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.
Meu Forró É Meu Canto
Alceu Valença Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
É o zabumba batucando no forró
Meu coração faz dum,dum,dum...
Com muito jeito vai batendo satisfeito
No compasso do meu peito
Fazendo forrobodó
A gente vai vivendo assim no tororó
Levando a vida no balanço do forró
Quem canta meu povo os segredos da vida
Quem não amou, quem não viveu
Quem não chorou, quem não sofreu
Quem nessa vida nunca teve o seu xodó
Uma saudade que amargou que nem jiló
Um coraçao que bateu tanto que fez dó
A nossa vida é como se fosse um forró.
The lyrics of Alceu Valença's song "Meu Forró É Meu Canto" celebrate the rhythm and poetry of forró, a popular genre of music from northeastern Brazil. The song opens with the sound of a zabumba, a bass drum traditionally used in forró music, mimicking the beat of the heart. The lyrics then describe the joy and satisfaction of the forró dance, with the heart beating in rhythm and creating a sense of community and connection with others. The forrobodó (chaotic party) becomes a metaphor for life, with its ups and downs, and the forró dance is a way to cope and find meaning in the experience. The chorus emphasizes the importance of music as a means of expressing and sharing one's joys and sorrows, with the singer inviting the audience to join in and sing along.
Line by Line Meaning
Meu coração faz dum,dum,dum...
My heart beats with the rhythm of the zabumba in the forró music
É o zabumba batucando no forró
It's the sound of the zabumba drumming in the forró music
Com muito jeito vai batendo satisfeito
Beating calmly and contentedly, in perfect harmony
No compasso do meu peito
In tune with my heartbeat
Fazendo forrobodó
Creating a festive atmosphere of joyfulness and celebration
A gente vai vivendo assim no tororó
We keep living our lives this way, in the midst of our daily struggles
Levando a vida no balanço do forró
Living life to the beat of the forró music
Meu forró é meu canto
Forró music is my way of expressing myself
Quem canta meu povo os segredos da vida
Those who sing for my people reveal the secrets of life
Quem não amou, quem não viveu
Whoever hasn't loved or lived life
Quem não chorou, quem não sofreu
Whoever hasn't cried or suffered
Quem nessa vida nunca teve o seu xodó
Anyone who's never had a special someone in their life
Uma saudade que amargou que nem jiló
A bitter longing that lingers like the taste of jiló
Um coração que bateu tanto que fez dó
A heart that has beaten so much that it aches
A nossa vida é como se fosse um forró.
Our lives are like a forró dance, full of ups and downs and always moving forward
Contributed by Audrey K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.