Her history is linked with the developing of important escolas de samba (samba schools) from Rio de Janeiro, such as Prazer da Serrinha and Império Serrano. Her repertoire is comprised of mostly romantic sambas inspired by rootsy African music. Until 2000, she recorded only these 5 LPs and one CD. Dona Ivone Lara is the godmother of the group of composers at Império Serrano and participates in the carnival parades every year.
Dona Ivone Lara was born in Rio de Janeiro. She graduated in nursing, with specialization in Occupational Therapy, and worked as a social worker until she retired in 1977. With this professional background, she worked in psychiatric hospitals, where she knew Dr. Nise da Silveira.
With the death of her mother when she was three, and of her father when she was twelve, Dona Ivone was raised by aunts and uncles and with them she learned to play the cavaquinho. She was exposed to samba music at the side of her cousin Mestre Fuleiro; she took singing lessons from Lucília Villa-Lobos and was praised by Dona Lucília's husband, the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.
At the age of 25, she married Oscar Costa, son of Afredo Costa, the president of the Prazer da Serrinha samba school. At Prazer da Serrinha she met several composers who later became her partners in several compositions, among them Mano Décio da Viola e Silas de Oliveira.
Dona Ivone composed the samba Nasci para sofrer (Born To Suffer), which became the theme song of the samba school. When the samba school Império Serrano was founded in 1947, she began to parade in the ala das baianas (Wing of the Baianas) during carnaval parades. There she composed the samba Não me perguntes (Don't Ask Me),. Her consecration as a composer came in 1965, with Os cinco bailes da história do Rio (The Five Balls of the History of Rio) qwhen she became the first woman to become part of the ala de compositores (Wing of the Composers) of a samba school.
Retiring from nursing in 1977, she began to dedicate herself to her musical career. She continues to record and to perform before live audiences today. Among the interpreters of her songs are such singers and artists as Clara Nunes, Roberto Ribeiro, Maria Bethânia, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Paula Toller, Paulinho da Viola, Beth Carvalho, Mariene de Castro e Roberta Sá.
Alguém Me Avisou
Dona Ivone Lara Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Que tu andas novamente
De novo amor, nova paixão
Toda contente
Conheço bem tuas promessas
Outras ouvi, iguais a essas
Esse teu jeito de enganar
Conheço bem
Pouco me importa
Que te vejam tantas vezes
E que tu mudes de paixão
Todos os meses
Se vais beijar, como eu bem sei
Fazer sonhar como eu sonhei
Mas sem ter nunca
Amor igual ao que eu te dei
In Dona Ivone Lara's song Alguém Me Avisou, she sings about a former lover who has moved on with a new love interest. Someone has informed her that her ex is once again swept up in the excitement of a new romance. Dona Ivone, however, knows this person well and is familiar with their methods of deception. She has heard all their promises before and recognizes their pattern of deceiving others, just like they did to her.
The second half of the song sees Dona Ivone acknowledging that she doesn't care if her former lover moves on with someone else or if they have many short-lived romances. She knows that they will likely continue to kiss and make their new partners dream, just like they did with her. However, she believes that they'll never experience a love that compares to the love she gave to them.
Line by Line Meaning
Alguém me disse
Someone told me
Que tu andas novamente
That you're walking again
De novo amor, nova paixão
With new love, new passion
Toda contente
All happy
Conheço bem tuas promessas
I know your promises well
Outras ouvi, iguais a essas
I heard others, just like these
Esse teu jeito de enganar
Your way of deceiving
Conheço bem
I know it well
Pouco me importa
It matters little to me
Que te vejam tantas vezes
That they see you so many times
E que tu mudes de paixão
And that you change your passion
Todos os meses
Every month
Se vais beijar, como eu bem sei
If you're going to kiss, as I know well
Fazer sonhar como eu sonhei
To make someone dream like I dreamed
Mas sem ter nunca
But without ever having
Amor igual ao que eu te dei
Love like the one I gave you
Contributed by Sadie M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.