Alceu Valenca was born in countryside Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil. He is considered the most successful artist in achieving an aesthetic balance between traditional northeastern Brazilian music and a broad range of electronic sounds and effects from pop music. One can find traces of maracatu, coco and "repentes de viola" (improvising fast-paced Brazilian folk music) in most of his songs. Alceu was able to utilize the electric guitar the electric bass, and lately even a synthesizer was added to his broad scope of musical instruments.
Because of that, Alceu was able to recreate Northeastern traditional music, like baiao, coco, toada, maracatu, frevo, caboclinhos, embolada and repentes: all sung with a sometimes rock sometimes alternative sounding music background. His music and his themes are intangible, universal and unlimited. However, his aesthetic basis is genuinely Brazilian Northeastern music.
Ateu Comovido
Alceu Valença Lyrics
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E ouvi no sussurro do vento
Que a vida se dá por inteiro
Ao homem que é só sentimento
Descendo a ladeira
Da Igreja da Sé
Ateu comovido
Fé em Deus, fé na terra, nos astros
Nos riachos, nas matas, nos lagos
No trabalho, fé nos sindicatos
Fé nos búzios, nas conchas do mar
In Alceu Valença's song Ateu Comovido, the lyrics depict the internal struggle of a man who identifies himself as an atheist but is willing to search for faith. As he is descending the hill of the Sé Church, he hears a whisper in the wind that life is given wholly to the man who is only full of emotions. This line may symbolize his understanding that faith comes from within, from emotions, rather than just religious organization. He continues his search for faith as an atheist moved by the beauty of life and the deep meanings behind it.
The second part of the song suggests that faith can be found not just within religion, but through nature, stars, rivers, trees, lakes, and the power of the worker's unions. The repetition of the phrase "faith in" reinforces the idea that faith is intersectional and can be found in multiple facets of life, even those not traditionally tied to religion. Alceu Valença's lyrics illustrate the concept that faith comes in many forms, and while some may find it through traditional religious practices, others may find it through nature or the efforts of workers.
Line by Line Meaning
Eu vinha descendo a ladeira
I was walking downhill
E ouvi no sussurro do vento
And in the whisper of the wind, I heard
Que a vida se dá por inteiro
That life gives itself completely
Ao homem que é só sentimento
To the man who is only feeling
Descendo a ladeira
Walking downhill
Da Igreja da Sé
From the Sé church
Ateu comovido
A moved atheist
Em busca de fé
In search of faith
Fé em Deus, fé na terra, nos astros
Faith in God, faith in the earth, in the stars
Nos riachos, nas matas, nos lagos
In the streams, in the forests, in the lakes
No trabalho, fé nos sindicatos
In work, faith in the unions
Fé nos búzios, nas conchas do mar
Faith in seashells, in the shells of the sea
Contributed by Sarah C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.