Page 18

This week’s #OnRepeat is actually a remake of a Bossa Nova standard: “Água de Beber,” music written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and words written by Vinicius de Moraes, but is covered by Paula Lima. The Brazilian singer and composer, Paula Lima, is well-known for her music which blends influences of traditional Samba, Brazilian Soul and Funk, Rock, and MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) or Brazilian Pop Music; and this rendition of “Água de Beber” showcases these influences. During the 1990s, she was greatly involved in the Brazilian Soul and Funk scene of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, performing as back-up vocalist for Jorge Ben (please look him up; famous for “Mas Que Nada” among other numerous hits) and performing with Brazilian rap duo, Thaíde and DJ Hum, and collaborating with (another one of my favorites) Brazilian Funk singer, Ed Motta.

“Água de Beber” is a beautifully written song surprisingly in both Portuguese and in English. I only say this because sometimes the English version of a song written in a different language either doesn’t make sense or the lyrics in English mean something completely different. Paula Lima sings the English version of the song, but I think because of the way she performs the melody and words, this version grooves way harder than Astrud Gilberto’s version of “Água de Beber”. Below I’ve included the Portuguese lyrics, the English lyrics and the English translation of the Portuguese version:

Portuguese Lyrics

Eu quis amar, mas tive medo
E quis salvar meu coração
Mas o amor sabe um segredo
O medo pode matar o seu coração

Água de beber
Água de beber, camará
Água de beber
Água de beber, camará!

Eu nunca fiz coisa tão certa
Entrei pra escola do perdão
A minha casa vive aberta
Abre todas as portas do coração!

Água de beber
Água de beber, camará
Água de beber
Água de beber, camará!

English Lyrics

Your love’s the rain
My heart’s the flower
I need your love
or I will die
My very life is in your power
will I wither and fade or bloom to the sky

Água de beber
Água de beber, camará
Água de beber
Água de beber, camará!

Água de beber
Água de beber, camará
Água de beber
Água de beber, camará!

The rain may fall on distant desert
the rain may fall upon the sea
the rain may fall upon the flower
since the rain has to fall, let it fall on me

Água de beber
Água de beber, camará
Água de beber
Água de beber, camará!

English Translation of Portuguese Version

I wanted to love but was afraid
I wanted to protect my heart
but love knows a secret
fear can kill the heart

This is sweet water,
sweet water, my friend.
This is sweet water,
sweet water, my friend.

I never did a thing so certain
I learned of forgiveness (Literal: I entered the school of forgiveness)
My house is open
I opened all the doors of my heart

This is sweet water,
sweet water, my friend.
This is sweet water,
sweet water, my friend.

Also, below I’ve posted Astrud Gilberto’s version of “Água de Beber” and Paula Lima’s version so you can have something to compare Lima’s version to (and so that you know the origin of the covered version and how it has changed in Lima’s).

Lima’s rhythmic timing is on point and she shows this by the way she plays with the rhythm in the intro and the chorus section. Her melodic improvisation is simple, stylistic and impressive to listen to. Her interpretation of the English lyrics is beautiful and reminiscent of the Bossa Nova style. Did I happen to mention that her stage presence is such that she gets everyone in the audience surrounding her dancing in their seats? Her performance is groovy, captivating, and something that any singer or performer should aspire to.

I know that this post in particular was a long one, but I wanted to provide both lyrical and musical context so that you guys can start to notice comparisons in the styles of music that you listen to and know how to listen and look for them so that you can appreciate not only your own music, but all music even more.

If anyone has any new musicians, bands or songs to listen to, please feel free to leave a comment below.

This week for #OnRepeat, I’d like to talk about Roberto Angleró and the song, “Si Dios Fuera Negro.” While researching and listening to different types of Afro-Latin music this past week, I came across this song and was intrigued by the message conveyed in the lyrics. The title, “Si Dios Fuera Negro,” means “If God Were Black” and is a song written by Angleró, giving a light-hearted, yet thought-provoking view on race relations.

This song is also interesting because it is a bomba sicá written in the salsa style. Bomba is an umbrella term used to label a family of Afro-Puerto Rican folkloric music styles; similar to the way Rumba is used in Cuban music or Samba is used in Brazilian music. The three main styles of bomba are sicá, holandés, yubá. The sicá and the holandés are both in duple meter (meaning, subdivided into groupings of two pulses) and the yubá is in triple meter (subdivided into three pulses). The sicá, which is the style used in Roberto Angleró’s song, is the most well-known and is used in other types of Latin music, like salsa.

Below are the opening lines for the song, “Si Dios Fuera Negro”:

Si dios fuera negro, mi compay, cómo cambiaría.
fuera nuestra raza, mi compay, la que mandaría.

If God was black, my friend, everything would change.

it would be our people, my friend, who would be calling the shots.

The lines are simple, yet significant, conveying the sentiment of alienation, displacement and encounters with racism that people of African descent (Afro-Puerto Rican, Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Peruvian) have historically dealt with. The lines after tell of a black presidents, governors, lawyers and doctors, as if to challenge stereotypes and negative stigma institutionally perpetuated in society against people of African descent. This song conveys a serious message of race relations and positive sentiments of success that can even be applicable in present-day.

I hope that this song inspires you to look into other types of music from countries of the African diaspora and find elements of these songs that are reflective of the culture that they are from. If you guys have any new musicians or artists to check out, let us know in the comments below!

#OnRepeat: Paula Lima “Água de Beber” (Acoustic Live)

#OnRepeat: Roberto Angleró “Si Dios Fuera Negro”