Raimundo Fagner Cândido Lopes (born in Orós, Ceará, October 13, 1949) is a … Read Full Bio ↴Raimundo Fagner Cândido Lopes (born in Orós, Ceará, October 13, 1949) is a Brazilian singer, composer, musician, actor and music producer. He is commonly known by the stage name Fagner.

The youngest of the five children of José Fares, Lebanese immigrant to Brazil, and Dona Francisca, Fagner was born in Fortaleza, the capital of the state of Ceará, although his birth was recorded in Orós.

At the age of five years he won a youth competition at a local radio station. As a teen, he formed vocal and instrumental groups and began to compose his own music. In 1968 he won the Festival de Música Popular do Ceará (Popular Music Festival of Ceará) with his song "Nada Sou" (I am Nothing).

In 1971 he moved to the capital Brasília, taking first place in the Festival de Música Popular do Centro de Estudos Universitários de Brasília (Popular Music Festival of the University Studies Center of Brasília) with his piece "Mucuripe" (with collaborator Belchior), which was later recorded by artist Elis Regina, and became Fagner's first notable success as a composer. He won prizes in other categories with additional pieces, as well.

He has had a distinguished career as a performer, singer, songwriter and composer for over 3 decades, and is also known for his collaborations with other MPB artists such as Caetano Veloso, Roberta Miranda, Chico Buarque and others.

Fábula
Fagner Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Era uma vez uns animais
Que se comiam, se devoravam
Dois animais que se comiam
Somente um se tornou capaz
Criou a roda, criou demais
E legislando, virou capataz
Dos semelhantes, as humilhantes
Obrigações transformou em leis

Criou a lei da gravidade
Da agravante e da avidez

Ah! que história infantil meu rapaz
Essas crianças são velhas demais

E o animal dominador
Sobre a mesa restos espalhou
E fez transplantes e invenções
E nos filmezinhos tequinicolor
E o animal que dominado
Não aceitava outra invenção
Acho que assim tá explicado
O surgimento da televisão

Ah! que história infantil meu rapaz
Essas crianças são velhas demais

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Fagner's song "Fábula" tell the story of how once upon a time, two animals used to eat and devour each other. One of them then became capable of creating things like the wheel and legislation, which made him the boss over his peers. He turned their humiliating obligations into laws, including the law of gravity and the laws of increasing severity and greed. However, the dominant animal spread the leftovers of his meals over the table and made transplants and inventions, which were shown in colorful films. Meanwhile, the animal that was dominated did not accept further inventions, and this is suggested as the explanation for the emergence of television.

The song seems to be a critique of human society and its evolution from basic animal instincts towards more complex structures, power struggles, and hierarchies. It suggests that the invention of laws and technologies does not necessarily lead to progress but rather to control and domination. The final lines of the song, "Ah! que história infantil meu rapaz / Essas crianças são velhas demais," can be translated as "Ah! what a childish story my boy / These children are too old." These lines may imply that we have not evolved much from our animalistic instincts, even though we believe ourselves to be advanced and civilized.

Line by Line Meaning

Era uma vez uns animais
Once upon a time there were some animals

Que se comiam, se devoravam
Who ate each other, devoured themselves

Dois animais que se comiam
Two animals that ate each other

Somente um se tornou capaz
Only one became capable

Criou a roda, criou demais
Created the wheel, created more

E legislando, virou capataz
And legislating, became a foreman

Dos semelhantes, as humilhantes
Of the similar, the humiliating

Obrigações transformou em leis
Transformed obligations into laws

Criou a lei da gravidade
Created the law of gravity

Da agravante e da avidez
Of the aggravating and the greed

Ah! que história infantil meu rapaz
Ah! What a childish story my boy