I wasn’t sure what to write on for BMoF of this week, until I saw Jeff Bell’s post on Leonard Cohen of yesterday; it got me thinking about Brazilian songs whose lyrics could be published in the poetry section of a cultural magazine. Now, there are undoubtedly many songs which would qualify, but I had to think of ‘Samba e Amor’, written by Chico Buarque. As some readers may recall, over the last decade or so Chico Buarque has been having a very successful career as a fiction writer, but since the beginning of his career as a musician and composer his songs are marked by great attention to the text of the lyrics.
‘Samba e Amor’ is a song about someone who spends then night making ‘samba and love’, and then has a hard time waking up in the morning. (One reason why I like this song is probably because I’m the anti-morning person; waking up is literally painful every day, and not because I spend the night making samba and love – those were the days…) Besides the Bohemian theme, it has a slight anti-industrialization undertone: factories and cities force a particular and perhaps unnatural life rhythm on people. I normally do not even try to translate lyrics, but this time I made an effort (apologies in advance for the clumsiness!):
I make samba and love until late
And then I am very sleepy in the morning
I hear the rush of the city which burns
And hastens the day of tomorrow
At dawn we still make love
As the factory begins to sound the horn
The traffic bypasses our bed, and complains
Of our eternal yawning and stretching
In the lap of the welcome companion
In the body of the blessed guitar
I make samba and love all night
I am not accountable towards anyone
I make samba and love until late
And I have much more to do
I hear the rush of the city. What a fuss!
Is it really so difficult to make it through dawn?
I do not know if I am lazy or a coward
Under my wool blanket
I make samba and love until later
And then I am very sleepy in the morning.
And now in Portuguese:
Eu faço samba e amor até mais tarde
E tenho muito sono de manhã
Escuto a correria da cidade que arde
E apressa o dia de amanhã
De madrugada a gente 'inda se ama
E a fábrica começa a buzinar
O trânsito contorna a nossa cama, reclama
Do nosso eterno espreguiçar
No colo da bem vinda companheira
No corpo do bendito violão
Eu faço samba e amor a noite inteira
Não tenho a quem prestar satisfação
Eu faço samba e amor até mais tarde
E tenho muito mais o que fazer
Escuto a correria da cidade. Que alarde!
Será que é tão difícil amanhecer?
Não sei se preguiçoso ou se covarde
Debaixo do meu cobertor de lã
Eu faço samba e amor até mais tarde
E tenho muito sono de manhã.
I’m posting two versions of the song: the original one by Chico Buarque (1969, so same year as last week’s ‘Essa moca tá diferente’), and a slightly later one by Caetano Veloso (1975). I’d be curious to hear from readers which one they prefer, so feedback would be much appreciated in comments!
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