“Pai e Mãe” (Gilberto & Preta Gil, 2021)
Source: Preta_Gil_no_Orgulho_LGBT_Acre.jpg: Agência de Notícias do Acrederivative work: Truu, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Sadly the world lost Preta Gil to cancer a couple of weeks ago. In honor of her passing—and of what would have been her 51st birthday today—I’ve translated a lovely and loving song that her father wrote in 1975, and that she and her dad and siblings reimagined and re-released a couple of years ago. I have approached this translation (at least the first couple lines) much differently than I usually do in this space. A literal (“word for word”) translation of the first lines would be “I spent a lot of time learning to kiss other men like I kiss my dad.” Because of the different cultural significance of kissing in US and Brazilian cultures, I’ve chosen not to keep the word “kiss” (until later in the song). This is certainly not because it’s inappropriate—it’s most decidedly not in the Brazilian context—but because I want to avoid any possible misunderstanding in order to focus on the fact that this song is about emotional vulnerability and learning to navigate both familial and romantic love and affection. That is, the voice in the song is trying to translate (!) the vulnerability, tenderness, and affection of a familial relationship into other kinds of relationships.
Linguistically, I also want to point out how common it is in Brazilian Portuguese to refer to put a possessive pronoun in front of a family member, even when talking directly to them. We simply don’t do this in English. So “Como é, minha mãe?” while literally “How are you, my mother?” (“How are you, mother of mine?”!?) just has to be “How are you, mom?”
“Pai e Mãe”
Eu passei muito tempo
Aprendendo a beijar outros homens
Como beijo o meu pai
Eu passei muito tempo
Pra saber que a mulher que eu amei
Que amo, que amarei
Será sempre a mulher
Como é minha mãe
Como é, minha mãe?
Como vão os seus temores?
Meu pai, como vai?
Diga a ele que não se aborreça comigo
Quando me vir beijar outro homem qualquer
Diga a ele que eu quando beijo um amigo
Estou certo de ser alguém como ele é
Alguém com sua força pra me proteger
Alguém com seu carinho pra me confortar
Alguém com olhos e coração bem abertos
Pra me compreender
Eu passei muito tempo
“Dad and Mom”
I took a long time
Learning to show other men
The kind of love I have for my father
I took a long time
To learn that the woman that I loved
That I love, that I will love
Will always be a woman
Like my mother is
How are you, mom?
How are your fears?
Dad, how are you?
Tell him not to get upset with me
When he sees me kiss some other man
Tell him that when I kiss a friend
I make sure it’s someone like he is
Someone with his strength to protect me
Someone with his affection to comfort me
Someone with wide open eyes and heart
To understand me
I took a long time