“Além do Horizonte” (Erasmo Carlos, 1980)
Source: Will Mumu Silva, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The great Erasmo Carlos would have turned 85 today. In recognition of that milestone, I’ve translated his duet with Tim Maia off his aptly named “Erasmo 80” album. These are pretty straightforward lyrics, but there is a word in the very first line that merits some attention: The verb “dever” can mean a lot of things (and the noun has a whole bunch of other meanings). We can set aside the meaning “to owe” as that obviously has nothing to do with this song. But there’s a big debate among translators (particularly legal translators, which I have been for years) about whether to translate the word “deve” as “should” or “must” (we won’t even get into “shall”)—meaning that the first line of this song could be “Beyond the horizon there should be” or “Beyond the horizon there must be.” I feel like this hopeful song is talking more about what must exist beyond our understanding and in our future than about some ephemeral hope of what might exist, so I’ve chosen “must” here. I think the use of the straight indicative present in the second verse backs me up on that, not to mention the “com certeza”/“for sure” at the end of the first verse.
Listen to the song
Listen to The Anvil playlist
(this is The Anvil’s 260th song!)
“Além do Horizonte”
Além do horizonte deve ter
Um lugar bonito pra viver em paz
Onde eu possa encontrar a natureza
Alegria e felicidade com certeza
Lá nesse lugar o amanhecer é lindo
Com flores festejando mais um dia que vem vindo (Que vem vindo)
Onde a gente possa se deitar no campo
Fazer amor na relva escutando o canto dos pássaros
Aproveitar a tarde sem pensar na vida
Andar despreocupado sem saber a hora de voltar
Bronzear o corpo todo sem censura
Gozar a liberdade de uma vida sem frescura
Se você não vem comigo, tudo isso vai ficar
No horizonte esperando por nós dois
Se você não vem comigo, nada disso tem valor
De que vale o paraíso sem amor?
Além do horizonte existe um lugar
Bonito e tranquilo pra gente se amar
“Beyond the Horizon”
Beyond the horizon there must be
A beautiful place to live in peace
Where I can find nature
Joy and happiness for sure
In that place the dawn is gorgeous
With flowers celebrating one more day that’s coming (That’s coming)
Where we can lay in the field
Make love in the grass listening to birdsongs
Enjoy the afternoon without thinking about life
Wander unworried without having a time to go back
Tan our entire body with no censorship
Enjoy the freedom of a hassle-free life
If you don’t come with me, all of that will remain
On the horizon waiting for the two of us
If you don’t come with me, none of that is worth anything
What is paradise worth without love?
Beyond the horizon there’s a place
Beautiful and tranquil for us to love each other