Since her breakthrough, Mercury has become one of the best known Brazilian female singers, selling over 20 million albums worldwide. Daniela has a degree in dance from the Federal University of Bahia, having started her studies in this art since she was four years old, later becoming a teacher of jazz, modern and classical ballet, besides having specialized and performed in other genres, such as Afro Dance and contemporary dance. She began singing professionally at the age of fifteen, the same age at which she rode a trio elétrico for the first time, integrating her career as singer and dancer.
She released her eponymous album in 1991, followed by O Canto da Cidade in the following year, leveraging her career as a national artist and bringing the axé music genre to the forefront. Over the years, she released several albums, generating great hits like "Swing da Cor", "O Canto da Cidade", "À Primeira Vista", "Rapunzel", "Nobre Vagabundo", "Ilê Pérola Negra (O Canto do Negro)", "Mutante", "Maimbê Dandá", "Levada Brasileira", "Oyá Por Nós", among others. She recorded a DVD commemorating 25 years of Cirque du Soleil and was part of the Montreal International Jazz Festival. In addition, she participated in Alejandro Sanz's album and sang with Paul McCartney in Norway during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Winner of a Latin Grammy for her album Balé Mulato - Ao Vivo, she also received six Brazilian Music Awards, an APCA award, three Multishow awards, and two VMB awards, for best music video and photography. On television she was a judge and mentor for the talent shows Popstars, Superstar, and The Voice Kids Portugal.
In 2013, Daniela released in partnership with her wife Malu Verçosa, whom she married in Portugal the same year, her first book, Daniela e Malu: Uma História de Amor.
Attentive to the Brazilian social reality and with a great desire to contribute to the preservation of our cultural matrices, Daniela created her Institute "Sol da Liberdade" in 2008. Today, in partnership with UNICEF and ESPN Brasil, the ISL carries out the Caravana da Música project. The Caravana da Música is an itinerant project that has been touring Brazil since 2007, visiting one city every month. The cities to be visited are indicated by UNICEF, according to the HDI (Human Development Index) and the IDI (Child Development Index). In each of the cities visited, the "Music Caravan" sets up a large infrastructure where it offers 3,000 children an unprecedented experience with dance, music, theater, instrument building, circus art, and several other artistic experiences. In addition to the children, the Music Caravan also offers training in Art Education for 250 public school teachers from each of the visited cities. The Music Caravan has already directly assisted more than 50 thousand children and 30 thousand teachers. Considering that each public school teacher trained by the Caravan becomes an Art Education multiplier, it is estimated that the Music Caravan has already indirectly reached more than half a million Brazilians. All the activities of the Music Caravan in the countryside of Brazil are recorded by the ESPN Brazil team, which broadcasts a monthly documentary about the project's activities. The documentary is shown in Brazil and in 157 other countries.
Besides presiding the Instituto Sol da Liberdade, Daniela is also UNICEF's National Goodwill Ambassador, a title she received in 1995, when she became the second Brazilian personality to receive such honor. She has also participated in several benefit shows in favor of children, among them the UNICEF/ Rede Globo's Criança Esperança and the AACD/SBT's Teleton. Part of the rights to her 1998 album Elétrica were donated to UNICEF. She is also an ambassador for the Ayrton Senna Institute. Daniela has also participated in other charitable projects, not directly linked to children. On October 7, 2003, she took part in the show Solidariedade Brasil-Noruega in favor of Fome Zero at the National Theater, in Brasilia. She is also connected to the NGO América Latina em Ação Solidária (ALAS), having participated in September 2007 in an advertising campaign promoting aid to the earthquake victims in Peru. In 2013 she was invited to participate in the UN global campaign, Free & Equal, along with Ricky Martin and other international artists.
Meu Pai Oxalá
Daniela Mercury Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
É o rei venha me valer
Meu Pai Oxalá
É o rei venha me valer
No velho Omulu
Atotô Baluaê
No velho Omulu
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Vem das águas, de Oxalá
Desce a mágoa que me dá
Ela apareceu um dia
Ao romper da escuridão
Linda no seu manto todo branco
Em meio a procissão
Fazendo Xangô num balanceio
Cheio de paixão
Meu Pai Oxalá
É o rei venha me valer
Meu Pai Oxalá
É o rei venha me valer
No velho Omulu
Atotô Baluaê
No velho Omulu
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Que vontade de chorar
No terreiro de Oxalá
Quando eu dei com a minha ingrata
Que era filha de Iansã
Com a sua espada cor de prata
Em meio a multidão
Fazendo Xangô num balanceio
Cheio de paixão
Meu Pai Oxalá
É o rei venha me valer
Meu Pai Oxalá
É o rei venha me valer
No velho Omulu
Atotô Baluaê
No velho Omulu
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá...
The lyrics to Daniela Mercury's "Meu Pai Oxalá" are a tribute to the African-Brazilian religion of Candomblé and its deities. The song begins by invoking Oxalá, the "king" of the Candomblé pantheon, asking for his help and protection. The chorus repeats the phrase "Atotô Baluaê, Atotô babá," which is a common chant used in Candomblé rituals.
The second verse tells the story of a vision of Oxalá that the singer had, represented by a beautiful woman dressed in white. The woman performs a dance for the deity Xangô, with whom she is passionate. Mercury's performance of this verse is particularly powerful, as she delivers the lines with a sense of awe and wonder.
The final verse deals with the singer's personal relationship with Candomblé. She speaks about her desire to cry when she visits the temple of Oxalá and sees an unfaithful lover, who is represented by the deity Iansã. The verse again focuses on the dance of Xangô, with the singer marveling at the passion and skill of the dancers.
Overall, "Meu Pai Oxalá" is a beautiful tribute to the spirituality and culture of Candomblé, inviting listeners to engage with a rich and complex spiritual tradition.
Line by Line Meaning
Meu Pai Oxalá
My Father Oxalá
É o rei venha me valer
Is the king, come to help me
No velho Omulu
In old Omulu
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô babá
Vem das águas, de Oxalá
Comes from the waters of Oxalá
Desce a mágoa que me dá
Descends the sadness that gives me
Ela apareceu um dia
She appeared one day
Ao romper da escuridão
At the break of dawn
Linda no seu manto todo branco
Beautiful in her all-white garment
Em meio a procissão
In the middle of the procession
Fazendo Xangô num balanceio
Making Xangô in a swaying motion
Cheio de paixão
Full of passion
Que vontade de chorar
What a desire to cry
No terreiro de Oxalá
In Oxalá's yard
Quando eu dei com a minha ingrata
When I came across my ungrateful one
Que era filha de Iansã
Who was the daughter of Iansã
Com a sua espada cor de prata
With her silver-colored sword
Em meio a multidão
In the middle of the crowd
Fazendo Xangô num balanceio
Making Xangô in a swaying motion
Cheio de paixão
Full of passion
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô Baluaê
Atotô babá
Atotô babá
Contributed by Elliot P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Rosa Viviane e Vanessa Benevides
Meu pai Wildimar venha nos fortalecer !!!
Gusttavo Moraes
Estou viciado nessa música na voz da Daniela 😍🎶 Atotô!
ANDRES GOMEZ
Muito belo eu gosto da Brasil e dela Daniela Mercury ORGULHO DO BRASIL ate Colombia meu pais eu so falante do espanhol
Emmerson Silva
Essa mulher é uma deusa!!!
Christiane Cavalcanti
E boa
Rosita leão
Oxalá, axé muito axé
Jonas Almeida
Amo essa canção na tua voz rainha .... Epa babá
Rosimar Silva
Amo demais
Vamos Conferir
Essa música era tema do personagem Mestre Zelão (Milton Gonçalves) pescador que vivia na cidade fictícia de Sucupira/Ba, na novela O Bem Amado 1973, tinha como meta pagar uma promessa ao seu Santo Protetor, pulando da Torre da Igreja de Sucupira com as asas fabricadas por ele mesmo.
Christiane Cavalcanti
Isso estou assistindo essa novela no globoplay