Medo Medieval (translation)

 medo medieval (Alfredo de Oliveira Neto)

Medieval Fear

to Fernand Braudel

(1) Invista no vinho branco da Ístria Invest in Istrian white wine     Insista no extremo norte capitalista Insist on the capitalist extreme north Elã! O verde trigo da Pérsia Cheer!, the green wheat of Persia Conversa no banco da praça russa a chat on the bench in the russian square Mercado, ria! Market, laugh! Vem, capital Come, capital De poesia Of poetry Chega de tanto lucro irreal (3x) Enough of so much unreal profit (3X)

(2) Veneza comprou a seda da China Venice bought silk from China Me ensina usura que não se esqueça Teach me usury that cannot be forgotten Milito no rico mundo da troca The rich world of exchange is my flag Invoca, me peça mais gasolina Are you teasing me? So, ask me for more gas Pirata, ria! Pirate, laugh! Bem virtual Too much virtual À revelia Even if contrary to Do nosso medo medieval (3x) Our medieval fear (3x)             (guitar solo) Repeat  (2) choir

Bispo (translation)

 Bispo (Sidnei Dantas /Alfredo de Oliveira Neto)

Dizem que ele vem de Japaratuba People say that he comes from Japaratuba*           Mas poderia dizer But he could say apenas apareci I just showed up Borda seu universo em cada traço Embroider his universe in every line dash Que segue a risca do céu That follows the line of the sky No seu abismo era rei In his abyss he was king Se você mandar fazer If you demand that I do Um barco para me salvar A boat to save me Fico escutando você I keep listening to you Durmo de olhos pro mar I sleep with my eyes to the sea

Borda um manto verde de mangas longas Embroider a green long-sleeved mantle Com bandeirinhas de cor With little colored flags  São parecidas They are similar Broche de almirante, casa caiada Navy admiral brooch, lime painted house Da nossa federação Of our federation Terra arrasada Scorched earth Ouço o que devo fazer I hear what should I do Morro pra me apresentar I die to introduce myself Quando vão compreender? When will they understand? Solto o estandarte no ar I throw the insignate into the air Desengancho de tudo isso I get rid of all this Me convenço, perco o juízo I convince myself, I lose my mind De ver a Praia Vermelha** Seeing the “Red Beach” E o engenho de dentro*** de mim And the ingenuity inside of me

*a city from Sergipe State, northeast of Brazil

** a beautiful beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the neighborhood of Urca, where there are still two large psychiatric hospitals

***Engenho de Dentro (“Mill from Within”) is also a name of a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, where there is the first psychiatric asylum of Brazil, opened in 1852, but since 2004 renamed to Nise da Silveira Institute, a tribute to that woman psychiatrist who revolutionized mental health care in Brazil, introducing art therapy in the 40's. In 2021, hospital discharge was granted to the last patient who was hospitalized, thus ending psychiatric hospitalization at this Institute

Ágatha (translation)

 Ágatha* (Alfredo de Oliveira Neto – Tufa e Moisés Nunes – Zartinho)

eu vou furar meu balão amarelo**                       I'm going to pop

my yellow balloon   

                      

acabou o brinquedo                                            child's play is over

                              

ninguém fica mais velho                                      no one gets older

me esparramar nas ruas sem fuzis               sprawl out on the streets

without rifles

quem for de lá pode chegar aqui***     whoever is from there

can get here

amanhecer e somente ouvir****                        at dawn and just listen

o rouxinol, pardal e bem-te-vi     the nightingale, sparrow and

welcome to you

aqui, o Alemão tem cor preta                  here, the German

has black color

         

e o senhor não se esqueça                                and your lordship

don't forget

suas mãos, minha dor                                         your hands, my pain

aqui, o Alemão tem cor preta                      here, the German

has black color

                                 

nem que tudo se inverta                                  even if everything

is reversed

                             

vou cantar minha cor                                         I will sing my color

            

quero dançar na ponta dos meus pés*****          I want to dance

on my tiptoes

                 

vou me jogar nos curuminso, convés          I'm gonna throw myself

on the deck with curumins

                 

na Fazendinhaa vou cavalgar                                in the Little Farm

I will ride

             

na amarelinha                                                    in the hopscotch

                

pular do céu no mar                                          jump from the sky

to the sea

* Ágatha, an 8-year-old black girl, was murdered by the police in 2019 when she was sitting next to her grandfather in a van, going up the hill where she lived, up in a large complex of slums in the city of Rio de Janeiro, called German Complex

** there is a picture that was featured on the news of her holding a yellow balloon and smiling

**** there are invisible territorial boundaries within German Complex that residents on one side cannot cross to the other, as they are territories commanded by rival drug trafficking factions

o Oca dos Curumins (“hollow of indigenous children”) is a cultural center that offers capoeira, dance and theater for children at the German Complex, where Ágatha used to practice capoeira

a   the name of the sub-neighborhood, “Little Farm”, where Ágatha lived

Sarrabulho (translation)

 Sarrabulho* (sidnei dantas e alfredo de oliveira neto) 

o mar já vem subindo                                        the sea is getting big

levanta, meu amor                                             wake up, my love!

a bóia do menino                                               where is the child’s float?

minha mãe me avisou                                      my mother warned me

que um belo dia tudo isso ia                      that one fine day it would all                                                                                  

se acabar                                                             come to an end

disse-me-disse de um Recife a rumor of the city of Recife

debaixo do mar  a rumor under the sea

vem me navegar                                                come, sail over me                                                          

beira-rio, maré                                                         riverside, tide

Pina, Caxangá                                    (name of neighborhoods in the city of Recife)

no Alto da Sé                                    (is a region famous for culture and carnival)

e nessa onda nosso frevo toca              and in this wave our frevo** plays          

o que quiser                                                        whatever it wants

no sarrabulho                                      while getting wiped out beneath the wave

rock brega samba funk axé              (samba, brega, funk from Rio and axé are popular rhythms in Brazil)

no balanço do mar                                              in the raging sea

trompete se esquece de entrar                   trumpet forgot to enter                              

a tuba mergulha demais                                    the tuba dived too deep

no refrão                                                               in the chorus                                                                                             

lá na beira do cais                                            there at the edge of the dockside

as pontes ficaram pra trás                               the bridges are left behind          

mercados não existem mais                           popular markets no longer exist

manguetown               (it's how the cultural movement Manguebeat calls Recife)     

                                                                           

a cidade acabou                                                    the city is over

ninguém quer dançar                                          nobody wants to dance

mainha avisou por iemanjá                                mammy warned by Yemanjá***

que um belo dia tudo isso ia                          that one fine day it would all

se acabar                                                               come to na end

disse-me-disse do Recife a rumor of the city of Recife

debaixo do mar    under the sea

*Expressão recifense que significa tomar um caldo, um caixote na onda do mar

Expression from the city of Recife that means to get wiped out beneath the wave                                                                                              

**original musical genre from Recife

*** Yemanjá is a major water spirit from the Youruba religion, from Africa, but also very popular in Brazil (Candomblé) and Cuba (Santería). She is a Orisha and the mother of all Orishas. The goddess of the sea. She does not easily lose her temper, but when angered she can be quite destructive and violent, as the floodwaters.