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.
Noite De São João
Alceu Valença Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hoje é noite de São João
Tanta saudade já não dá pra segurar
Meu coração tá queimando feito brasa
Ela foi, bateu asas sem dizer se vai voltar
Você não sabe como é grande o sofrimento
E o meu lamento é esse jeito de cantar
Sou sabiá voando no firmamento
Sou sabiá
Sou sabiá
Sou sabiá
Sou seu sabiá
The lyrics to Alceu Valença's song "Noite De São João" are about the singer's longing for his lost love on Saint John's Night. The song begins with the singer praying and acknowledging that it is Saint John's night, a special night of celebration in Brazil. He then confesses that he can no longer hold back his longing for his lost love, and his heart is burning like hot coals. He expresses his sadness and frustration that she has flown away without any indication of whether she'll return.
The singer then proceeds to describe the depth of his pain and how his lamenting is a way of coping with the anguish he feels. He likens himself to a sabiá, a type of bird that is often referenced in Brazilian music as a symbol of longing and lovesickness. The singer hopes that his mourning will reach his lost love and convince her to return to him.
Line by Line Meaning
Fiz uma prece
I prayed
Hoje é noite de São João
Tonight is Saint John's night
Tanta saudade já não dá pra segurar
I can't bear this much longing anymore
Meu coração tá queimando feito brasa
My heart is burning like embers
Ela foi, bateu asas sem dizer se vai voltar
She left, flew away without saying if she will come back
Você não sabe como é grande o sofrimento
You don't know how great the suffering is
E o meu lamento é esse jeito de cantar
And my lamentation is through the way I sing
Sou sabiá voando no firmamento
I'm a thrush flying in the sky
Canto, choro, me lamento pra fazer meu bem voltar
I sing, cry, lament to make my beloved return
Sou sabiá
I'm a thrush
Sou sabiá
I'm a thrush
Sou sabiá
I'm a thrush
Sou seu sabiá
I'm your thrush
Contributed by Ruby N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.