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.
Umas e outras
Chico Buarque Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
É pra melhor se reservar
E diz que espera o paraíso
E a hora de desabafar
A vida é feita de um rosário
Que custa tanto a se acabar
Por isso às vezes ela pára
E senta um pouco pra chorar
Nossa, pra que tanta conta
Já perdi a conta
De tanto rezar
Se a outra não tem paraíso
Não dá muita importância, não
Pois já forjou o seu sorriso
E fez do mesmo profissão
A vida é sempre aquela dança
Onde não se escolhe o par
Por isso às vezes ela cansa
E senta um pouco pra chorar
Que dia!
Puxa, que vida danada
Tem tanta calçada
Pra se caminhar
Mas toda santa madrugada
Quando uma já sonhou com Deus
E a outra, triste enamorada
Coitada, já deitou com os seus
O acaso faz com que essas duas
Que a sorte sempre separou
Se cruzem pela mesma rua
Olhando-se com a mesma dor
Que dia!
Nossa, pra que tanta conta
Já perdi a conta
De tanto rezar
Que dia!
Puxa, que vida danada
Tem tanta calçada
Pra se caminhar
Que dia!
Cruzes, que vida comprida
Pra que tanta vida
Pra gente desanimar
The lyrics of Chico Buarque's "Umas e Outras" explore the ups and downs of life through the experiences of two different women. The first woman, who never smiles, holds onto the hope of paradise and waits for the right moment to vent her feelings. She sees life as a long rosary that is difficult to bring to an end, so she sometimes takes a break to cry. The second woman, who doesn't have paradise, doesn't give it much importance, and has learned to make a profession of her smile. Life, to her, is always like a dance where you don't choose your partner, so sometimes she also stops to cry.
The two women's lives are intermingled by chance, although they have always been separated by fate. They cross paths at dawn when the first has had a dream with God, and the second is heartbroken and has gone to bed. The same destiny reunites them, and they look at each other with the same pain. The song seems to be about the two women's acceptance of their lives, their pain, and their eventual solace. It is a reflection on the inevitability of life's joys and sorrows, and how they can be shared, even among strangers.
Line by Line Meaning
Se uma nunca tem sorriso
If one never has a smile
É pra melhor se reservar
It is better to reserve oneself
E diz que espera o paraíso
And says she waits for paradise
E a hora de desabafar
And the time to vent
A vida é feita de um rosário
Life is like a rosary
Que custa tanto a se acabar
That is so hard to finish
Por isso às vezes ela pára
That's why sometimes it stops
E senta um pouco pra chorar
And sits down a little to cry
Que dia!
What a day!
Nossa, pra que tanta conta
Wow, why so many worries
Já perdi a conta
I lost count
De tanto rezar
From so much praying
Se a outra não tem paraíso
If the other has no paradise
Não dá muita importância, não
Doesn't give much importance, no
Pois já forjou o seu sorriso
Because she has already forged her smile
E fez do mesmo profissão
And made it her profession
A vida é sempre aquela dança
Life is always that dance
Onde não se escolhe o par
Where you don't choose your partner
Por isso às vezes ela cansa
That's why sometimes it gets tired
E senta um pouco pra chorar
And sits down a little to cry
Puxa, que vida danada
Wow, what a damn life
Tem tanta calçada
There are so many sidewalks
Pra se caminhar
To walk on
Mas toda santa madrugada
But every holy dawn
Quando uma já sonhou com Deus
When one has already dreamed of God
E a outra, triste enamorada
And the other, sadly in love
Coitada, já deitou com os seus
Poor thing, has already slept with her own
O acaso faz com que essas duas
Chance makes these two
Que a sorte sempre separou
Whom fate has always separated
Se cruzem pela mesma rua
Cross paths on the same street
Olhando-se com a mesma dor
Looking at each other with the same pain
Cruzes, que vida comprida
Geez, what a long life
Pra que tanta vida
Why so much life
Pra gente desanimar
For us to get discouraged
Contributed by Claire C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.