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.
Nai Sonho Mais
Chico Buarque Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tanta desdita, amor
Nem te digo
Tanto castigo
Que eu tava aflita de te contar
Foi um sonho medonho
Desses que às vezes a gente sonha
E se urina toda
E quer sufocar
Meu amor
Vi chegando um trem de candango
Formando um bando
Mas que era um bando de orangotango
Pra te pegar
Vinha nego humilhado
Vinha morto-vivo
Vinha flagelado
De tudo que é lado
Vinha um bom motivo
Pra te esfolar
Quanto mais tu corria
Mais tu ficava
Mais atolava
Mais te sujava
Amor, tu fedia
Empestava o are
Tu, que foi tão valente
Chorou pra gente
Pediu piedade
E olha que maldade
Me deu vontade
De gargalhar
Ao pé da ribanceira
Acabou-se a liça
E escarrei-te inteira
A tua carniça
E tinha justiça
Nesse escarrar
Te rasgamo a carcaça
Descemo a ripa
Viramo as tripa
Comemo os ovo
Ai, e aquele povo
Pôs-se a cantar
Foi um sonho medonho
Desses que às vezes a gente sonha
E baba na fronha
E se urina toda
E já não tem paz
Pois eu sonhei contigo
E caí da cama
Ai, amor, não briga
Ai, não me castiga
Ai, diz que me ama
E eu não sonho mais
The lyrics of Chico Buarque's song Nai Sonho Mais describe a terrifying dream in which the singer dreams of her partner. She begins by saying that she dreamt of her partner, but decides against telling him about the dream because it was a nightmare with much punishment and suffering. She describes the dream as the kind that leaves you sweating and with a sense of suffocation. In the dream, a band of orangutans came to take her partner away, who was chased by several humiliated, humiliated, and flagellated men.
As she watched the dream unfold, the distance between her and her partner grew. The further he ran, the more he got embroiled in the situation, and the more he suffered. At the end of the dream, he was caught and killed, and the singer expressed a cruel desire to laugh. In the final stanza of the song, the singer wakes up from her dream, falls off her bed, and pleads with her partner not to be angry with her. She begs him to tell her that he loves her and promises that she will not dream such dreams again.
Overall, the song is about the fear of losing someone you love and the hopelessness that arises from not being able to do anything about it.
Line by Line Meaning
Hoje eu sonhei contigo
Last night, I had a dream about you
Tanta desdita, amor
It was a terrible dream, my love
Nem te digo
It was so bad that I don't even want to tell you
Tanto castigo
There was a lot of punishment
Que eu tava aflita de te contar
I was afraid to tell you about it
Foi um sonho medonho
It was a terrifying nightmare
Desses que às vezes a gente sonha
One of those dreams that sometimes happens
E baba na fronha
I drooled in my sleep
E se urina toda
I wet the bed
E quer sufocar
And felt like I was suffocating
Meu amor
My dear
Vi chegando um trem de candango
I saw a train coming
Formando um bando
Filled with a group of people
Mas que era um bando de orangotango
But they were actually a group of orangutans
Pra te pegar
Coming to get you
Vinha nego humilhado
There were humiliated people among them
Vinha morto-vivo
And some who looked like the living dead
Vinha flagelado
Others were beaten and tortured
De tudo que é lado
From all sides
Vinha um bom motivo
There was a good reason for all of them to be there
Pra te esfolar
To skin you alive
Quanto mais tu corria
The more you ran
Mais tu ficava
The more you stayed in the same place
Mais atolava
The more you sank into the ground
Mais te sujava
The dirtier you became
Amor, tu fedia
You smelled bad, my love
Empestava o ar
The air around you was foul
Tu, que foi tão valente
You, who were so brave
Chorou pra gente
Cried for help
Pediu piedade
Begged for mercy
E olha que maldade
But, how cruel
Me deu vontade
I felt like
De gargalhar
Laughing out loud
Ao pé da ribanceira
At the edge of a cliff
Acabou-se a liça
The fight was over
E escarrei-te inteira
I spat on you
A tua carniça
Your lifeless body
E tinha justiça
And it was the right thing to do
Nesse escarrar
To spit on you
Te rasgamo a carcaça
Tore your carcass apart
Descemo a ripa
Beat you down
Viramo as tripa
Turned your insides out
Comemo os ovo
Ate your eggs
Ai, e aquele povo
And that people
Pôs-se a cantar
Started singing
E já não tem paz
And now I can't find peace
Pois eu sonhei contigo
Because I dreamed about you
E caí da cama
And fell off the bed
Ai, amor, não briga
Oh, my love, don't be angry
Ai, não me castiga
Please don't punish me
Ai, diz que me ama
Say that you love me
E eu não sonho mais
So I won't dream anymore
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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