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.
Tortura
Fagner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A lúcida verdade, o sentimento
E ser depois de vir do coração
Um punhado de cinzas,
Esparso ao vento
Sonhar um verso de alto pensamento
E puro como um ritmo de oração
O pó, o nada, o sonho d'um momento
São assim, ocos, rudes, os meus versos
Rimas perdidas, vendavais dispersos
Com que eu iludo os outros
Com que minto
Quem me dera encontrar o verso puro
O verso altivo e forte
Estranho e duro
Que disseste a chorar, isto que sinto
The lyrics to Fagner's song Tortura speak to the struggle of expressing emotions and ideas through poetry. The singer contemplates the difficulty of taking the pure, lucid truth from the heart and turning it into something tangible with words. He longs to dream up a verse of high thinking, but ultimately feels that his own verses are empty and rough around the edges. He summarizes his own poetic work as a handful of ashes, scattered by the wind.
Line by Line Meaning
Tirar dentro de peito a emoção
To take the emotion inside the chest
A lúcida verdade, o sentimento
The lucid truth, the feeling
E ser depois de vir do coração
And then to come from the heart
Um punhado de cinzas, Esparso ao vento
A handful of ashes, scattered in the wind
Sonhar um verso de alto pensamento
To dream of a verse of high thought
E puro como um ritmo de oração
And pure like a prayer rhythm
E ser depois de vir do coração
And then to come from the heart
O pó, o nada, o sonho d'um momento
The dust, the nothingness, the dream of a moment
São assim, ocos, rudes, os meus versos
My verses are like this, empty, rough
Rimas perdidas, vendavais dispersos
Lost rhymes, dispersed gales
Com que eu iludo os outros
With which I deceive others
Com que minto
With which I lie
Quem me dera encontrar o verso puro
I wish I could find the pure verse
O verso altivo e forte
The proud and strong verse
Estranho e duro
Strange and hard
Que disseste a chorar, isto que sinto
That you said crying, this that I feel
Contributed by Aria K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@helenavalente2481
O Fagner é surreal. Musicou os mais belos poemas de amor, da vida....Fez-nos conhecer Flor Bela Espanca e mesmo Fernando Pessoa. Apresentou-nos seu amigo o cearense Ferreirinha, a espanhola Ana Belém, entre outros letristas brasileiros. O Fagner é um brasileiro amado , admirado e respeitado por todos os brasileiros. Obrigada, Raimundo Fagner! Aprendi muito com vc.
@andreronaldo6124
Grande artista deslocado da mídia atual mas de reconhecida mestria na melodia.
@claytonmacedo7147
Eu amo as músicas de Fagner, de repente, mais que ele próprio $
@claytondomingues3445
Eu também xara aliás o Fagner é meu primeiro ídolo desde 1978
@eugeniacorreia533
❤️❤️❤️
@vitorsoares3278
Essa música é de autoria de Raimundo Fagner