“Tocando em frente” (Almir Sater, 1990)
Source: ASCOM - Prefeitura de Votuporanga, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
In honor of Almir Sater’s 68th birthday, a translation of the 1990 song he wrote with Renato Teixeira and first recorded by Maria Bethânia: “Tocando em frente.” The song’s title song could be translated word for word as something like “playing in front” but the idiomatic meaning is definitely more like “moving ahead” or “moving forward.” But the verb “tocar” has numerous meanings that give different flavors not only to the title but to the whole song. I’ve used “play” when Sater talks about days, hopefully keeping the musical allusion from the Portuguese. And I’ve decided to push the idiomatic meaning of the title even further with my choice of translation. Part of that decision comes from the following (translated by me) analysis of the song on letras.mus.br:
The song 'Tocando Em Frente' … is a hymn to the simplicity and the knowledge that we acquire with life experience. The song’s lyrics reflect a philosophy of life that values walking slowly, patience, and the ability to smile even after facing sad times. The central message is that life is a path that must be followed with serenity, accepting the lessons that each experience brings. The song uses metaphors from rural life … to illustrate the journey of life. This analogy emphasizes the importance of moving forward, day after day, with determination and without rushing, just like the drover who follows the road.
From a linguistic/grammatical point of view, the lines “Conhecer as manhas e as manhãs | O sabor das massas e as maçãs” are fascinating in Portuguese because the noun pairs only vary by the nasalization of the end vowels, but this obviously creates completely different meanings of the words.
“Tocando em frente”
Ando devagar porque já tive pressa
E levo esse sorriso
Porque já chorei demais
Hoje me sinto mais forte
Mais feliz, quem sabe
Só levo a certeza
De que muito pouco sei
Ou nada sei
Conhecer as manhas e as manhãs
O sabor das massas e das maçãs
É preciso amor pra poder pulsar
É preciso paz pra poder sorrir
É preciso a chuva para florir
Penso que cumprir a vida
Seja simplesmente
Compreender a marcha
E ir tocando em frente
Como um velho boiadeiro
Levando a boiada
Eu vou tocando os dias
Pela longa estrada, eu vou
Estrada eu sou
Todo mundo ama um dia
Todo mundo chora
Um dia a gente chega
E no outro vai embora
Cada um de nós compõe a sua história
Cada ser em si
Carrega o dom de ser capaz
E ser feliz
“Keeping going”
I walk slowly because I’ve been in a hurry
And I wear this smile
Because I’ve already cried too much
Today I feel stronger
Happier, who knows
I am only certain
That I know very little
Or I know nothing
Knowing the tricks and the mornings
The flavor of pastas and apples
You have to love to be able to pulsate
You need peace to be able to smile
You need rain to flower
I think that fulfilling life
Is simply
Understanding the march
And keeping going
Like an old drover
Taking the cattle
I keep playing the days
Along the long road, I’m going
I am the road
Everybody loves one day
Everybody cries
One day we arrive
And the next we leave
Each of us composes our history
Each being in itself
Carries the gift of being able
And being happy