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.
Folhas Secas
Beth Carvalho Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Caídas de uma mangueira
Penso na minha escola
E nos poetas da minha estação primeira
Não sei quantas vezes
Subi o morro cantando
Sempre o sol me queimando
Quando o tempo avisar
Que eu não posso mais cantar
Sei que vou sentir saudade
Ao lado do meu violão
E da minha mocidade
Quando eu piso em folhas secas
Caídas de uma mangueira
Penso na minha escola
E nos poetas da minha estação primeira
Não sei Nelson, quantas vezes
Subi o morro cantando
Sempre o sol me queimando
E assim vou me acabando
E assim vou me acabando
The lyrics of Beth Carvalho's song "Folhas Secas" are a nostalgic reflection on the singer's youth and the memories associated with it. The song begins with the evocative image of walking on dry leaves fallen from a mango tree, which triggers memories of the singer's school days and the poets she encountered during her early years. The use of natural imagery in the lyrics is particularly poignant, as it underscores the cyclical nature of life and the passage of time.
The second stanza of the song describes the singer's many treks up the hill, singing all the way, even as the sun beat down upon her. The lyrics convey a sense of youthful abandon and carefree joy, as well as a sense of nostalgia for a time long gone. The final words of the song suggest acceptance of the inevitability of aging, and the singer's awareness that one day she will no longer be able to sing, but will instead be left with memories of her youth and her trusty guitar.
Overall, the lyrics of "Folhas Secas" are both wistful and hopeful, conveying a sense of longing for the past but also a deep appreciation for the beauty of life in all its phases.
Line by Line Meaning
Quando eu piso em folhas secas
Whenever I step on dry leaves fallen from a mango tree
Caídas de uma mangueira
That have fallen from a mango tree
Penso na minha escola
I reminisce about my school days
E nos poetas da minha estação primeira
And about the poets of my first season
Não sei quantas vezes
I don't know how many times
Subi o morro cantando
I climbed uphill while singing
Sempre o sol me queimando
The sun always scorching me
E assim vou me acabando
And that's how I am fading away
Quando o tempo avisar
When the time comes
Que eu não posso mais cantar
That I can no longer sing
Sei que vou sentir saudade
I know I will feel nostalgic
Ao lado do meu violão
Beside my guitar
E da minha mocidade
And of my youth
E assim vou me acabando
And that's how I am fading away
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Nelson Cavaquinho, Guilherme De Brito
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Marco Antonio Quinto
Você se vai, mas seu legado e memória ficam. Você cumpriu sua missão. Obrigado Beth. Vá com Deus e em paz. Saudades!!!
Jose Roberto
Essa sim é a voz do milênio e uma das maiores sambistas do Brasil
Tonho Paula
Saudade dessa voz maravilhosa! Tive o prazer de assistir um show. Que emoção! Lindo vê-la sambar! Sou fã por toda uma vida@!
Sonia Pereira
Dessa vez Beth se superou, ai meu Deus que coisa mais linda. Para esse violino, não tenho nem comentários, a coisa mais bela do mundo, amei, adorei, sensacional. Obrigada, Toninho.
DanBro.
cara , o cara esculachou no violino , simplesmente lindooooo .
A MAGIA MUSICAL DO BRASIL
@trovao Gamer De morir el violín, me fascinó
Marcio Lomelino
Inesquecível! Beth Carvalho! Hoje faz 3 anos que ela partiu.❤️🌹
designer_reflexivo 'Instagram'
Vim ouvir essa música depois de ver o vídeo de Regis Tadeu sobre o lançamento dessa música e divergência dela com Elis Regina, mas independente disso são duas artistas grandiosas e admiráveis.
Ana Amorim
Eu TB vim conferir por conta do que disse o Régis , as duas cantam a mesma canção porém com arranjos diferentes ( samba e bossa nova ) e ficaram incríveis o sol nasce para todos
Sandra
Eu também vim pelo vídeo do Regis Tadeu…😁