Francisco Buarque de Hollanda, better know as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian… Read Full Bio ↴Francisco Buarque de Hollanda, better know as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic and cultural reflections on Brazil.

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.

Fantasia
Chico Buarque Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

E se, de repente
A gente não sentisse
A dor que a gente finge
E sente
Se, de repente
A gente distraísse
O ferro do suplício
Ao som de uma canção

Então, eu te convidaria
Pra uma fantasia
Do meu violão

Canta, canta uma esperança
Canta, canta uma alegria
Canta mais
Revirando a noite
Revelando o dia
Noite e dia, noite e dia
Canta a canção do homem
Canta a canção da vida
Canta mais

Trabalhando a terra
Entornando o vinho
Canta, canta, canta, canta
Canta a canção do gozo
Canta a canção da graça
Canta mais
Preparando a tinta
Enfeitando a praça
Canta, canta, canta, canta
Canta a canção de glória
Canta a santa melodia
Canta mais
Revirando a noite
Revelando o dia
Noite e dia, noite e dia

E se, de repente
A gente não sentisse
A dor que a gente finge
E sente
Se, de repente
A gente distraísse
O ferro do suplício
Ao som de uma canção
Então, eu te convidaria
Pra uma fantasia
Do meu violão

Canta, canta uma esperança
Canta, canta uma alegria
Canta mais
Revirando a noite
Revelando o dia
Noite e dia, noite e dia
Canta a canção do homem
Canta a canção da vida
Canta mais

Trabalhando a terra
Entornando o vinho
Canta, canta, canta, canta
Canta a canção do gozo
Canta a canção da graça
Canta mais
Preparando a tinta
Enfeitando a praça
Canta, canta, canta, canta
Canta a canção de glória
Canta a santa melodia
Canta mais
Revirando a noite

Revelando o dia
Noite e dia, noite e dia

Overall Meaning

The song "Fantasia" by Chico Buarque is a call to escape from the pain and oppression of reality through music. The opening verses ask if, suddenly, we could stop feeling the pain we pretend not to feel, and if we could distract ourselves from the "iron of agony" with the sound of a song. The answer is an invitation to a "fantasia" - a fantasy, a dream world - that the singer could create with his guitar.

The chorus is an exhortation to sing, to create a hopeful, joyful song that turns the night and reveals the day. The verses that follow list different activities - working the land, pouring wine, preparing ink, decorating the square - and invite each one to be accompanied by a song of pleasure, of grace, or of glory. The idea is that every moment can be enriched by music, can become a source of escape and beauty, and can help to transform the harsh reality into something more bearable.

Line by Line Meaning

E se, de repente
What if suddenly

A gente não sentisse
We didn't feel

A dor que a gente finge
The pain that we pretend

E sente
And we feel

Se, de repente
If suddenly

A gente distraísse
We got distracted

O ferro do suplício
The iron of torture

Ao som de uma canção
To the sound of a song

Então, eu te convidaria
Then I would invite you

Pra uma fantasia
To a fantasy

Do meu violão
Of my guitar