“Garota de Berlim” (Supla, 2000)
Source: Mauricio Mercer, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Today is Supla’s 59th birthday. (Any Wikipedia editors out there want to correct his page, which has him born in 1965?) Born Eduardo Smith de Vasconcellos Suplicy (no relation), and the son of former São Paulo mayor Marta Suplicy and former Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Suplicy, Supla started out as a drummer for the band Os Impossíveis at the age of 13. This song is from his fourth solo album “Charada Brasileiro” (“Brazilian Charade”). Linguistically, this song is pretty straightforward, although there are some interesting juxtapositions of poetic language with a more punk sound.
“Garota de Berlim”
Caminhava eu sozinho
À noite, olhando para o chão
De repente eu vi uma figura
Que de longe tocou meu coração
E parecia tudo tao irreal
Aquela luz azul e era afinal
Enquanto eu caminhava ela desapareceu
Foi num piscar de olhos, não sei como aconteceu
Imediatamente comecei a procurar
Aquela garota eu preciso encontrar
Mas essa cidade é tão imensa
Não sei seu nome, nem como lhe chamar
Linda garota de Berlim
Linda garota de Berlim
Já desesperado, parecia que era o fim
Nunca encontraria a garota de Berlim
De repente, então, ela me apareceu
Foi num piscar de olhos, não ei como aconteceu
Fiquei ali parado, e ela então se aproximou
Olhou bem nos meus olhos e pra mim assim falou
Sexo, sexo, sexo, medalhas
E esse mistério minha vida prosseguiu
Aquelas palavras, aquele olhar febril
Eu sei que esse conflito lindo nunca terá fim
Jamais esquecerei a garota de Berlim
Linda garota de Berlim
Linda garota de Berlim
Pick it up
Linda garota de Berlim
Linda garota de Berlim
“Girl from Berlin”
I was walking alone
At night, looking at the ground
Suddenly I saw a shape
That from afar touched my heart
And everything seemed so unreal
That blue light and it was after all
While I was walking she disappeared
It was in the blink of an eye, I don’t know how it happened
I immediately started to search for
That girl I have to find
But that city is so immense
I don’t know her name, nor how to call her
Beautiful girl from Berlin
Beautiful girl from Berlin
Already desperate, it seemed like it was the end
I would never find the girl from Berlin
Suddenly, then, she appeared to me
It was in the blink of an eye, I don’t know how it happened
I stood there frozen, and then she came near
She looked right in my eyes and this is what she said to me
Sex, sex, sex medals
And that mystery followed my life
Those words, that feverish look
I know that this beautiful conflict will never end
I will never forget the girl from Berlin
Beautiful girl from Berlin
Beautiful girl from Berlin
Pick it up
Beautiful girl from Berlin
Beautiful girl from Berlin