Since the 1970s, Emilio Santiago has been an institution in brazilian music… Read Full Bio ↴Since the 1970s, Emilio Santiago has been an institution in brazilian music. One of the few artists to have remained signed to the national Som Livre label for over 10 years, Santiago carved out a career as the mums’ favourite crooner with his series of albums called ‘Aquarelas Brasileiras’ (‘brazilian watercolours’), a series that sold over 4 million copies and were guaranteed to fill the christmas stockings of everyone’s favourite auntie or grannie. But it wasn’t always that way. Former law student Emilio Santiago’s first recordings were almost always alongside the cream of Brazil’s musicians – guest spots on independent MPB productions by Antonio Adolfo, some of the better telenovela soundtracks and an unreleased session with Luiz Carlos Vinhas from 1974. Santiago was a musicians’ singer.

From 1972 until 1975, when this record was made, Santiago’s main gig was as ‘crooner’ in Ed Lincoln’s Orchestra. As Lincoln’s long time friend and cohort, it was obvious that Durval Ferreira, (in his capacity as Artistic Director at CID) would be one of the first to recognise the extraordinary talent of the young singer; thus Ferreira signed a deal with Santiago to make this album, supported by absolutely the best players and arrangers, and singing songs by Brazil’s best composers. ‘Emilio Santiago’ is one of the jewels in the crown of the CID catalogue. whatmusic.com is very proud to present Santiago’s classic, reissued in its original form for the first time.

Bananeira
Emílio Santiago Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Uma maneira de ver
Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Isso é lá com você

Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Uma maneira de ver
Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Isso é lá com você

Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Uma maneira de ver
Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Isso é lá com você
Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Uma maneira de ver
Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Isso é lá com você

Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Uma maneira de ver
Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Isso é lá com você
Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Uma maneira de ver
Bananeira, não sei
Bananeira, sei lá
A bananeira, sei não
Isso é lá com você

Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira
Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira
Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira
Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira
Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira bananeira bananeira

Bananeira bananeira bananeira
(Bananeira)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Emílio Santiago's song Bananeira are relatively simple and repetitive, and the artist seems to be exploring the various ways in which the image of a banana tree can be interpreted. The song begins with the lines "Bananeira, não sei/Bananeira, sei lá/A bananeira, sei não," which can be loosely translated to mean "I don't know about the banana tree/Or maybe I do/I'm not sure."

This ambiguity continues throughout the song, with the repetition of the phrase "Uma maneira de ver" meaning "a way of seeing" or "perspective" in between each repetition of the title line. It's almost as if Santiago is suggesting that the meaning of the banana tree is subjective and open to interpretation, and that each person may see it differently. In the final section of the song, there are no more lyrics except for the repetition of the word "Bananeira" over and over, which could be seen as a sort of meditation on the image itself.

Line by Line Meaning

Bananeira, não sei
I don't know about bananeira

Bananeira, sei lá
Bananeira, who knows

A bananeira, sei não
I really don't know about bananeira

Uma maneira de ver
One way to see it

Isso é lá com você
That's up to you

Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira, bananeira, bananeira, bananeira, bananeira

Bananeira
Bananeira

Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira, bananeira, bananeira, bananeira, bananeira

Bananeira bananeira bananeira bananeira
Bananeira, bananeira, bananeira, bananeira

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Gilberto Moreira, Joao Neto, Joao Donato De Oliveira Neto

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS