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.
Meu fim de carnaval não foi ruim
Dona Ivone Lara Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A nostalgia desapareceu e a alegria se apossou de mim
Encontrei meu grande amor
Que um dia se foi dizendo: Não vou mais voltar
Mas você não cumpriu e se arrependeu
E voltou exigindo ficar no mesmo lugar
Eu confesso que não pude suportar
Foi coincidência do destino
Encontrar no meu caminho
E poder ver de perto
Tudo que foi bom, o nosso passado
Trocamos juras de amor até o amanhecer
The lyrics of "Meu fim de carnaval não foi ruim" by Dona Ivone Lara tell the story of a person who had a pleasant ending to their carnival season. They express how nostalgia has faded away, replaced by joy and happiness. In the midst of this celebration, the singer unexpectedly reunites with their long-lost love, who had once left and declared they would never return. However, this person then regrets their decision and returns, demanding to stay in the same place.
The singer is honest about their inability to bear the situation. They feel a strong urge to cry and pour out their emotions. It is portrayed as a coincidence of destiny to encounter their former love on their path and be able to see, up close, everything that was once beautiful in their shared past. The song hints that they once made promises of love that lasted until dawn.
The lyrics of this song evoke a bittersweet emotion, combining the happiness of the carnival season with the pain of lost love and the unexpected reunion. It expresses the vulnerability and conflicting feelings of the singer, who is confronted by the past they thought they had moved on from. Overall, the song captures the complexities of human emotions and the impact of chance encounters on our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Não, meu fim de carnaval nao foi ruim
No, my end of carnival was not bad
A nostalgia desapareceu e a alegria se apossou de mim
The nostalgia disappeared and the joy took over me
Encontrei meu grande amor
I found my great love
Que um dia se foi dizendo: Não vou mais voltar
Who one day left saying: I will not come back anymore
Mas você não cumpriu e se arrependeu
But you didn't fulfill and regretted it
E voltou exigindo ficar no mesmo lugar
And came back demanding to stay in the same place
Eu confesso que não pude suportar
I confess that I couldn't bear it
Senti tanta vontade de chorar e desabafar
I felt such a strong desire to cry and vent
Foi coincidência do destino
It was a coincidence of destiny
Encontrar no meu caminho
To find on my way
E poder ver de perto
And be able to see up close
Tudo que foi bom, o nosso passado
Everything that was good, our past
Trocamos juras de amor até o amanhecer
We exchanged vows of love until dawn
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Yvonne Lara Da Costa
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind