Nara Lofego Leão (January 19, 1942, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil — June … Read Full Bio ↴Nara Lofego Leão (January 19, 1942, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil — June 7, 1989, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), best known as Nara Leão, was a diverse MPB singer, acoustic guitarist and occasional actress and songwriter, associated with many genres and movements, such as bossa nova, samba de morro, protest song, Tropicália, música nordestina and others, quickly gaining the title of "Musa da Bossa Nova" (Muse of Bossa Nova) ever since the beginning of her career.

When she was twelve, her father gave her a guitar since he was worried about her being shy. Popular musician and composer Patricio Teixeira and classical guitarist Solon Ayala were her teachers. While still a teenager, she met a number of singers and composers who took part of Bossa Nova's musical revolution, in late 50s and early 60s, including Roberto Menescal, Carlos Lyra, Ronaldo Bôscoli, João Gilberto and Antônio Carlos Jobim.

By 1963, after singing as an amateur for a few years, she became a professional and toured with Sergio Mendes. In the mid-1960s, the institution of military dictatorship in Brazil led her to sing increasingly political lyrics. Her show "Opinião" reflected her political beliefs and she had largely switched to political music by this point. In 1964, she even spoke against bossa nova as a movement, calling it "alienating". In 1968, being part of the Tropicália movement, she appeared on the album Tropicália: ou Panis et Circenses, performing "Lindonéia."

She later left Brazil for Paris and in the 1970s abandoned music to focus on her family. She returned to music later and when she discovered, in 1979, that she had an inoperable brain tumor she increased her productivity as much as possible. She died in 1989, leaving a great legacy behind her succesful years of career.

Chegança
Nara Leão Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Estamos chegando daqui e dali
E de todo lugar que se tem pra partir
Estamos chegando daqui e dali
E de todo lugar que se tem pra partir

Trazendo na chegança
Foice velha, mulher nova
E uma quadra de esperança

E uma quadra de esperança

Ah, se viver fosse chegar
Ah, se viver fosse chegar
Chegar sem parar, parar pra casar
Casar e os filhos espalhar

Por um mundo num tal de rodar

Por um mundo num tal de rodar
Por um mundo num tal de rodar

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Nara Leão's song Chegança talk about people arriving from different places, bringing along with them an old scythe, a new woman, and a sense of hope. The repeated chorus "Ah, se viver fosse chegar" which roughly translates to "Oh, if living was arriving" emphasizes the idea that life is a constant journey of arrival and departure.

Through the imagery of the scythe, which is used for cutting plants, and the new woman, who represents potential and possibility, the song touches on themes of growth and renewal. The idea of spreading children and hoping for a better world that continually turns is also suggested in the final verses of the song.

Overall, Chegança is a song about the cycles of life, the constant movement of people, and the hope that the future can be improved by the actions of those who arrive.

Line by Line Meaning

Estamos chegando daqui e dali
We're arriving from here and there

E de todo lugar que se tem pra partir
And from every place we have to leave

Trazendo na chegança
Bringing in the arrival

Foice velha, mulher nova
Old sickle, new woman

E uma quadra de esperança
And a hope's verse

Ah, se viver fosse chegar
Oh, if living was just arriving

Chegar sem parar, parar pra casar
Arriving without stopping, stopping to get married

Casar e os filhos espalhar
Marrying and spreading the children

Por um mundo num tal de rodar
For a world that spins around

Contributed by Chase T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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