Carvalho was raised in a middle-class family in Rio de Janeiro's South Zone. Her father, João Francisco Leal de Carvalho, was a lawyer. She grew up influenced by different types of music. Her father used to take her to samba school rehearsals, and her mother was a lover of classical music who encouraged her to become a ballerina. She started playing the guitar as a teenager, and got involved with the emerging Bossa Nova movement, winning a nationwide song contest on TV at the age of 19. Her first record was 1968's "Andança", carrying the song of the same name to victory in a larger festival, which brought her to prominence. Although she started her career with Bossa Nova, that was an ephemeral phase which lasted less than one year. Beth started dedicating herself entirely to samba just as her fame began, working with legendary composers such as Nelson Sargento.
Carvalho is a very important artist in the history of samba, as she has celebrated and brought the spotlight to the work of legendary composers such as Cartola, Nelson Cavaquinho & Guilherme de Brito when they weren't receiving the attention they deserved. Almost all of her records have songs by these composers, among other legendary sambistas such as Nelson Sargento and the Old Guard of Portela. Her samba school is Mangueira, but that didn't stop her from recording dozens of songs from composers of Portela, the other great traditional samba school in Rio.
Later, in the late 1970s and early 80's, Beth helped bring to the public the work of other rising pagode artists from Cacique de Ramos, such as Almir Guineto, Jorge Aragão and the Fundo de Quintal group. Then, in 1983, she introduced Zeca Pagodinho who would become the major samba name of the 90's. Carvalho always tried to bring underrated composers the recognition they deserve, and she is regarded as madrinha do samba (the godmother of samba). She was a driving force in the modernization of samba in the 80s, and at the same time rejected commercial pop trends in samba arrangements, preserving tradition.
In the 1990s, Beth's popularity wasn't the strongest, but she was always popular. She recorded an album dedicated to the samba from São Paulo, rejecting the famous axiom that São Paulo is the grave of samba. In 1998 she recorded an album dedicated entirely to the pagode classics, Pérolas do Pagode (Pagode Pearls).
In the new millennium, Beth working more than ever, released CDs and DVDs. With a career that spans 40 years, she is a historical figure in Brazilian culture, and recognized as the female sambista with the most substantial opus in Brazil, without diminishing other, younger stars such as Clara Nunes and Daniela Mercury.
Trivia
Beth is a known supporter of both the Botafogo and Clube Atlético Mineiro football teams
Beth is one of the main personalities of the samba school Mangueira
Beth had a variety of hits in the 1970s, with her 1979 song Coisinha Do Pai being one of her biggest hits. The song was inserted into the Mars Pathfinder.
Her social music often concerns the poor and the Indigenous peoples in Brazil.
As rosas não falam
Beth Carvalho Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Com esperanças o meu coração
Pois já vai terminando o verão
Enfim
Volto ao jardim
Com a certeza de que devo chorar
Pois bem sei que não queres voltar
Queixo-me às rosas, mas que bobagem
As rosas não falam
Simplesmente as rosas exalam
O perfume que roubam de ti, oi
Devias vir
Para ver os meus olhos tristonhos
E, quem sabe, sonhavas meus sonhos
Por fim
Devias vir
Para ver os meus olhos tristonhos
E, quem sabe, sonhavas meus sonhos
Por fim
Beth Carvalho's song "As rosas não falam" is a beautiful and melancholic piece about lost love and the pain it leaves. The track begins with the singer's heart beating once again with hope, despite summer coming to an end. The verses detail her return to the garden, where she knows she must cry, as she acknowledges her love interest will not come back to her. She then proceeds to complain to the roses about her predicament, but even though they do not speak, they still provide comfort through the scent they emanate.
The chorus is a call to her love interest to come back and see the pain he caused her, as well as maybe dream her dreams once again. The lyrics about complaining to the roses are an allegory for the unrequited love the singer feels – she laments to the world around her despite it being unable to provide any type of resolution to her situation. Instead, the scent from the flowers serves as a metaphor for the sweet memories she carries from the love that she lost. The song ends with her hoping her love will return and dream her dreams again.
Line by Line Meaning
Bate outra vez
My heart beats again with hope
Com esperanças o meu coração
My heart is filled with hope
Pois já vai terminando o verão
Summer is ending
Enfim
Finally
Volto ao jardim
I return to the garden
Com a certeza de que devo chorar
Knowing that I must cry
Pois bem sei que não queres voltar
I know you don't want to come back
Para mim
To me
Queixo-me às rosas, mas que bobagem
I complain to the roses, but it's nonsense
As rosas não falam
The roses don't speak
Simplesmente as rosas exalam
They simply emit the fragrance they stole from you
O perfume que roubam de ti, oi
The fragrance they stole from you
Devias vir
You should come
Para ver os meus olhos tristonhos
To see my sad eyes
E, quem sabe, sonhavas meus sonhos
And maybe dream my dreams
Por fim
In the end
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Angenor De Oliveira
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Isabella Mendes
Bate outra vez
Com esperanças o meu coração
Pois já vai terminando o verão
Enfim
Volto ao jardim
Com a certeza de que devo chorar
Pois bem sei que não queres voltar
Para mim
Queixo-me às rosas, mas que bobagem
As rosas não falam
Simplesmente as rosas exalam
O perfume que roubam de ti
Devias vir
Para ver os meus olhos tristonhos
E, quem sabe, sonhavas meus sonhos
Por fim
Isabella Mendes
Bate outra vez
Com esperanças o meu coração
Pois já vai terminando o verão
Enfim
Volto ao jardim
Com a certeza de que devo chorar
Pois bem sei que não queres voltar
Para mim
Queixo-me às rosas, mas que bobagem
As rosas não falam
Simplesmente as rosas exalam
O perfume que roubam de ti
Devias vir
Para ver os meus olhos tristonhos
E, quem sabe, sonhavas meus sonhos
Por fim
Rafaela Matarazzo
Eterna. Ajudou a resgatar o Cartola, que estava esquecido na Mangueira. Bravo! Parabéns!
K. Araújo
Era a música preferida da minha avó.
Vera Lúcia Figueiredo Barbosa
Letra sublime, interpretação única. Cartola e Beth, em dueto no céu....
Tiago Luque
A melhor interpretação dessa música , da pra viaja ouvindo rs
Helena Barbosa
Amo muito esta música . A atual geração deveria conhecer a poesia simples maravilhosa do Cartola.
lena sousa
Única e eterna! Beth Carvalho e essa pérola do cancioneiro brasileiro!
Silvio Maria
Essa vai deixar saudade...e tem tantos políticos safados bem "vivos"...
Maria Amorim
Linda voz e linda pessoa. Que descanse em paz.
OficialJoaoRicardo
Descanse em paz! Rip