“Agoniza mas não morre” (Nelson Sargento, 1978)

Source: rosano mauro, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Samba giant Nelson Sargento passed away in May 2021 from Covid, a diagnosis he received while hospitalized in Brazil’s National Cancer Institute. Three days of mourning were declared in Rio de Janeiro. Released by Beth Carvalho in 1978, “Agoniza Mas Não Morre” was Sargento’s biggest hit. The following year, at the age of 55, he released his first solo album and he continued recording and performing well into the 21st century. At the beginning of this performance of his hit at the famous Beco do Rato (“Rat Alley”) samba house, Sargento says “I’m certain that out of every ten people, eleven know this samba.”

Agoniza Mas Não Morre
Samba,
Agoniza mas não morre,
Alguém sempre te socorre,
Antes do suspiro derradeiro.

Samba,
Negro, forte, destemido,
Foi duramente perseguido,
Na esquina, no botequim, no terreiro.

Samba,
Inocente, pé-no-chão,
A fidalguia do salão,
Te abraçou, te envolveu,
Mudaram toda a sua estrutura,
Te impuseram outra cultura,
E você não percebeu,

You Suffer But Don’t Die
Samba,
You suffer but don’t die,
Someone always helps you,
Before the final breath.

Samba,
Black, strong, fearless,
You were harshly persecuted,
On the corner, in the bar, in the yard.

Samba,
Innocent, grounded
The nobility of the dancehall
Embraced you, surrounded you,
They changed your whole structure,
They imposed another culture on you,
And you didn’t notice.

Originally posted June 5, 2021, as “Nelson Sargento (7/25/1924-5/27/2021)”; reformatted and retitled March 3, 2025