Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos (September 26, 1945, Salvador, Brazil — N… Read Full Bio ↴Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos (September 26, 1945, Salvador, Brazil — November 9, 2022, São Paulo, Brazil), best known as Gal Costa, was a popular Brazilian MPB singer and musician, regarded by many as Brazil's greatest female singer of all time. Also known as "Musa da Tropicália" (Muse of Tropicália), she was one of the most diverse singers in Brazil, moving across all musical genres and being elected as the greatest voice in Brazilian music by Rolling Stone magazine, as well as one of the 10 greatest singers in the world by Time magazine.

Gal became one of Brazil's foremost Tropicália counterculture movement singers during the late 1960s and early 70s, quickly earning the title as one of the best and most acclaimed singers in Brazil, following a very succesful career with many hits and prestige over the years. During Tropicália, she became a political activist, coming into conflict with Brazil's government when dissent in music was censored, and later coming to represent the movement all alone in her country when her fellow Tropicália members and friends were exhiled to London due to the heavy dictatorship that was going on at the time.

Fellow musician Caetano Veloso, introduced her to Gilberto Gil and Tom Zé in 1963 (and later Maria Bethânia), who managed to secure her a recording deal in São Paulo for her debut album Domingo with Caetano Veloso. A bit before recording her first album, "Father of Bossa Nova" João Gilberto, met her and after a couple of hours hearing Gracinha (as she was known at the time) sing for him as he was playing the acoustic guitar, he said: "Gracinha, you're Brazil's greatest female singer". In the following years, Gal would prove his statement right with a fruitful and rewarding career, and with the encouragement of João Gilberto himself; her biggest idol.

Gal has recorded songs composed by a number of Brazil's most popular songwriters such as Antônio Carlos Jobim, Jorge Ben Jor, Chico Buarque, Rita Lee and especially her close friends Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. She was also a member of the supergroup Doces Bárbaros, active in 1976, 1994 and 2002.

Um Dia
Gal Costa Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Eu preciso te falar
Te encontrar de qualquer jeito
Pra sentar e conversar
Depois andar de encontro ao vento

Eu preciso respirar
O mesmo ar que te rodeia
E na pele quero ter

O mesmo sol que te bronzeia

Eu preciso te tocar
E outra vez te ver sorrindo
E voltar num sonho lindo
Já não dá mais pra viver
Um sentimento sem sentido

Eu preciso descobrir
A emoção de estar contigo
Ver o sol amanhecer
E ver a vida acontecer
Como um dia de domingo

Faz de conta que ainda é cedo
Tudo vai ficar por conta da emoção
Faz de conta que ainda é cedo
E deixar falar a voz do coração

Eu preciso te falar
Te encontrar de qualquer jeito
Pra sentar e conversar
Depois andar de encontro ao vento

Eu preciso respirar
O mesmo ar que te rodeia
E na pele quero ter
O mesmo sol que te bronzeia

Eu preciso te tocar
E outra vez te ver sorrindo
E voltar num sonho lindo
Já não dá mais pra viver
Um sentimento sem sentido

Eu preciso descobrir
A emoção de estar contigo
Ver o sol amanhecer
E ver a vida acontecer
Como um dia de domingo

Faz de conta que ainda é cedo
Tudo vai ficar por conta da emoção
Faz de conta que ainda é cedo
E deixar falar a voz do coração

Faz de conta que ainda é cedo
Tudo vai ficar por conta da emoção
Faz de conta que ainda é cedo
E deixar falar a voz do coração

Faz de conta que ainda é cedo
Tudo vai ficar por conta da emoção (da emoção)
Faz de conta que ainda é cedo
E deixar falar a voz do coração (deixa, deixa)

Faz de conta que ainda é cedo

Tudo vai ficar por conta da emoção (da emoção)
Faz de conta que ainda é cedo

Overall Meaning

Gal Costa's song "Um Dia" is a beautiful and introspective song about the need for connection and companionship. The song opens with the lyrics, "I need to talk to you, to find you any way I can, to sit down and talk, and then walk into the wind." The singer is clearly in a state of longing, needing to be close to the object of their affection. The lyrics describe a deep yearning to be near this person, to share their experiences and even their surroundings. "I need to breathe the same air that surrounds you, and on my skin I want to feel the same sun that tans you."

The chorus of the song repeats the idea of needing to be with the other person, to touch them, to see them smile, to live a life together. "I need to discover the emotion of being with you, to see the sun rise and to see life happen like a Sunday." The idea of Sunday here represents a peaceful, leisurely day spent together, enjoying each other's company. The song asks the listener to imagine that it's still early, that there's still time to do everything they've dreamed of, and that they should let their hearts speak.

Line by Line Meaning

Eu preciso te falar
I need to talk to you

Te encontrar de qualquer jeito
To meet you in any way possible

Pra sentar e conversar
To sit and talk

Depois andar de encontro ao vento
And then walk with the wind

Eu preciso respirar
I need to breathe

O mesmo ar que te rodeia
The same air that surrounds you

E na pele quero ter
And on my skin I want to have

O mesmo sol que te bronzeia
The same sun that tans you

Eu preciso te tocar
I need to touch you

E outra vez te ver sorrindo
And see you smiling again

E voltar num sonho lindo
And go back to a beautiful dream

Já não dá mais pra viver
It's no longer possible to live

Um sentimento sem sentido
A feeling without sense

Eu preciso descobrir
I need to discover

A emoção de estar contigo
The excitement of being with you

Ver o sol amanhecer
See the sunrise

E ver a vida acontecer
And see life happening

Como um dia de domingo
Like a Sunday