Alceu Valença (born July 1, 1946 in São Bento do Una, Pernambuco, Brazil) i… Read Full Bio ↴Alceu Valença (born July 1, 1946 in São Bento do Una, Pernambuco, Brazil) is a Brazilian composer, writer, performer, actor, and poet.

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.

Tirana
Alceu Valença Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Teus olhos me apavoram
Tirana, morro de medo
Quem olha os olhos por fora
Não vê a cor do segredo

Quando dentro bem dentro
Com olhos de desvendar
Da minha boca pra fora te falo

Teus olhos me apavoram
São setas no meu olhar
Cravadas dentro do peito
Rasgando meu coração
Como uma flecha de fogo
Queimando minha paixão

Olhos verdes, são olhos da cor magia
Segredos de olhar tinhoso
Serpente com a fome canina

Olhos verdes são olhos da cor magia

Serpente de olhar manhoso
Me hipnotiza dia a dia

Overall Meaning

In this song, Alceu Valença portrays the fear and intimidation caused by the piercing green eyes of the person he is singing about. He describes how these eyes hold a secret, a mystery that cannot be readily perceived when just looking from the outside. However, when one takes the time to truly look into them, they reveal a deeper truth that is both captivating and unnerving.

Valença goes on to explain how these eyes have the power to unsettle and discombobulate him, and how they have become embedded in his own being. The arrows from the eyes have penetrated deeply into his heart, leaving him feeling as though his passion is ablaze and on fire. He describes these eyes as magical and mysterious, and even refers to them as serpents, alluding to their ability to charm and captivate him in a dangerous way.

Overall, the song Tirana is about the irresistible nature of attraction, and how powerful and overwhelming it can be. Valença's description of these alluring green eyes portrays this idea perfectly, as he is completely at their mercy, unable to resist their pull.

Line by Line Meaning

Teus olhos me apavoram
Your eyes terrify me

Tirana, morro de medo
Tirana, I'm scared to death

Quem olha os olhos por fora
Who looks at the eyes from the outside

Não vê a cor do segredo
Can't see the color of the secret

Quando dentro bem dentro
When inside, deep inside

Com olhos de desvendar
With eyes to unveil

Da minha boca pra fora te falo
From my mouth outwards I speak to you

Teus olhos me apavoram
Your eyes terrify me

São setas no meu olhar
They are arrows in my gaze

Cravadas dentro do peito
Stuck inside my chest

Rasgando meu coração
Ripping my heart apart