Bebel Gilberto (born Isabel Gilberto de Oliveira on May 12, 1966 in New Yor… Read Full Bio ↴Bebel Gilberto (born Isabel Gilberto de Oliveira on May 12, 1966 in New York City) is an American-born Grammy Award-nominated Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha. Her uncle is singer/composer Chico Buarque. Bebel has been performing since her youth in Rio de Janeiro.

At the age of seven, Bebel made an appearance on her mother's first solo album Miúcha. At age nine, Bebel performed with her mother and jazz saxophonist Stan Getz at a jazz festival in New York's Carnegie Hall. Back in Brazil, Bebel performed and recorded for the soundtrack of the children's musical Os Saltimbancos, written by Sergio Bardotti and Chico Buarque. Later on Bebel joined an experimental theatrical group and was a member of the founding team of the performance space Circo Voador (Flying Circus) at Ipanema Beach. In this group she met singer/songwriter Cazuza, who became a close friend and soon a major rock star in Brazil during the 1980s.

Throughout the 1990s, Bebel collaborated with a variety of musical stars such as Arto Lindsay, Thievery Corporation, David Byrne, Towa Tei, Caetano Veloso and Chico Buarque. In 1996 Bebel was featured in the AIDS charity project Red Hot + Rio, produced by her close friend and collaborator Béco Dranoff. By the mid 1990s, Bebel also had successes as songwriter with the international dance hits "Technova" and "Batucada" in collaboration with producers Towa Tei and Arto Lindsay.

Bebel was featured on the soundtrack of Brad Anderson's film Next Stop Wonderland with Vinicius Cantuária and Mauro Refosco. In the late 1990s, Bebel moved to London where she began to develop the sound featured on her critically acclaimed debut album Tanto Tempo. During this period, she met Suba, the multi-talented Serbian producer living in São Paulo who ended up writing and producing several tracks on Tanto Tempo. While in London, she also worked with DJ/producer Amon Tobin, Dutch duo Arling & Cameron and singer Nina Miranda.

In 2000, Bebel's Tanto Tempo album was released on Ziriguiboom (Crammed Discs sub-label) and has sold over one million copies worldwide. The album was also nominated for two Latin Grammy Awards. Her second album, Bebel Gilberto (2004), was also released to great critical acclaim, receiving a MOBO Award in the UK and also a World Music Grammy nomination.

Also in 2006, Bebel started writing and producing the songs that would become part of her third album Momento, released in April 2007. On this album, Bebel collaborated with UK producer Guy Sigsworth, her friends Didi Gutman and Sabina Sciubba (from NY based band Brazilian Girls) and the Rio based Orquestra Imperial.

Gilberto's most recent album, All In One, was released in the US in September 2009 by jazz imprint Verve.

Sem Contencao
Bebel Gilberto Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Pra sempre não
Pra todos nao
Não quero ver nem mais sentir
Cabe a razão de cada um ter sua visão

Sem contenção, só de emoção
Pra ser feliz sem existir
De um por um so' pra explicar essa tua intenção

Mas sem contenção de emoção
Sem contenção, sem contenção
Sem contenção de emoção
Sem contenção, sem contenção

Pra sempre não
Pra todos nao
Não quero ver nem mais sentir
Cabe a razão de cada um ter sua visão

Só com a canção, sem coração
Com tanto tempo sem sentir
Sendo uma pura ilusão, só viver de emoção

Mas sem contenção de emoção
Sem contenção, sem contenção
Sem contenção de emoção
Sem contenção, sem...

Ah, ah... Ah, ah... Ah, ah...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Bebel Gilberto's Sem Contenção are about being free from constraints and allowing yourself to feel emotions without holding back. The use of repetition of the phrase "Sem contenção" emphasizes this idea of releasing any restraint towards emotions. The lyrics suggest that the individual has the ability to choose their own reasoning and perspective, and they don't need to adhere to any standards or expectations set by others.

The chorus, "Pra sempre não, pra todos não" translates to "not forever, not for everyone" which could refer to the idea that happiness doesn't have a universal definition, and what brings joy to one person may not necessarily bring happiness to someone else. The line "só de emoção, pra ser feliz sem existir" means "just with emotion, to be happy without existing" which could mean that to truly be happy, one must be in tune with their emotions and not disconnect from them. The use of the phrase "pura ilusão" or "pure illusion" may suggest that the idea of controlling or containing emotions is a false notion.

Overall, the lyrics convey the importance of allowing oneself to freely feel and express emotions without being held back by societal expectations or personal fears.

Line by Line Meaning

Pra sempre não
Eternidade não existe.

Pra todos nao
Satisfação para todos é impossível.

Não quero ver nem mais sentir
Não quero enfrentar a realidade ou sentir dores emocionais.

Cabe a razão de cada um ter sua visão
Cada um tem sua própria perspectiva e razão.

Sem contenção, só de emoção
Expressar emoções livremente sem limitação.

Pra ser feliz sem existir
Para ser feliz, não precisa existir.

De um por um so' pra explicar essa tua intenção
Preciso explicar minha intenção claramente para uma pessoa de cada vez.

Só com a canção, sem coração
Viver apenas através da música sem sentir nada.

Com tanto tempo sem sentir
Passei tanto tempo sem me conectar com minhas emoções.

Sendo uma pura ilusão, só viver de emoção
Viver apenas de emoções pode ser uma ilusão.

Sem contenção de emoção
Liberdade de se expressar emocionalmente.