“Odara” by Caetano Veloso

Source:: Secretaría de Cultura Ciudad de México from México, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

This deceptively simple, hypnotically repetitive song from Caetano’s 1977 album “Caetanear” (“to Caetano”) is mentioned in the Seu Jorge song “Felicidade.” “Odara” derives from a Yoruba word and means beauty both in a physical sense but also in a well-being sense; in candomblé it refers to peace, tranquility, and positivity.

Listen to the song (2011 w/Maria Gadú)
Listen to the song (1977 original)

“Odara”
Let me dance so my body becomes odara
My face, my noggin become odara
Let me sing so that the world becomes odara
For everything to become a rare jewel
Anything that has been dreamed
I sing and I dance so it will work