from the Cemitère des Innocents in Paris, which existed from the Middle Ages until the 18th century. I read once that during the 14th and 15th centuries, Paris had a shortage of land to bury people because of the plague, so they started exhuming the bodies and placing the bones on the catacombs, which became full. The so-called hieroglyphs from this cemetery, recorded by Nicolas Flamel or later, can be seem as an interesting source for knowing this lost cemetery.
The original drawing for the Tábua de Esmeralda album is as follows.
A minha teimosia é uma arma pra te conquistar Eu vou vencer pelo cansaço Até você gostar de mim, mulher, mulher Mulher graciosa, alcança a honra Você alcançou, mulher Minha amada, minha querida, minha formosa Vem e me fala que eu sou o seu lírio E você é minha rosa Mostra-me teu rosto Fazei-me ouvir a tua voz Põe estrelas em meus olhos Músicas em meus ouvidos Põe alegria em meu corpo Junto com amor de você Mulher, mulher La, la, la, la Mulher, mulher Por que você não pensa E volta pra mim Por que você não vem?
Translated lyrics:
My stubbornness is a way to seduce you I’ll conquer you in the end And you’ll like me, woman Gracious woman, you’ve achieved the honor You’ve accomplished, woman My loved one, my dear one, my beautiful one Come and tell me I’m your lily And you’re my rose Show me your face Make me hear your voice Put stars in my eyes Music on my ears Happiness in my body And your love Woman, woman La, la, la, la Woman, woman Why don’t you think again And come back to me Why don’t you come back?
Another love song from A Tábua de Esmeralda. I don’t have much to say about this one, though I enjoy it very much too. One thing I like is how there’s a change of perspective, if you think about it, in the lyrics. At the beginning, it sounds like Jorge Ben is only trying to seduce a woman, but in the end it is suggested that she dumped him and that he wants that she comes back to him. There was a limit even for Jorge Ben’s seduction powers.
I’ve noticed that in the last lyrics I’ve put here I forgot to mention something that is said. In “Eu vou torcer”, Jorge Ben says he’ll cheer up for “all the useful things one can buy with ten cruzeiros“. I forgot to mention what are cruzeiros.
Cruzeiro was the Brazilian currency used from 1942 to 1967 and then intermittently from 1970 to 1986. The cruzeiro replaced the réis or mil-réis, which were the Brazilian-Portuguese currency during colonial times and then Brazilian imperial era. What happened during the 20th century is that Brazil was constantly menaced by rising inflation, so the money was devaluated constantly. The cruzeiros were a way to restore stability to Brazilian money.
In 1967 the cruzeiro was replaced by the cruzeiro novo, only to come back again in 1970. In 1986, because of rampant inflation, the cruzeiros were replaced by the cruzados, created by the Plano Cruzado. The cruzados failed to control inflation, and were replaced a few years later, once again by the cruzeiros.
Brazil only reached a manageable situation of its economic problems in 1993, when the cruzeiro was replaced by the real, the now current Brazilian currency. The real cut a lot of the zeros on Brazilian money and was advertised by the economic team behind it — led by future president Fernando Henrique Cardoso — because 1 real could buy a Christmar turkey. How the prices have risen since then…
One interesting thing is that the word réis was the plural of the word real. As colonial money devaluated, nobody had a single real, so people started using the word réis to refer to the currency. In a way, then, Brazilian latest currency is a renovation of its first currency.
Another thing to notice is the fascination with the cruzeiro and cruzado thing. Both words have a relation to the cross, but they don’t have a religious meaning here. The cruzeiro is the chief constellation on the Southern sky and one which is bound up in Brazilian flag and, one might say, identity.
Eu vou torcer pela paz Pela alegria, pelo amor Pelas moças bonitas Eu vou torcer, eu vou
Pelo inverno, pelo sorriso Pela primavera, pela namorada Pelo verão, pelo céu azul Pelo outono, pela dignidade Pelo verde lindo desse mar Pelas moças bonitas eu vou torcer, eu vou
Eu vou torcer pela paz Pela alegria, pelo amor Pelas moças bonitas Eu vou torcer, eu vou
Pelas coisas úteis que se pode comprar Com dez cruzeiros Pelo bem estar, pela compreensão Pela agricultura celeste, pelo coração Pelo jardim da cidade, pela sugestão Pelo Santo Tomás de Aquino Pelo meu irmão Pelo Gato Barbieri, Pelo mengão Pelo meu amigo que sofre do coração
Pelas moças bonitas Eu vou torcer, eu vou Eu vou torcer pela paz Pela alegria, pelo amor
Pelas moças bonitas Eu vou torcer, eu vou Pelas dondocas bonitas Eu vou torcer, eu vou.
Translated lyrics:
I’ll cheer up for peace, happiness and love I’ll cheer up for beautiful ladies I’ll cheer up, I will
I’ll cheer up for winter, for smiles For the spring, for the girlfriends, For the summer, for the blue skies For autumn, for dignity For the green color of this beautiful sea For all the beautiful ladies, I will
I’ll cheer up for peace, happiness and love I’ll cheer up for beautiful ladies I’ll cheer up, I will
I’ll cheer up for all the useful things One can buy with ten bucks I’ll cheer up for good living, comprehension For celestial agriculture, for the heart For the city’s gardens, for the suggestions For Aquinas, for my brother For Gato Barbieri, for Flamengo For my friend who suffers from a heart condition
For the beautiful ladies I’ll support them, I will I’ll cheer up for peace, happiness and love
This is also a more simple song than the first ones on the album, but it has a strong message for peace, easiness, and living well, which fits nicely into Jorge Ben’s persona. It also gives material for exploring some cool things about Brazilian culture.
The verb torcer has some very different meanings for someone who’s trying to learn Brazilian Portuguese. Its first meaning is to wring or to squeeze. The second meaning of the word is to support someone or some team. How come the same word has so different meanings?
It has to do with the introduction of football in Brazil. When football came to Brazil on the feet of Charles Miller and other English and German immigrants around the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, it was an aristocratic sport. People dressed in their best clothes to watch the games, which were conducted on a spirit of camaraderie. Many of the supporters that went to the games, that time, were women, usually rich and educated who were wives, sisters and related to the players, but nonetheless women that cheered up enthusiastically on the games and were an important part of it. Those women usually went to the matches with scarf or handkerchiefs, which they nervously squeezed during the game. Because of this, the supporters came to be known as torcidas. The general name for a sports supporter in Brazil, then, comes from what women did on the attendance for soccer matches in the early 20th century.
During the course of the 20th century the feminine presence on soccer stadiums diminished, but recently, with the gentrification of football, it has risen again. You can get to know some of the problems women encounter going to the pitch reading this brief article.
I had some trouble keeping the overall harmony of the song and the lyrics. In other words, I failed blatantly. But I’ve tried not being too repetitive, so I used interchangeably the words support and cheer up for. I hope I haven’t wrecked the whole song.
You’ll notice that Jorge Ben uses the word Mengão. This is also an affectionate way of referring to Brazil most popular football team, Flamengo, which I’m sure all of you know. Flamengo’s torcida is surely the most creative and animated of all torcidas in Brazil and Jorge Ben’s career developed around the same time than Flamengo’s golden age, so he wrote lots of songs about mengo and its players. Jorge Ben himself tried his chance in soccer before turning to music.
There’s also a reference to Aquinas, which reintroduces the Hermetic themes of the album, as Jorge Ben regards Aquinas not only as a Catholic saint but also as a major alchemist.
Essa menina mulher da pele preta, Dos olhos azuis, do sorriso branco Não está me deixando dormir sossegado. Será que ela não sabe que eu fico acordado. Pensando nela todo dia, toda hora Passando pela minha janela todo dia, toda hora Sabendo que eu fico a olhar com malícia. A sua pele preta com malícia. Seus olhos azuis com malícia Seu sorriso branco com malícia. Seu corpo todo enfim, com malícia.
Com malícia…
Será que quando, eu fico acordado Pensando nela, ela pensa um pouco em mim? Um pouco em mim Com malícia. Um pouco em mim Com malícia.
Um…pouco em mim. Com malícia. Essa menina mulher… Da pele preta Não está me deixando… Dormir sossegado. Será que ela não, não, não Pensa um pouco em mim, pensa. Com malícia, com malícia. Pouco em mim, Pouco em mim Pouco em mim, Pouco em mim. Com malícia, com malícia Um pou pou pou pou pouco em mim pouco em mim. Com malícia. Com malícia. Essa mulher… Da pele preta Da pele preta Do sorriso branco, Dos olhos azuis Não está deixando me… Dormir sossegado…
Translated lyrics:
This black skinned woman girl With blue eyes and white smile It’s not letting me sleep I wonder if she thinks that I stay awake Thinking about here everytime everyday Passing through my window everytime everyday Knowing that I stand looking at her With malice Her black skin With malice Her blue eyes With malice Her white smile With malice All of her body With malice
Does she thinks about me When I’m awake thinking about her? Not even a little bit With malice A little bit With malice
This song probably wouldn’t pass today’s standards about feminism and sexual abuse issues (which is a good thing), but anyway it is a beautiful and captivating song. In its content, it is more simple than the previous songs I’ve posted here: it is just a dark skinned woman with whom Jorge Ben is obsessed about.
One of the things I like about this song is the use of iteration. There are some repetitive notions throughout it, such as menina mulher, which I translated as woman girl, and one usual feature of Jorge Ben’s songs which is the repetition of certain words or sentences one, two, or three times. In the first time what is said doesn’t actually fit into the song, but then Jorge Ben keeps on saying the same thing over and over again and then — almost by magic — the vocals fit into the song as if they were the most natural thing. I’ll point whenever this happen on the album or in other of his albums.
The song also feature a little spoken/sung introduction, which reads like this:
– Pedrinho vai ser papai – Quem vai ser papai? – Menina mulher da pele preta – Menina mulher da pele preta? – Haha
It can be translated as follows:
– Pedrinho is having a baby – Who’s having a baby? – Black skinned woman girl – Black skinned woman girl? – Haha
I don’t know if that has its origins on some popular tune or what, but I always liked it. On some notes about Portuguese language, you may know that the suffix -inho serves as diminutive, so Pedro would be the normal name, and Pedrinho is an endearing nick name. This suffix can also be used to lessen one person, saying someone or something is small, unimportant etc. Papai, on its hand, is also an affectionate way of referring to dad. Usually the word is only pai, but on some parts of Brazil people say papai, as they also say mamãe, and not mãe, to refer to their (or someone else’s) mothers.
This repetition of syllables is used more frequently with children. People usually say that a baby or a child is not dormindo (transl., sleeping), but nanando or mimindo, which is just the same thing but more loving, caring and infantile.
As you may know, for a long time it was said that the “Brazilian preference” was for the mulata. The mulata is the same as mulatto, a descendant both of White and Black parents. Needless to say, having a preference for the mulata shows some signs of continuation of the slavery thinking on Brazilian society. On the other hand, it shows how Brazilian society differs from, for example, North American society, as being mixed is, at least superficially, a good thing. Nowadays I sense that the Brazilian fascination with the mulata is lessening, both as racism seems more conspicuous on Brazilian society (which, nonetheless, is also a good thing, as it is not hidden anymore) and public policies regarding the minorities are creating an ambient for people to assume themselves as Black and not as mulatto anymore.
Anyway, one anachronistic feature which is maintained even now is the (in)famous mulata globeleza. Globeleza is a combination of the words Globo and beleza (transl., beauty). Globo is the major media company of Brazil, which you may or may not know from this documentary, and Globeleza is its periodic section devoted to Rio de Janeiro carnival. The mulata globeleza was the dancer that represented carnival for Globo, and she was featured on DAYTIME television, with CHILDREN and FAMILIES watching, covered only with BODY PAINTING.
With that in mind, you can understand that when Janet Jackson showed her left (or right?) boob on television on Super Bowl most Brazilians just answered: “what’s the big deal?”.
For some time (a decade or more), the mulata globeleza was Valéria Valenssa, but in later years she was replaced by someone I don’t know. You can peek a little of my childhood watching the Globeleza spot on Globo’s coverage of Brazilian carnival here.
PS: I’ve translated only part of the lyrics because most of the song is comprised of — you guess — repetitions.
Lá lá lá Tem uns dias Que eu acordo Pensando e querendo saber De onde vem O nosso impulso De sondar o espaço A começar pelas sombras sobre as estrelas-las-las-las E depensar que eram os deuses astronautas E que se pode voar sozinho até as estrelas-las-las Ou antes dos tempos conhecidos Conhecidos Vieram os deuses de outras galáxias-xias-xias Ou de um planeta de possibilidades impossíveis E de pensar que não somos os primeiros seres terrestres Pois nós herdamos uma herança cósmica Errare humanum est Errare humanum est Nem deuses Nem astronautas Ô ô ô ô Eram os deuses astronautas Lá lá lá lá Nem deuses Nem astronautas Ô ô ô ô Eram os deuses astronautas Lá lá lá lá Eram os deuses astronautas Ná ná ná ná ná Dez Ná ná ná ná ná Nove Ná ná ná ná ná Oito Ná ná ná ná ná Sete Ná ná ná ná ná Seis Ná ná ná ná ná Cinco Ná ná ná ná ná Três Ná ná ná ná ná Dois Ná ná ná ná ná Um Ná ná ná ná ná Zero
Translated lyrics:
There are some days that I wake up Trying to think and desiring to know From where comes the impulse To probe the outer space Beginning with the shadows over the stars And to think that the Gods were astronauts And that you can fly by yourself to the stars Or even think about before times known Did the gods came from another galaxy Or from a planet of impossible possibilities? And to think that we’re not the first terrestrial beings Because we inherited a cosmic heritage Errare humanum est Errare humanum est Neither gods nor astronauts Ô ô ô ô Were the gods astronauts? Lá lá lá lá Neither gods nor astronauts Ô ô ô ô Were the gods astronauts? Lá lá lá lá Were the gods astronauts? Ná ná ná ná Ten Ná ná ná ná Nine Ná ná ná ná Eight Ná ná ná ná Seven Ná ná ná ná Six Ná ná ná ná Five Ná ná ná ná Four Ná ná ná ná Three Ná ná ná ná Two Ná ná ná ná One Ná ná ná ná Zero
The third track on Tábua de Esmeralda is one of the most concept-heavy songs on the album. It introduces many of the elements of Jorge Ben’s philosophy and curiosity around this time. It is also a document of the penetration of the works of Erich von Däniken in Brazil in the 70s.
As many of you may know, Erich von Däniken was one of the main publicists of the idea that ancient religion and, therefore, ancient gods were not a fabrication of the human mind, but actually aliens which helped introduce civilization to man. As you may also know from a lot of History Channel programming, such an idea is obviously true.
Erich von Däniken popularity skyrocketed in 1968, when he published Chariots of the Gods?, in which he explained his theories. I’ve read the book when I was a teenager and was deeply impressed by the sheer volume of evidences he finds. Some of them are really convincing, like that Mayan stone table that could represent an astronaut on a starship.
Von Däniken’s book was translated in Brazil as Eram os deuses astronautas?, which is rendered in the lyrics when Jorge Ben says “Were the gods astronauts?”.
I love such ancient aliens conspiracy theories. But as a historian myself I’m troubled by their lack of imagination (yes), because it presupposes that human history is a straight line that goes from one place to another in a linear narrative of progress. What is implicitly stated in those theories is that ancient civilizations could not have technological features that we have now, because they were primitive. But ancient people were not necessarily primitive, they only had different cultures than us in the same brains we have. Conspiracy theories, even though they always propose some alternatives to what has really happened, usually lack the imagination to think of really different alternatives to what is already here.
The other reference included in the lyrics is to Seneca’s dictum that to err is human. The full sentence goes like this: “Errare humanum est, sed in errore perseverare diabolicum”, which can be translated as “To err is human, but to persist in error is diabolical”.
I think that what Jorge Ben is intending to do, relating the ancient astronaut hypothesis and what Seneca says, is to imply how the ancient gods were fundamental to the constitution of modern human beings, something von Däniken states has happened at a biological level. In Jorge Ben’s lyrics, however, I think it happens something like what happens in the movie Prometheus. The ancient aliens are our fathers, and our faults — and our virtues — depend on their intentions, even if they are far removed from us right now.
To conclude such way out reflections, I really like the way Jorge Ben uses echo and reverb on this song. They mesh with the samba structure of the song in a beautiful way.
Lá vem o homem da gravata florida Meu deus do céu… que gravata mais linda Que gravata sensacional Olha os detalhes da gravata… Que combinação de côres Que perfeição tropical Olha que rosa lindo Azul turquesa se desfolhando Sob os singelos cravos
E as margaridas, margaridas De amores com jasmim Isso não é só uma gravata Essa gravata é o relatório De harmonia de coisas belas É um jardim suspenso Dependurado no pescoço De um homem simpático e feliz Feliz, feliz porque… com aquela gravata
Qualquer homem feio, qualquer homem feio Vira príncipe, simpático, simpático, simpático Porque… com aquela gravata Êle é esperado e bem chegado É adorado em qualquer lugar Por onde ele passa nascem flores e amores Com uma gravata florida singela Como essa, linda de viver Até eu, até eu, até eu, até eu, até eu…
Translated lyrics:
There comes the man with the floral tie Oh my God what a beautiful tie What marvelous tie Look at its details How the colors combine What tropical perfection Look at this beautiful pink This turquoise blue leaving its leaves Under the simple cloves
And the daisies, the daisies In love with the jasmin That’s not only a tie This is a report on the harmony Of beautiful things It’s a hanging garden Suspended on the neck Of a joyful and good-natured guy Happy, and happy because…
With that tie any ugly man, any ugly man Becomes a prince, is charming, friendly, and pleasant Because…with that tie He is awaited for and welcome And worshipped anywhere And wherever he goes flowers and lovers bloom With a simple floral tie like this Like this, deadly beautiful Even myself, even myself, even myself
This is one of the craziest lyrics I know. I mean, how come one could have such an epiphany just looking at the floral tie someone was wearing? Those guys were crazy on acid by that time for sure.
I think there isn’t much to talk about the lyrics. They are kinda simple, as they describe the colors, the types of flower, and the general effect the referred tie has on the narrator. Whenever I think about the song one image that comes to mind is some of Romero Britto’s shameful works, but it is kind of sacrilegious to compare Romero Britto and Jorge Ben.
According to one brief interview I read, the man with the floral tie actually is the German physician, botanist, and alchemist Paracelsus. According to Wikipedia, Paracelsus rejected the ancient theory of the four humors (melancholy, cholera, phlegm, and sanguineous) in favor of a tripartite explanation of the world and the diseases affecting the body which comprised an combustible element (sulphur), a changing element (mercury) and a solid element (salt). The different combination of these three elements explained differences in behavior, alterations in humor etc.
In some way, maybe, the floral pattern of the tie reflects this general Parecelsus philosophy. One should note, however, that even though he rejected the earlier theory of four humors and was considered later an exponent of scientific thinking, because of all the experimental approach he had to biology and medicine, Parecelsus maintains the overall scheme of a correspondence between what is located higher and what is below. After all, the three elements are both in the world and within the human body.
This is the general thought scheme from alchemy, as we shall see later, and it was also a feature of ancient medicine and astrology. It is a principle that continued during the Middle Ages, as one can see in the famous Zodiacal Man from Les Très riches heures du Duc de Berry, an early 15th-century illuminated manuscript. One of the masterpieces of its era. In the picture, the Zodiacal signs are located both in the Sky and in the human body, corresponding to specific places and, even further, specific organs.
Cosmological correspondences aside, you can see a picture of the floral-tied man Jorge Ben himself below and here’s a link to that interview from where I got some of the information and the picture.
Brazil 70 Translation Project 