The low voice of the partido-alto singer Clementina de Jesus was only disco… Read Full Bio ↴The low voice of the partido-alto singer Clementina de Jesus was only discovered outside her community when she was 62. Immediately acknowledged both nationally and internationally as a highly expressive singer, she still had time to participate in historic events like the Rosa de Ouro, Zicartola (at the Teatro Opinião), Noitada de Samba, and others. She has recorded and performed with artists of stature such as Nelson Cavaquinho, Turíbio Santos, Pixinguinha, João da Baiana, and many others. As a child, Clementina de Jesus listened to folkloric and religious music (jongo, partido-alto, ladainhas, etc.) sung by her mother. She remained an amateur for decades, participating in Carnaval blocos, and singing in church choirs and rodas de samba (samba get-togethers). After 20 years working as a maid, her career was launched in December 1964 by the classical guitarist Turíbio Santos at Kleber Santos' Teatro Jovem (Rio de Janeiro) in the show O Menestrel. A few months later, in 1965 when she was 63, Clementina de Jesus had her definitive public consecration after being featured in Hermínio Bello de Carvalho's musical Rosa de Ouro at the same theater. Performances, which also featured Araci Cortes, Paulinho da Viola, and Elton Medeiros, followed in Bahia and São Paulo. De Carvalho's first album was this live show, released in the same year as Rosa de Ouro, Vol. 1, followed by a second volume released two years later. On this album, Clementina de Jesus presented the virtually unknown genre of jongo with songs like "Benguelê" (Pixinguinha/Gastão Vianna) and "Boi Não Berra." She also performed sambas like "Sementes do Samba" (Hélio Cabral) and "Nasceste de Uma Semente" (José Ramos), and the lundu "Bate Canela." In August 1983 she was paid tribute by the Brazilian state government at Rio de Janeiro's Teatro Municipal. The gala event attracted many artists like Elizeth Cardoso, Beth Carvalho, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, João Nogueira, Paulinho da Viola, Gilberto Gil, Dona Zica, Dona Neuma, accompanied by the bateria (percussion section) of the Mangueira samba school. In 1985 de Jesus was decorated by the French government. Also known as Quelé (a corrupted use of her name) and as Rainha Ginga (Ginga Queen), she had her majesty truly expressed through this award.

In 1966 she represented Brazil together with Paulinho da Viola, Elizeth Cardoso, and Elton Medeiros at the Black Arts Festival in Dakar and Senegal. In the same year she performed at the Cecília Meireles Hall (in Rio) José Maria Neves' Missa de São Benedito, for tamba (Hélcio Milito) and voice. Also in that year she recorded her first individual LP, Clementina de Jesus. Together with Pixinguinha and João da Baiana, she participated in the album Gente da Antiga, produced by Odeon in 1968. In the same year she also appeared on the LP Mudando de Conversa, a recording of the show of the same name, along with Ciro Monteiro and Nora Ney, produced at the Teatro Santa Rosa (Rio de Janeiro). In 1970 she had another LP released, Clementina Cadê Você?, edited by the Museu da Imagem e do Som (Sound and Image Museum, Rio de Janeiro), with corimás, jongos, modas, and sambas. In 1973 she had thrombosis, but five months later recorded the LP Marinheiro Só, which had songs by Paulinho da Viola and adaptations of popular songs like "Fui Pedir Às Almas Santas," "Atraca, Atraca," and "Incelença." In that year she also participated in Milton Nascimento's Milagre dos Peixes, recording "Escravo de Jó" (Milton Nascimento/Fernando Brant). In 1982 she was paid tribute by the Lins Imperial samba school, with the play Clementina -- Uma Rainha Negra. In the next year she recorded with Doca and Geraldo Filme the LP Canto dos Escravos, in which she interpreted slave songs from Minas Gerais collected by the researcher Aires da Mata Machado Filho. In 1985 she recorded Clementina e Convidados, which had her composition "Laçador" (co-written by Catoni). The album also had as guests Clara Nunes, João Bosco, Roberto Ribeiro, Martinho da Vila, Ivone Lara, Adoniram Barbosa, and Carlinhos Vergueiro. De Jesus also performed live with Nelson Cavaquinho in São Paulo, upstate Rio de Janeiro, and in Curitiba, Paraná. Her last live performance was in 1987 at the Teatro Carlos Gomes (Rio de Janeiro).

Defesa
Clementina De Jesus Lyrics

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Se você chegasse a tal conclusão dos fatos
Não abria a boca só para dizer tolices
Quando eu lhe dava do chapéu até o sapato
E garanto que isto você ainda não disse

Hoje você vive por aí me difamando
Que sou hipócrita, cruel, sou tudo enfim
O que é de bom é só você, ai ai

E o que é de mau é só pra mim

Pouco importa que digam a de mim o que quiser
Mas na verdade eu sei honrar o meu santo nome de mulher
Embora você diga a todo mundo que eu não presto
Mas pra ganhar meu pão eu ganho honesto

Hoje você vive por aí me difamando
Que sou hipócrita, cruel, sou tudo enfim
O que é de bom é só você, ai ai
E o que é de mau é só pra mim

O que é de bom é só você, ai ai
E o que é de mau é só pra mim

Overall Meaning

In Defesa, Clementina De Jesus sings about someone who is defaming her name to others, calling her names like hypocrite and cruel. She calls out this person's hypocrisy, stating that if they truly believed these things about her, they would not have previously accepted her gifts, from her hat down to her shoes. She acknowledges that this person portrays themselves as being all good while painting her in a negative light. However, she is resolute in not caring what others say about her as she knows that she honors her own name as a woman and earns an honest living.

This song speaks to the theme of integrity and how one's actions can either contradict or support their words. Clementina is proud of the work she does to earn her living and the woman she is, and is not willing to allow others to diminish her worth. It is also a commentary on how people often try to demean others to make themselves feel good or superior. Clementina's strong and confident voice conveys her message with clarity and conviction, making Defesa a powerful and inspiring song.

Line by Line Meaning

Se você chegasse a tal conclusão dos fatos
If you actually came to the true conclusion of the facts

Não abria a boca só para dizer tolices
You wouldn't open your mouth just to say foolish things

Quando eu lhe dava do chapéu até o sapato
When I treated you well, from head to toe

E garanto que isto você ainda não disse
And I guarantee you haven't mentioned it yet

Hoje você vive por aí me difamando
Today you go around spreading lies about me

Que sou hipócrita, cruel, sou tudo enfim
Saying I'm hypocritical, cruel, basically everything bad

O que é de bom é só você, ai ai
And that all that is good is only in you, oh my

E o que é de mau é só pra mim
And all that is bad is only for me

Pouco importa que digam a de mim o que quiser
It doesn't matter much what people say about me

Mas na verdade eu sei honrar o meu santo nome de mulher
Because in truth, I know how to honor my womanly name

Embora você diga a todo mundo que eu não presto
Even though you tell everyone that I'm not worth anything