His compositions include the world famous "Upa Neguinho" (with Gianfrancesco Guarnieri), "Pra Dizer Adeus" (with Torquato Neto) (also known in its English version as "To Say Goodbye"), "Choro Bandido" and "Beatriz" (with Chico Buarque), "Arrastão" (with Vinícius de Moraes), "Canto Triste" and "Ponteio" (with Capinam).
He has worked with, and his songs have been covered by artists like Toots Thielemans, Marcos Valle, Elis Regina, Sylvia Telles, Sérgio Mendes, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Maria Bethânia, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, Mônica Salmaso, and others.
Chorinho de Mágoa
Edu Lobo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
- Ah, morena cor de mágoa
Cor de noite quando tarda
Cor de festa, cor de longe
Infinita cor da Estrada
Ela:
- Em você todas as cores
De um país, de uma cidade
De uma casa abandonada
São as águas de um riacho
Onde peixes, passarinhos
Por acaso um caminhante
São ramagens meu caminho
Ele:
- São as cores da neblina
Onde agora moram os anjos
Com a morena se encontraram
Eram santos, são humanos
Ela:
- Cor de mão, desenho, gesto
De quem pede, de quem busca
Cor de paz que nunca mais
Cor de medo, cor de fuga
Ele:
- Cor de água quando escorre
Cor de amor quando se entrega
Ela:
- Cor de "Nada" do sem jeito
Cor de "Não" quando se nega
Ele:
- Ah, morena cor de mágoa
Vim do Norte, vim correndo
Bem defronte aos teus olhos
Vim sair na beira-mar
Ela:
- Eu também perdi meus dias
Nesse mar, nessa saudade
Te esperava mas não vinhas
Vens agora, mas é tarde
Os dois:
- Em quadra de lua cheia
Fecha o chôro que se acaba
Nas três cores do meu mundo
Saudade, morena e mágoa
The lyrics of Edu Lobo's song Chorinho de Mágoa is a beautiful duet between a man and a woman, who express their feelings about each other through colors. The man starts by describing the woman's color as "cor de mágoa", the color of sorrow. He compares it to the color of night, a distant celebration, and the infinite color of the road. This showcases his perception of her as someone with a certain weight that she carries around with her. However, in the woman's response, she disagrees with his description and describes herself as having all the colors of dreams, midnight, a country, a city, and an abandoned house. She adds that the colors of a brook, where fish and birds live, are also part of her path.
The two then continue to use colors to describe each other, ranging from misty blue to the color of love when it surrenders, to the color of denial. They sing of the past and the present, and how they have both lost time by the sea, waiting for each other. In the end, they both acknowledge their sadness and the inevitability that their love will never be fulfilled. The song's melancholy tone is a poignant reflection on the complexities of unrequited love.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah, morena cor de mágoa
Oh, brown color of sadness
Cor de noite quando tarda
The color of night when it's late
Cor de festa, cor de longe
The color of celebration, the color of distance
Infinita cor da Estrada
Infinite color of the road
Em você todas as cores
In you all the colors
Dos sonhos, da madrugada
Of dreams, of dawn
De um país, de uma cidade
Of a country, of a city
De uma casa abandonada
Of an abandoned house
São as águas de um riacho
They are the waters of a stream
Onde peixes, passarinhos
Where fishes, birds
Por acaso um caminhante
Accidentally a traveler
São ramagens meu caminho
My path is branches
São as cores da neblina
They are the colors of the mist
Onde agora moram os anjos
Where now the angels live
Com a morena se encontraram
They met with the brown-skinned girl
Eram santos, são humanos
They were saints, they are humans
Cor de mão, desenho, gesto
The color of hand, drawing, gesture
De quem pede, de quem busca
Of those who ask, who seek
Cor de paz que nunca mais
The color of peace that never comes back
Cor de medo, cor de fuga
The color of fear, the color of escape
Cor de água quando escorre
The color of water when it runs
Cor de amor quando se entrega
The color of love when it surrenders
Cor de "Nada" do sem jeito
The color of the "nothingness" of awkwardness
Cor de "Não" quando se nega
The color of "no" when denied
Vim do Norte, vim correndo
I came from the North, I came running
Bem defronte aos teus olhos
Right in front of your eyes
Vim sair na beira-mar
I came out to the seashore
Eu também perdi meus dias
I also lost my days
Nesse mar, nessa saudade
In this sea, in this longing
Te esperava mas não vinhas
I was waiting for you but you didn't come
Vens agora, mas é tarde
You come now, but it's too late
Em quadra de lua cheia
In a full moon night
Fecha o chôro que se acaba
Close the crying that is ending
Nas três cores do meu mundo
In the three colors of my world
Saudade, morena e mágoa
Longing, brown-skinned girl and sorrow
Contributed by Benjamin O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.