Born into a poor family in Maceió (capital of Alagoas, Northeast Brazil), Djavan formed the group Luz, Som, Dimensão (LSD - "Light, Sound, Dimension"), playing Beatles covers. In 1973 Djavan moved to Rio de Janeiro and started singing in local nightclubs. After competing in several festivals he gained attention and recorded the album A Voz, o Violão e a Arte de Djavan in 1976. The album included the song "Flor de Lis" which became one of his most memorable hits. Albums that followed included his other musical influence, African music, and additional hits followed like "Açaí", "Sina" and "Samurai", which featured Stevie Wonder's harmonica. His best known compositions are: "Meu Bem Querer", "Oceano", "Faltando um Pedaço", "Esquinas", "Seduzir", "Pétala", "Lilás", "A Ilha", "Fato Consumado", "Álibi", "Azul" and "Serrado".
His songs have been recorded by Al Jarreau, Carmen McRae, The Manhattan Transfer, and, in Brazil by Gal Costa, Dori Caymmi, Nana Caymmi, Lenine, João Bosco, Chico Buarque, Daniela Mercury, Ney Matogrosso, Dominguinhos, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia, Johnny Alf, and other artists. The 1988 Epic Records single, "Stephen's Kingdom", featured a guest appearance from Stevie Wonder.
In 1999, his live concert double-volume album, Ao Vivo, has sold 1.2 million copies and the song, "Acelerou" became the Best Brazilian song of the year at 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djavan
Lunda
Djavan Lyrics
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Que um clarão me abalou em lobito
Como fosse um raio de susto, um facho místico
Talvez o sol tenha esquecido
Uma gota do dia na noite
Pra saciar a sede do espírito em seu pernoite
Ou foi o ar que incendiou
Num grito da mãe oxum
Eu te batizo africamente
Com o fogo que deus lavrou tua semente"
Luanda, luanda, luanda, luanda
Luanda, luanda, luanda, luanda
Luanda, luanda, luanda, luanda
The lyrics to Djavan's song "Lunda" tell a story of a transformative experience that the singer had in the city of Luanda. The song starts with the singer describing a light that shook him in the city of Lobito, like a mystical beam of energy. The singer wonders if it was the sun forgetting a drop of the day in the night or if it was the air igniting with the cry of the goddess Oxum. The singer then hears the voice of his mother Oxum, a goddess of the Yoruba pantheon, telling him to come back to his African roots and baptizing him with fire that God had cultivated in his being.
The song is a celebration of the singer’s spiritual awakening, and it connects his personal journey to the larger history of the African diaspora. It’s a call for everyone to return to their African roots to find their true identity and spirituality. The repetition of "Luanda" throughout the song serves as a reminder of the capital city of Angola, which was a major center of the Transatlantic slave trade.
Line by Line Meaning
Foi numa noite de luanda
It was on a Luanda night
Que um clarão me abalou em lobito
That a bright light shook me in Lobito
Como fosse um raio de susto, um facho místico
As if it were a lightning bolt of fear, a mystical flare
Talvez o sol tenha esquecido
Maybe the sun forgot
Uma gota do dia na noite
A drop of daytime in the night
Pra saciar a sede do espírito em seu pernoite
To quench the thirst of the spirit in its overnight stay
Ou foi o ar que incendiou
Or it was the air that ignited
Num grito da mãe oxum
In a yell from the mother Oxum
Dizendo: "menino, onde é que tu anda?
Saying: "boy, where are you wandering?
Eu te batizo africamente
I baptize you Africanly
Com o fogo que deus lavrou tua semente"
With the fire that God wrought your seed"
Luanda, luanda, luanda, luanda
Luanda, Luanda, Luanda, Luanda
Luanda, luanda, luanda, luanda
Luanda, Luanda, Luanda, Luanda
Luanda, luanda, luanda, luanda
Luanda, Luanda, Luanda, Luanda
Writer(s): DJAVAN
Contributed by Grayson I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.