In 1976, Fafá released her first LP, Tamba-Tajá. Her singing seduced even the demolishing critic of Brazilian music from Jornal do Brasil, the feared José Ramos Tinhorão, who poured over her praises, pointing her out as a singer destined to figure in the first team of the current generation of great Brazilian interpreters. The following album, Água (1977) confirmed all predictions: it reached about 100 thousand copies sold.
Although she never thought of becoming a professional singer, since she was 9 years old, Fafá de Belém was an attraction at parties promoted by her family or at friends' houses. In spite of being a little girl, she interpreted as a grown-up "Ouça", a hit by Maysa, or "Eu e a Brisa", by Johnny Half. She was a girl who, like her generation, loved the Beatles, was a fan of Roberto Carlos and the Jovem Guarda group, but was also fascinated by jazz, classical music, and got emotional listening to the great radio singers, like Cauby Peixoto, Angela Maria, Núbia Lafayette and Orlando Silva, "People with a dagger in their chests", who she likes to use as models to interpret.
"Today I see myself as a singer of the great loves, of the losses and reunions. If the music doesn't give me goose bumps, I won't record it. If I am not a character in the lyrics, I cannot interpret. I am a dramatist, a passionate person.", she usually affirms, between pleasant laughs, but from the bottom of her heart, the great interpreter of Nuvem de Lágrimas, the first country song to be played on FM's in Rio de Janeiro.
The wide range of her musical background is reflected in the selection of her repertoire. She recorded everything, without prejudice. Regional music, popular song pearls, such as "Que Queres Tu de Mim", by Evaldo Gouveia and Jair Amorim, or "Você Vai Gostar (Casinha Branca)" by Elpídio dos Santos. Rock, boleros, Caribbean rhythms, guarânias, afoxé, lambadas, sambas-canções, compositions by the great names of MPB, marcha-rancho, sertanejo, and many other rhythms. Not to mention the polemic presentation that the Muse of "Diretas Já" (a past popular political movement that had as its objective the resumption of direct elections for the office of President of the Republic in Brazil, during the Brazilian military dictatorship) gave to the National Anthem, contested by the courts and applauded by the audience.
It was from her decision to turn the tables and let her heart speak louder that Fafá touched deep into the Brazilian soul. With the determination that characterizes her, the years on the road, a strong intuition and the absolute success of songs handpicked by the singer herself at certain moments in her life, like "Bilhete", by Ivan Lins and Victor Martins, that made her break the silence of a year in 1982. Or "Memórias", by Leonardo, popular composer from Pernambuco, responsible for the sale of half a million copies (Platinum Disc) of the album Atrevida (1986), Fafá reached, then, the peak of her career, especially as a romantic singer.
An amazing trajectory, but nothing that surprises those who know her well and her apparent contradictions. It was not for nothing that she interpreted, with such emotion and propriety, the verses of one of the biggest hits of her career, "Dentro de Mim Mora Um Anjo", by Suely Costa and Cacaso: "Who sees me singing like this, doesn't know anything about me...". This is one of the greatest truths about Fafá de Belém, who knows exactly what she wants and what she is capable of.
"I have always done my own thing, lived my own life, fought hard and punched a lot on a knife's blade to get to where I am. It is the people who teach the artist what he has to sing, and not the artist who has to teach the people what they have to listen to.", often repeats Fafá.
Fafá became a national brand. A national brand of joy, with that sincerely loud laugh that can lift the spirits of anyone. A national trademark of health, the beautiful Brazilian woman who even baptized the lanterns of the old VW Beetle, another popular passion. A national symbol of freedom, the symbol of a political movement that moved millions of Brazilians with her interpretation of the national anthem.
This is Fafá de Belém. Or even better: Fafá do Mundo (Fafá of the World).
Sereia
Fafá de Belém Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Clareira luminosa nessa escuridão
Bela como a luz da lua
Estrela do oriente nesses mares do sul
Clareira azul no céu
Na paisagem
Clara como a luz do sol
Bela como a luz da lua
Estrela do oriente nesses mares do sul
Clareira azul no céu
Na paisagem
Será magia, miragem, milagre?
Será mistério?
Prateando o horizonte
Brilham rios, fontes
Numa cascata de luz
No espelho dessas águas
Vejo a face luminosa do amor
As ondas vão e vem
E vão e são como o tempo
Luz do divinal querer
Seria uma sereia?
Ou seria só delírio tropical, fantasia?
Ou será um sonho de criança
Sob o sol da manhã?
Um sonho de criança
Sob o sol da manhã?
Prateando o horizonte
Brilham rios, fontes
Numa cascata de luz
No espelho dessas águas
Vejo a face luminosa do amor
As ondas vão e vem
E vão e são como o tempo
Luz do divinal querer
Seria uma sereia?
Ou seria só delírio tropical, fantasia?
Ou será um sonho de criança
Sob o sol da manhã?
Um sonho de criança
Sob o sol da manhã?
The lyrics of Fafá de Belém's song "Sereia" describe a beautiful and mysterious entity that appears in the ocean. The verses highlight the beauty of this creature, referring to it as bright as the sun, beautiful as the moon, and an Eastern star in the Southern seas. The chorus poses a series of questions about this entity: is it magic, a mirage, or a miracle? Is it a mystery?
The song then shifts its focus to the surroundings of this magical being. Rivers and fountains shine in a cascade of light while the mirror of the water reflects a luminous face of love. The waves ebb and flow like time itself, leading the singer to wonder if this creature is a mermaid or just a tropical daydream.
The final lines leave the question open-ended as to who or what the sereia really is, questioning if it is a divine longing, a child's morning dream, or simply a fantasy of the imagination.
Overall, "Sereia" is a beautiful and haunting ode to the mystery and wonder of the natural world, and the way it leaves us questioning and searching for answers beyond our reach.
Line by Line Meaning
Clara como a luz do sol
Clear as the sunlight
Clareira luminosa nessa escuridão
A luminous clearing in this darkness
Bela como a luz da lua
Beautiful as the moonlight
Estrela do oriente nesses mares do sul
Eastern star in these southern seas
Clareira azul no céu
Blue clearing in the sky
Na paisagem
In the landscape
Será magia, miragem, milagre?
Could it be magic, illusion, miracle?
Será mistério?
Is it a mystery?
Prateando o horizonte
Silvering the horizon
Brilham rios, fontes
Rivers and springs shine
Numa cascata de luz
In a cascade of light
No espelho dessas águas
In the mirror of these waters
Vejo a face luminosa do amor
I see the shining face of love
As ondas vão e vem
The waves come and go
E vão e são como o tempo
And they come and go like time
Luz do divinal querer
Light of divine desire
Seria uma sereia?
Could it be a mermaid?
Ou seria só delírio tropical, fantasia?
Or is it just a tropical delirium, fantasy?
Ou será um sonho de criança
Or is it a childhood dream
Sob o sol da manhã?
Under the morning sun?
Um sonho de criança
A childhood dream
Sob o sol da manhã?
Under the morning sun?
Writer(s): Nelson Motta, Lulu Santos
Contributed by Sarah K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
edson santos
Música linda na voz de Fafá de Belém!!!!!!!!!!!!
Julio Cesar
2018,,41 anos matando sdd da infância..música linda.
Geiza Marcelino
Essa música e tão perfeita aaaaa ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Marcos Renato Palhares Da Silveira
Nossa delicia lembrei do meu primeiro LP ganhei do meu Pai, Amo essa musica lembro do clip dela de seria ate hoje.
Davi Torres
só tenho saudades! #temposquenãovoltam
Karlos Pillar
Que música boa pra relaxar
Bela letra
Silmar Vieira
amo essa música. Jamais esquecerei.
Joice SanT Anna
Linda linda com Fafa de Belem😍😃😄
Claudinei Sampaio
Som Livre, tenha compaixão de nós fãs e faça um áudio oficial de "Mulher Rendeira" que a Fafá gravou em 1975 para o "Fantástico" e nunca saiu em nenhuma coletânea, please!
Jose Carlos Souza
Uma das mais belas canções da MPB