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.

Pequeña Serenata Diurna
Chico Buarque Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Vivo en un país libre
Cual solamente puede ser libre
En esta tierra, en este instante
Yo soy feliz porque soy gigante
Amo a una mujer clara
Que amo y me ama
Sin pedir nada
O casi nada

Que no es lo mismo
Pero es igual

Y si esto fuera poco
Tengo mis cantos
Que poco a poco
Muelo y rehago
Habitando el tiempo
Como le cuadra
A un hombre despierto
Soy feliz,
Soy un hombre feliz
Y quiero que me perdonen

Por este día
Los muertos de mi felicidad

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Chico Buarque's song Pequeña Serenata Diurna talk about the happiness of the singer living in a free country where he feels like a giant. He loves a woman who loves him back without asking for too much, which is not the same but similar. He also has his songs that he continuously works on, adapting to the times he is living in, and making him a much empathetic and content human. Buarque's lyrics talk about how he wants to be forgiven on this day because he is extremely happy, and he acknowledges the suffering of others, possibly the dead, but he can't help his emotions.

This song has a political tone because of the time when it was written when Brazil was under military dictatorship. Buarque was not alone in his artistic resistance against the authoritarian government, and this song became a hit among those who opposed the government. Pequeña Serenata Diurna became a symbol of resistance for the people of Brazil.

This song became so popular in the region that it was translated into various languages, including Chinese and Russian, and has been covered by several artists.

Line by Line Meaning

Vivo en un país libre
I live in a country that proclaims freedom

Cual solamente puede ser libre
But this freedom only exists at this moment, in this land

En esta tierra, en este instante
Here and now is the only place freedom can truly exist

Yo soy feliz porque soy gigante
I am happy because I feel powerful and significant

Amo a una mujer clara
I love a woman who is pure and honest

Que amo y me ama
Who loves me as much as I love her

Sin pedir nada
Neither of us asks for anything in return

O casi nada
Or very little, that hardly matters

Que no es lo mismo
It's not exactly the same

Pero es igual
But it's all good

Y si esto fuera poco
And as if that wasn't enough