- published: 17 Mar 2014
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"Aquarela do Brasil" (English: Watercolor of Brazil), known in the English-speaking world simply as "Brazil", is one of the most famous Brazilian songs of all time, written by Ary Barroso in 1939.
Ary Barroso wrote "Aquarela do Brasil" in early 1939, when he was prevented from leaving his home one night due to a heavy storm. Its title, a reference to watercolor painting, is a clear reference to the rain. He also wrote "Três Lágrimas" (English: Three teardrops) on that same night, before the rain ended.
Describing the song in an interview to Marisa Lira, of the newspaper Diário de Notícias, Barroso said that he wanted to "free the samba away from the tragedies of life, of the sensual scenario already so explored". According to the composer, he "felt all the greatness, the value and the wealth of our land", reliving "the tradition of the national panels".
Initially, he wrote the first chords, which he defined as "vibrant", and a "plangent of emotions". The original beat "sang on [his] imagination, highlighting the sound of the rain, on syncope beats of fantastic tambourins". According to him, "the rest came naturally, music and lyrics at once". He declared to have felt like another person after writing the song.
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (Portuguese pronunciation: [kaeˈtɐ̃nu emanuˈɛw viˈɐ̃nɐ ˈtɛlis veˈlozu]; born August 7, 1942), better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s, at the beginning of the Brazilian military dictatorship. He has remained a constant creative influence and best-selling performing artist and composer ever since.
Veloso was born in the city of Santo Amaro da Purificação, in Bahia, a state in the northeastern area of Brazil, but moved to Salvador, the state capital, as a college student in the mid-1960s. Soon after the move, Veloso won a music contest and was signed to his first label. He became one of the founders of Tropicalismo with a group of several other musicians and artists—including his sister Maria Bethânia—in the same period. However the Brazilian government at the time viewed Veloso's music and political action as threatening, and he was arrested, along with fellow musician Gilberto Gil, in 1969. The two eventually were exiled from Brazil, and went to London, where they lived for two years. After he moved back to his home country, in 1972, Veloso once again began recording and performing, becoming popular outside of Brazil in the 1980s and 1990s.
Brasil
Meu Brasil brasileiro
Meu mulato inzoneiro
Vou cantar-te nos meus versos
Ô Brasil, samba que dá
Bamboleio, que faz gingar
Ô Brasil do meu amor
Terra de Nosso Senhor
Brasil, Brasil
Prá mim, prá mim
Ô abre a cortina do passado
Tira a mãe preta do cerrado
Bota o rei congo no congado
Brasil, Brasil
Deixa, cantar de novo o trovador
A merencória luz da lua
Toda canção do meu amor
Quero ver a Sá Dona caminhando
Pelos salões arrastando
O seu vestido rendado
Brasil, Brasil
Prá mim, prá mim
Brasil
Terra boa e gostosa
Da morena sestrosa
De olhar indiferente
Ô Brasil, verde que dá
Para o mundo admirá
Ô Brasil, do meu amor
Terra de Nosso Senhor
Brasil, Brasil
Prá mim, prá mim
Ô, esse coqueiro que dá coco
Oi onde eu amarro a minha rede
Nas noites claras de luar
Brasil, Brasil
Ô ouve estas fontes murmurantes
Onde eu mato a minha sede
E onde a lua vem brincar
Ô, esse Brasil lindo e trigueiro
É o meu Brasil Brasileiro
Terra de samba e pandeiro
Brasil, Brasil