from Brazil's Northeast, highlighting the less regarded feminine
influences of the outback's popular culture.
Born in Sao Paulo, the composer and musician has gathered a vast array
of rhythmical, poetical structures, canons and voice dialogues from
the grassroot music of the Northeast. Her songs are inspired by
the Maracatu Rural, the Coco and the Cavalo Marinho, amongst others,
and reveal the richness of these traditions, exposing an authentic
repertoire made up of her own compositions, young and old composers
as well as songs that are now in the public domain.
Listening to Renata Rosa is a groundbreaking trip into the timeless
world of the Caboclos, the Native Indians and the Africans of Brazil.
Renata Rosa's performance intertwines the best of the Northeast music
with its dances. The power within the chant is a physical consequence
of the dance, and in some songs the stage ground actually becomes
a percussion instrument, as it is stomped by the artists. Renata plays
the "rabeca" (the traditional brazilian fiddle), alongside her
musicians, Seu Luis Paixao, a native master of this traditional fiddle,
a "viola" (a rare kind of acoustic guitar), 2 percussionists and
a bass guitar.
Renata has just released an outstanding debut album "Zunido da Mata",
produced by Mestre Ambrosio's musicians. After touring and teaching
her art in Italy, USA and Canada, Renata Rosa and band is now ready
to hit international roads, opening new horizons for Brazilian music.
Ms Rosa will teach the Samba de Coco, which is a variation of the Coco.
The origin of Coco lays on the meeting between the native Brazilian
culture and the central African culture, which came with the slaves to
the Northeast of Brazil and involves the circular dance that sights
the ground. The dance has a variety of steps, which the function is
the percussion and are connect to the poetry. Traditionally, the dance
is connected to the construction of houses made by clay and straw. The
owner of the house calls the people of the community to do the Coco
inside the house on the clay floor. While everyone is dancing, singing
and making percussion sounds with their feet, the clay is flattened to
ground level. Renata's workshop will work with the circular dance and
the relationship between the dance, the feet percussion and the poetic
aspects of the music.
Renata Rosa, musician, singer, poet and researcher, was born in
Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1973. She is part of the "Maracatu de Baque
Solto Estrela de Ouro de Aliança", as Dama do Cacho, one of the
responsibles for the evolution of the maracatu - a traditional carnival
parade from the State of Pernambuco (NE), in which dance, improvised
poetry and music are included. "Maracatu" aggregates elements from
black, indigenous and iberic culture. She also conducts the Boi
da Gurita Seca group, in which she improvises poetry following
the musical and poetic tradition of the "maracatu rural".
She develops research on cultural manifestations of the people from
northeast. Some of her studies are focused on "coco", work chants
and traditional catholic chants such as "Benditos" - which are
performed during the traditional catholic parades - and "excelencia
chants" - chants to prepare the deads' soul to the encounter with
God, usually performed during death-watches.
Renata Rosa has been providing workshops in many Festivals and
Centers: Cleveland Museum of Art (Ohio) , Cathedral St John
the Divine (NY), Festival de Inverno de Garanhuns, (PE), Teatro
Arraial (Recife) , Studio Casa de Pedra (Rio de Janeiro),etc.
Brilhantina
Renata Rosa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Brilhantina pro cabelo,
Meu cabelo é marombado,
Só bota banha de cheiro
Ô mamãe, eu quero eu quero
Brilhantina pro cabelo,
Meu cabelo é marombado,
Só bota banha de cheiro
As moças de Moxotó,
Foram à rua passear
Foram ao jogo do bilhar
Em capital de Maceió
Jogar no dominó
E telegrafa pra Penedo
E eu perdi o medo,
Eu perdi o medo
De jogar no futebol
Eu quero a chave do portão
Pra destrancar meu jardim
Meu galhinho de alecrim
Tranquei Rosa na mão
Galho de manjericão
E anda a roda brilhantina
Laranjeira é lima
Ô laranja lima é limão
Ô mamãe, eu quero eu quero
Brilhantina pro cabelo,
Meu cabelo é marombado,
Só bota banha de cheiro
Ô mamãe, eu quero eu quero
Brilhantina pro cabelo,
Meu cabelo é marombado,
Só bota banha de cheiro
As moças de Moxotó,
Foram à rua passear
Foram ao jogo do bilhar
Em capital de Maceió
Jogar no dominó
E telegrafa pra Penedo
E eu perdi o medo,
Eu perdi o medo
De jogar no futebol
Eu quero a chave do portão
Pra destrancar meu jardim
Meu galhinho de alecrim
Tranquei Rosa na mão
Galho de manjericão
E anda a roda brilhantina
Laranjeira é lima
Ô laranja lima é limão
Ô mamãe, eu quero eu quero
Brilhantina pro cabelo,
Meu cabelo é marombado,
Só bota banha de cheiro
Ô mamãe, eu quero eu quero
Brilhantina pro cabelo,
Meu cabelo é marombado,
Só bota banha de cheiro
As moças de Moxotó,
Foram à rua passear
Foram ao jogo do bilhar
Em capital de Maceió
Jogar no dominó
E telegrafa pra Penedo
E eu perdi o medo,
Eu perdi o medo
De jogar no futebol
Eu quero a chave do portão
Pra destrancar meu jardim
Meu galhinho de alecrim
Tranquei Rosa na mão
Galho de manjericão
E anda a roda brilhantina
Laranjeira é lima
Ô laranja lima é limão
The lyrics to Renata Rosa's song "Brilhantina" express the desire of the singer, represented as a child, to have brilhantina (a type of hair gel) for their marombado (muscular) hair, which they currently only put banha de cheiro (scented oil) on. This desire for brilhantina is repeated throughout the song, and could represent a longing for something unattainable or perhaps a desire to fit in with others who have it.
The second verse introduces the moças de Moxotó (girls from Moxotó) who went out to walk, play billiards, and play dominoes in Maceió. They telegraph to Penedo, and the singer says they lost their fear of playing soccer. The third verse speaks of the singer's desire for the key to their garden, where they have a sprig of rosemary and have locked Rosa's hand with a branch of basil. The final line of this verse, "Laranjeira é lima / Ô laranja lima é limão," roughly translates to "Orange tree is a lime / Oh, a sweet lime is a lemon," which could be interpreted as the singer trying to make sense of the world and how things can be different than expected.
Overall, the lyrics of "Brilhantina" are playful and whimsical, with a mix of desire and exploration of the world around the singer.
Line by Line Meaning
Ô mamãe, eu quero eu quero
Brilhantina pro cabelo,
Meu cabelo é marombado,
Só bota banha de cheiro
The singer wants their hair to shine with hair oil, explaining that their hair is thick and needs a special oil to make it look nice.
As moças de Moxotó,
Foram à rua passear
Foram ao jogo do bilhar
Em capital de Maceió
Jogar no dominó
E telegrafa pra Penedo
E eu perdi o medo,
Eu perdi o medo
De jogar no futebol
Young women from Moxotó went out for a walk and played games like billiards and dominoes in Maceió's capital. The singer lost their fear of playing football (soccer) after receiving a message from Penedo.
Eu quero a chave do portão
Pra destrancar meu jardim
Meu galhinho de alecrim
Tranquei Rosa na mão
Galho de manjericão
E anda a roda brilhantina
Laranjeira é lima
Ô laranja lima é limão
The singer wants the key to their garden gate to unlock it and get their rosemary plant. They also talk about a game called 'brilhantina' where people hold hands and dance in a circle, singing about different types of fruit trees.
Contributed by Max G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.