“Vapor Barato” (Jards Macalé & Waly Salomão, 1971)
Source: Teca Lamboglia from São Paulo, Brasil, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Made famous by Gal Costa on her live album “Fa-Tal - Gal a Todo Vapor” (“Fa-Tal - Gal at Full Speed”), “Vapor Barato” was written by the great Jards Macalé (who would have turned 83 today, but passed away last November) and the poet Waly Salomão (who also directed the live show that the album stems from). This song marks a musical and political turning point in the “Fatal” live show—and in Gal’s career—from a solo singer with a guitar to a more aggressive, rock-and-roll singer fronting an entire band. A piece about the history of the song from Nova Brasil FM, offers quotes (translated by me below) from Jards and Gal that sum up the importance of this song during the darkness of the dictatorship:
“That line ‘I’m so tired’ is also a goodbye, it’s a break with the country.
It’s the need to leave, because staying was impossible. (…) After all: what do we want?
Peace. Love. Is that a lot? It is. And we were demanding that.” (Jards Macalé)
“I lived through that whole time, it wasn’t easy, it was hard. And sometimes difficult things are tiring, you know?
‘Yes, I’m so tired, but that’s not to say I no longer believe in you.” In you, in me, in that cool person, you understand?
It’s about resistance, about courage, about valor, about struggle.
To reclaim values, the good things that you think about, that you want.” (Gal Costa)
A brief comment on the linguistic aspects of the title: The word “vapor” means “steam” (and by extension could mean “speed” as in the expression “full steam ahead” and in the title of the album this track appears on) but as Jards Macalé and others have noted it’s not just “vapor” or that spray on a waterfall, it can also be used to refer to drugs and drug sellers. And “barato” while literally meaning “cheap” can also refer to the high from those drugs and through that meaning has morphed into something akin to “cool” or “neat.” The drug-related meanings couldn’t be more appropriate: there were some dunes in Rio de Janeiro where Gal and others smoked weed and played music, known as “Gal’s Dunes” or “Vapor Barato.” All of that to justify my seeming departure from the literal title words.
“Vapor Barato”
Oh, sim, eu estou tão cansado
Mas não pra dizer que eu não acredito mais em você
Com minhas calças vermelhas, meu casaco de general
Cheio de anéis
Vou descendo por todas as ruas
E vou tomar aquele velho navio
Eu não preciso de muito dinheiro
E não me importa, honey
Oh, minha honey baby
Baby, honey baby
Oh, minha honey baby
Oh, minha honey baby
Honey baby
Oh, sim, eu estou tão cansado
Mas não pra dizer que eu 'to indo embora
Talvez eu volte
Um dia eu volto
Mas eu preciso esquece-la (eu preciso)
Ah, minha grande
Ah, minha pequena
Ah, minha grande obsessão
Oh, minha honey baby
Baby, honey baby
Oh, minha honey baby
Baby, honey baby
“Cheap High”
Oh, yes, I’m so tired
But that’s not to say I no longer believe in you
With my red pants, my general’s coat
Full of rings
I’m going down all the streets
And I’m gonna take that old ship
I don’t need much money
And I don’t care, honey
Oh, my honey baby
Baby, honey baby
Oh, my honey baby
Oh, my honey baby
Honey baby
Oh, yes, I’m so tired
But that’s not to say that I’m going away
Maybe I’ll come back
One day I’ll come back
But I have to forget it (I have to)
Ah, my big
Ah, my small
Ah, my great obsession
Oh, minha honey baby
Baby, honey baby
Oh, minha honey baby
Baby, honey baby