Caetano Veloso "Sampa" lyrics

Translation to:enfr

Sampa

Alguma coisa acontece no meu coraçãoQue só quando cruza a Ipiranga e a avenida São JoãoÉ que quando eu cheguei por aqui eu nada entendiDa dura poesia concreta de tuas esquinasDa deselegância discreta de tuas meninas

Ainda não havia para mim Rita LeeA tua mais completa traduçãoAlguma coisa acontece no meu coraçãoQue só quando cruza a Ipiranga e a avenida São João

Quando eu te encarei frente a frente não vi o meu rostoChamei de mau gosto o que vi, de mau gosto, mau gostoÉ que Narciso acha feio o que não é espelhoE à mente apavora o que ainda não é mesmo velhoNada do que não era antes quando não somos mutantes

E foste um difícil começoAfasto o que não conheçoE quem vende outro sonho feliz de cidadeAprende depressa a chamar-te de realidadePorque és o avesso do avesso do avesso do avesso

Do povo oprimido nas filas, nas vilas, favelasDa força da grana que ergue e destrói coisas belasDa feia fumaça que sobe, apagando as estrelasEu vejo surgir teus poetas de campos, espaçosTuas oficinas de florestas, teus deuses da chuva

Pan-Américas de Áfricas utópicas, túmulo do sambaMais possível novo quilombo de ZumbiE os novos baianos passeiam na tua garoaE novos baianos te podem curtir numa boa

Sampa (it's a nickname for the city of São Paulo/BR)

(the first three lines on the text on line are the name of the song and of the singer/songwriter, it starts at “Alguma coisa”)

Something happens in my heartOnly when it crosses Ipiranga and São João Avenue (two streets in the city)When I got here I didn't understand anythingNot the concrete poetry of your street cornersNot the discreet inelegance of your girls

I didn't know Rita Lee (a singer from São Paulo)Your most thorough interpretationSomething happens in my heartOnly when it crosses Ipiranga and São João Avenue

When we were face to face I didn't recognized myselfI called what I saw bad taste, I called bad taste, bad tasteBecause Narcissus thinks that what is not a mirror is uglyAnd what is not yet old scares the mindNothing from before when you are not a mutant (Mutantes was the name of Rita Lee's band)

And you were a difficult beginningI get away of what I don't knowAnd those who sell a different dream of a happy citySoon learn to call you realityBecause your are the other side of the other side of the other side of the side

From the people oppressed in the waiting lines, in the small streets, in shanty townsFrom the power of the money rising and destroying beautyFrom the ugly smoke that rises and erases the starsI can see your poets of fields and spaceYour forest factories, your rain gods rise

Pan-Americas from utopian Africas, tomb of sambaThe newest of Zumbi's quilombo (a village created by escaped slaves)And the new baianos “promenade” thru your garoa (a kind of rain typical from São Paulo, that doesn't really fall almost like a very wet and windy mist)And the new baianos can enjoy you leisurely

Here one can find the English lyrics of the song Sampa by Caetano Veloso. Or Sampa poem lyrics. Caetano Veloso Sampa text in English. This page also contains a translation, and Sampa meaning.