O Meu Amor Foi Para o Brasil – Bilingual Lyrics Portuguese/English

• By: Ana Moura
• Album: Moura (Deluxe Version)

Lyrics & Translation

Embark on an emotional journey with Ana Moura's "O Meu Amor Foi Para o Brasil." This song offers a poignant narrative of love, loss, and cultural adaptation, allowing listeners to delve into the complexities of Portuguese saudade and Brazilian life through its evocative lyrics and Moura's soulful interpretation.

[English]

My love went to Brazil on that steamship

He etched his farewell in smoke on the blue sky

When he arrived in Rio de Janeiro

He didn't write a single line

A whole year has passed

He left a promise of an invitation letter

In this belly, he left a seed

The flower was born and grew tall

She wants to know about her absent father

And I don't know what to tell her

He's lost among the cabocla women

Women who don't know what sin is

Their saints are stronger than mine

They turn a deaf ear to the heavens' begging

He must be tied down there

In a rosary of cowrie shells that has bewitched him

My love was a rubber tapper in Pará

He was a backlands trader in the backlands of Piauí

He was a tinsmith in the lands of Maranhão

Someone told me they saw him

Making bread on a Sunday

My love already has a Brazilian way

He put sugar and cinnamon in the vowels

He already dances the forró and tries his hand at the tambourine

Who knows, maybe one day he'll try other carnivals

He's lost among the mulatto women

He must be melted in other arms already

I already know their saints are miracle workers

They dance joyfully in the drumming of the terreiros

But I have hope that one day longing will knock

And he'll return to my homely arms

He's in São Paulo and works in telecommunications

He must have "Doctor" written on a card

At night he sambas in the essence of "borogodó"

He's forgotten Solidó, he no longer cries listening to Fado

I don't know what I'm saying, he was so awkward

If I see him, I don't want him anymore, he must be a bore

He's in São Paulo and works in telecommunications

He must have "Doctor" written on a card

At night he sambas in the essence of "borogodó"

He's forgotten Solidó, he no longer cries listening to Fado

I don't know what I'm saying, he was so awkward

If I see him, I don't want him anymore, he must be a bore

...

[Portuguese]

O meu amor foi pro Brasil nesse vapor

Gravou a fumo o seu adeus no azul do céu

Quando chegou ao Rio de Janeiro

Nem uma linha escreveu

Já passou um ano inteiro

Deixou promessa de carta de chamada

Nesta barriga deixou uma semente

A flor nasceu e ficou espigada

Quer saber do pai ausente

E eu não lhe sei dizer nada

Anda perdido no meio das caboclas

Mulheres que não sabem o que é pecado

Os santos delas são mais fortes do que os meus

Fazem orelhas moucas do peditório dos céus

Já deve estar por lá amarrado

Num rosário de búzios que o deixou enfeitiçado

O meu amor foi seringueiro no Pará

Foi recoveiro nos sertões do Piauí

Foi funileiro em terras do Maranhão

Alguém me disse que o viu

Num domingo a fazer pão

O meu amor já tem jeitinho brasileiro

Meteu açúcar com canela nas vogais

Já dança o forró e arrisca no pandeiro

Quem sabe um dia vem arriscar outros carnavais

Anda perdido no meio das mulatas

Já deve estar noutros braços derretido

Já sei que os santos delas são milagreiros

Dançam com alegria no batuque dos terreiros

Mas tenho esperança que um dia a saudade bata

E ele volte para os meus braços caseiros

Está em São Paulo e trabalha em telecom

Já deve ter doutor escrito num cartão

À noite samba no ó do borogodó

Esqueceu o Solidó, já não chora a ouvir Fado

Não sei o que digo, ele era tão desengonçado

Se o vir já não quero, deve estar um enjoado

Está em São Paulo e trabalha em telecom

Já deve ter doutor escrito num cartão

À noite samba no ó do borogodó

Esqueceu o Solidó, já não chora a ouvir Fado

Não sei o que digo, ele era tão desengonçado

Se o vir já não quero, deve estar um enjoado

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
amor /ɐˈmoɾ/ A1	noun - love
azul /ɐˈzuɫ/ A1	adjective - blue noun - blue color
escreveu /iʃ.kɾeˈvew/ A2	verb - wrote (3rd person past tense)
inteiro /ĩˈtej.ɾu/ A2	adjective - whole, entire
flor /floɾ/ A1	noun - flower
saber /sɐˈbeɾ/ A1	verb - to know
perdido /pɨɾˈdi.du/ B1	adjective - lost
mulheres /muˈʎɛ.ɾɨʃ/ A1	noun - women
pecado /pɨˈka.ðu/ B2	noun - sin
santos /ˈsɐ̃.tus/ B1	noun - saints
forte /ˈfɔɾ.tɨ/ A2	adjective - strong
amarrado /ɐ.maˈʁa.ðu/ B1	adjective - tied, bound
enfeitiçado /ẽ.fɐj.ˈsi.sa.ðu/ B2	adjective - bewitched, enchanted
jeitinho /ʒɐjˈtiɲu/ B2	noun - little way, knack
brasileiro /bɾɐ.ziˈlej.ɾu/ A2	adjective - Brazilian
saudade /sɐwˈda.dɨ/ C1	noun - nostalgia, longing
braços /ˈbɾa.sus/ A1	noun - arms
caseiros /kaˈzej.ɾus/ B1	adjective - homely, homemade

Key Grammar Structures

• O meu amor foi pro Brasil nesse vapor

  ➔ Preposition of movement: 'foi para' indicating 'went to'

  ➔ The preposition "para" is used to indicate destination or direction in Portuguese.

• Já passou um ano inteiro

  ➔ Present perfect tense: 'Já passou' indicating an action that has already occurred

  ➔ The phrase "já passou" uses the present perfect tense to express that a certain amount of time has elapsed since an event.

• Deixou promessa de carta de chamada

  ➔ Past tense of 'deixar' (to leave / to forget) and noun phrase structure

  ➔ The verb "deixar" in the past tense indicates that someone left or made a promise, combined with the noun phrase "promessa de carta de chamada" (promise of a calling letter).

• Quer saber do pai ausente

  ➔ Present tense of 'querer' (to want) + infinitive

  ➔ The verb "querer" is conjugated in the present tense to express desire, followed by the infinitive "saber" (to know).

• Ando perdido no meio das caboclas

  ➔ Present tense of 'andar' (to walk / to be) indicating ongoing state

  ➔ The verb "andar" in the present tense indicates the speaker is currently lost or wandering.

• Quem sabe um dia vem arriscar outros carnavais

  ➔ The phrase "quem sabe" uses the subjunctive (or conditional) expression for uncertainty or possibility

  ➔ The phrase "quem sabe" means "who knows" and introduces a clause expressing doubt, possibility, or speculation.

• Já deve estar noutros braços derretido

  ➔ Modal verb 'dever' in the present tense indicating probability or assumption

  ➔ The verb "dever" in the present tense suggests the speaker believes it is likely or assumed that someone is in other arms, possibly already moved on.

• Esqueceu o Solidó, já não chora a ouvir Fado

  ➔ Preterite tense of 'esquecer' (to forget) + present tense of 'chorar' (to cry)

  ➔ The verb "esquecer" is conjugated in the preterite tense to indicate a completed action of forgetting, and "chorar" is in the present tense to show ongoing emotion.