The firstborn son of Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda, Buarque lived at several locations throughout his childhood, though mostly in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Rome. He wrote and studied literature as a child and found music through the bossa nova compositions of Tom Jobim and João Gilberto. He performed as a singer and guitarist in the 1960s as well as writing a play that was deemed dangerous by the Brazilian military dictatorship of the time. Buarque, along with several Tropicalist and MPB musicians, was threatened by the Brazilian military government and eventually left Brazil for Italy in 1969. However, he came back to Brazil in 1970, and continued to record, perform, and write, though much of his material was suppressed by government censors. He released several more albums in the 1980s and published three novels in the 1990s and 2000s.
In 2019, Buarque was awarded the Camões Prize, the most important prize for literature in the Portuguese language.
Deixe A Menina 2'39
Chico Buarque Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Meu prezado rapaz
Mas você vai mal
Mas vai mal demais
São dez horas, o samba tá quente
Deixe a morena contente
Deixe a menina sambar em paz
Mas tenho que dizer
Cê tá de lascar
Cê tá de doer
E se vai continuar enrustido
Com essa cara de marido
A moça é capaz de se aborrecer
Por trás de um homem triste
Há sempre uma mulher feliz
E atrás dessa mulher
Mil homens, sempre tão gentis
Por isso, para o seu bem
Ou tire ela da cabeça
Ou mereça a moça que você tem
Não sei se é pra ficar exultante
Meu querido rapaz
Mas aqui ninguém
O agüenta mais
São três horas, o samba tá quente
Deixe a morena contente
Deixe a menina sambar em paz
Não é por estar na sua presença
Meu prezado rapaz
Mas você vai mal
Mas vai mal demais
São seis horas, o samba tá quente
Deixe a morena com a gente
Deixe a menina sambar em paz
The lyrics of Chico Buarque’s song “Deixe A Menina” talk about a man who is not allowing his girlfriend to enjoy the samba music and dance at a party. The singer is telling him that he is not doing well because he is not letting the girl enjoy herself. The man is described as sad and unhappy and the woman as potentially happy if he could just let go and let her enjoy the party. The singer is advising the man to either get over his insecurity or let the girl go.
Line by Line Meaning
Não é por estar na sua presença
I'm not saying this just because you're here
Meu prezado rapaz
My dear young man
Mas você vai mal
But you're not doing well
Mas vai mal demais
In fact, you're doing very poorly
São dez horas, o samba tá quente
It's ten o'clock, the samba is hot
Deixe a morena contente
Let the dark-skinned girl be happy
Deixe a menina sambar em paz
Let the girl dance samba in peace
Eu não queria jogar confete
I don't mean to flatter you
Mas tenho que dizer
But I have to tell you
Cê tá de lascar
You're in bad shape
Cê tá de doer
You're really hurting
E se vai continuar enrustido
And if you keep hiding
Com essa cara de marido
With that husband-like look
A moça é capaz de se aborrecer
The girl is likely to get upset
Por trás de um homem triste
Behind every sad man
Há sempre uma mulher feliz
There is always a happy woman
E atrás dessa mulher
And behind that woman
Mil homens, sempre tão gentis
A thousand men, always so courteous
Por isso, para o seu bem
That's why, for your own good
Ou tire ela da cabeça
Either get her out of your head
Ou mereça a moça que você tem
Or deserve the girl you have
Não sei se é pra ficar exultante
I don't know if you should be overjoyed
Meu querido rapaz
My dear young man
Mas aqui ninguém
But here, nobody
O agüenta mais
Can stand it anymore
São três horas, o samba tá quente
It's three o'clock, the samba is hot
Deixe a morena contente
Let the dark-skinned girl be happy
Deixe a menina sambar em paz
Let the girl dance samba in peace
Não é por estar na sua presença
I'm not saying this just because you're here
Meu prezado rapaz
My dear young man
Mas você vai mal
But you're not doing well
Mas vai mal demais
In fact, you're doing very poorly
São seis horas, o samba tá quente
It's six o'clock, the samba is hot
Deixe a morena com a gente
Let the dark-skinned girl stay with us
Deixe a menina sambar em paz
Let the girl dance samba in peace
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind