“Naturalmente” (Fafá de Belém, 1977)
Source: Fatima Belem, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
A twofer today: The Brazuca Sounds podcast is releasing an episode about “Emoriô” and its B-side, “Naturalmente.” Both songs were written by João Donato (“Emoriô” with lyrics by Gilberto Gil and “Naturalmente” with lyrics by Caetano Veloso) and sung by the fabulous Fafá de Belém (born Maria de Fátima Palha de Figueiredo on August 9, 1956). Below I focus more on the B-side song because, although both songs are worth listening to and learning about, “Naturalmente” is more interesting from a translation point of view. The A-side, “Emoriô,” is a Yoruba word that basically means “I see you.” The Portuguese lyrics in the song are pretty simply translated:
Emoriô must be a Nagô word
A word of love, a taste
Emoriô must be something from there
The sun, the moon, the sky for Oxalá
Don’t get me wrong: it’s a great song, but the (Portuguese) words are not the focus. (Do listen to Leandro’s episode about it though!) The song below, on the other hand, is a veritable linguistic playground. To start with (quite literally), almost every verse begins with a verb in the infinitive: ter (to have), ver (to see), andar (to walk), etc. But the words don’t translate well into English as infinitives: the first line would be “To have nothing, nothing to have” which to me seems senseless. The only way these lines really work in English is to translate the infinitives as gerunds (having, seeing, walking, etc.). A hallmark of weak (machine, AI) translations: assuming there is always a one-to-one correspondence of words between languages. Yes, “ter” can be translated as “to have” but it can also be “having”; In fact, translating Brazilian infinitives to English gerunds is one way to tell human translations from machine translations.
Then the last part of the song is almost a catalog of terminology (mostly food and fruit) from the Amazonian part of Brazil, as captured in Fafá’s own stage name (“Belém” being the capital of the state of Pará and the 2nd largest city in the Amazon after Manaus). Lots of links below to explore this lesser known part of Brazil. (I’ve left nearly all of these Amazonian references in Portuguese because the sound of the words is so integral to the song - and because a lot of them don’t really have a direct English translation. One that does that I left in Portuguese anyway is “maracujá” = “passion fruit,” incidentally my favorite fruit.)
Leandro suggests that the lyrics to this song are more intended for their sound than their meaning, which may well be true, but nevertheless, they do have meaning. I believe it’s part of Caetano’s genius that he seems able to treat words simultaneously as sonorous objects and as carriers of meaning. Without a doubt the sounds of these words in the Portuguese are extremely important (the plosive Ds and Gs, the repeated A sound, etc.) but the words do make sense as lyrics at the same time. Or at least I was able to translate them…
“Naturalmente”
Ter nada, nada para ter
Ver cada estrada para andar
Andar em cada para ser
Ter cada, nada para dar
Ser gargalhada para rir
Ser a palavra para dar
Ser serenata para ouvir
Ser ser e nada para amar
Saber a calma para ir
Perder a pressa para estar
Perder o verbo para si
Saber o sonho para lá
Ouvir a rima para a dor
Cantar a nota para o céu
Achar a forma para a flor
Naturalmente para Deus
Viva Belém do tucupi
Belém, Belém do tacacá
Belém, Belém do açaí
Belém, Belém do Grão Pará
Viva Belém, cupuaçu
Belém, Belém do bacuri
Belém, Belém que tem jambu
Belém, Belém do tucupi
Belém, Belém, tucunaré
Belém, Belém, taperebá
Belém, Belém do igarapé
Belém, Belém, maracujá
Viva Belém do buriti
Belém, Belém do muçuã
Belém, Belém do bacuri
Belém, Belém do tucumã
Viva Belém do tucupi
Belém, Belém do tacacá
Belém, Belém
“Naturally”
Having nothing, nothing to have
Seeing every road to walk
Walking each one in order to be
Having each, nothing to give
Being laughter in order to laugh
Being the word in order to give
Being the serenade in order to hear
Being a being and nothing to love
Knowing the calm in order to go
Losing the rush in order to be
Losing the verb for you
Knowing the dream beyond
Hearing the rhyme for the pain
Singing the note for the sky
Finding the shape for the flower
Naturally for God
Long live Belém of tucupi
Belém, Belém of tacacá
Belém, Belém of açaí
Belém, Belém of Greater Pará
Long live Belém, cupuaçu
Belém, Belém of bacuri
Belém, Belém which has jambu
Belém, Belém of tucupi
Belém, Belém, tucunaré
Belém, Belém, taperebá
Belém, Belém of the igarapé
Belém, Belém, maracujá
Long live Belém of buriti
Belém, Belém of the muçuã
Belém, Belém of bacuri
Belém, Belém of tucumã
Long live Belém of tucupi
Belém, Belém of tacacá
Belém, Belém