“Sutilmente” (Skank, 2008)
Source: Skank, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
I’ve translated the song below in recognition of the 59th birthday today of Skank lead singer Samuel Rosa. Little recognized outside Brazil, Skank was a big deal on the Brazilian pop rock scene throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s. Strongly identified with their home state of Minas Gerais, Skank stopped recording and touring a couple years ago.
In terms of language, this song is notable for its use of a verb tense that is basically unique to Portuguese: the future subjunctive. Other languages have or had this tense, but Portuguese is the only one in which it is commonly used today. The couplets below all start with a line in the future subjunctive, followed by a line in the imperative. That means that the English lines don’t capture the “future-ness” of the Portuguese.
“Sutilmente”
E quando eu estiver triste
Simplesmente me abrace
Quando eu estiver louco
Subitamente se afaste
Quando eu estiver fogo
Suavemente se encaixe
E quando eu estiver triste
Simplesmente me abrace
E quando eu estiver louco
Subitamente se afaste
E quando eu estiver bobo
Sutilmente disfarce, yeah
Mas quando eu estiver morto
Suplico que não me mate, não
Dentro de ti
Dentro de ti
Mesmo que o mundo acabe, enfim
Dentro de tudo que cabe em ti
Mesmo que o mundo acabe, enfim
Dentro de tudo que cabe em ti, yeah
“Subtly”
And when I’m sad
Simply hug me
When I’m crazy
Quickly move away
When I’m fire
Gently nestle yourself in
And when I’m sad
Simply hug me
And when I’m crazy
Quickly move away
And when I’m a fool
Subtly hide it, yeah
But when I’m dead
I beg you not to kill me, no
Inside you
Inside you
Even if the world ends, after all
Inside everything that exists in you
Even if the world ends, after all
Inside everything that exists in you, yeah