“Alegria, Alegria” (Caetano Veloso, 1968)
Source: Secretaría de Cultura Ciudad de México from México, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
This song is the first track on the album by power siblings Maria Bethânia and Caetano Veloso that won the Grammy for Best Global Music Album this past weekend. The album is “Caetano e Bethânia Ao Vivo” (“Caetano and Bethânia Live”) and it includes 33 tracks (some of which are medleys of multiple songs), all but one of which have been previously released. One of the tracks, Leãozinho, was one of the very first I translated here on the Anvil, way back in early 2021. Other tracks from the album that have appeared here: Você é Linda and Baby and Gita. Both artists have had incredible careers leading up to this well-deserved Grammy, but the album only touches on the tip of their mountainous oeuvres. This song in particular is a landmark in Brazilian music (and the beginning chords provide the intro for the Brazuca Sounds podcast).
Listen to the original version of the song
Listen to the 2026 Grammy version
Listen to the Anvil playlist
“Alegria, Alegria”
Caminhando contra o vento
Sem lenço, sem documento
No Sol de quase dezembro
Eu vou
O Sol se reparte em crimes
Espaçonaves, guerrilhas
Em cardinales bonitas
Eu vou
Em caras de presidentes
Em grandes beijos de amor
Em dentes, pernas, bandeiras
Bomba e Brigitte Bardot
O Sol nas bancas de revista
Me enche de alegria e preguiça
Quem lê tanta notícia?
Eu vou
Por entre fotos e nomes
Os olhos cheios de cores
O peito cheio de amores vãos
Eu vou
Por que não? Por que não?
Ela pensa em casamento
E eu nunca mais fui à escola
Sem lenço, sem documento
Eu vou
Eu tomo uma Coca-Cola
Ela pensa em casamento
E uma canção me consola
Eu vou
Por entre fotos e nomes
Sem livros e sem fuzil
Sem fome, sem telefone
No coração do Brasil
Ela nem sabe, até pensei
Em cantar na televisão
O Sol é tão bonito
Eu vou
Sem lenço, sem documento
Nada no bolso ou nas mãos
Eu quero seguir vivendo, amor
Eu vou
Por que não? Por que não?
“Joy, Joy”
Walking against the wind
Without a scarf, with no documents
Under the almost-December sun
I go
The sun spreads over crimes
Spaceships, guerrillas
Over beautiful Cardinales
I go
Over president’s faces
Over big loving kisses
Over teeth, legs, flags
Bombs and Brigitte Bardot
The sun on the newsstands
Fills me with joy and sloth
Who reads so much news?
I go
Among photos and names
Eyes full of colors
Chest full of love in vain
I go
Why not? Why not?
She thinks about marriage
And I never went back to school
Without a scarf, without documents
I go
I drink a Coca-Cola
She thinks about marriage
And a song consoles me
I go
Among photos and names
Without books and without a rifle
Without hunger, without a phone
In the heart of Brazil
She doesn’t even know, I actually thought
About singing on television
The sun is so pretty
I go
Without a scarf, without documents
Nothing in my pocket or in my hands
I want to go on living, love
I go
Why not? Why not?