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.
Desafinado
Nara Leão Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Saiba que isso em mim provoca imensa dor
Só privilegiados tem ouvido igual ao seu
Eu possuo apenas o que Deus me deu
Se você insiste em classificar
Meu comportamento de antimusical
Eu, mesmo mentindo devo argumentar
O que você não sabe, nem sequer pressente
É que os desafinados também tem coração
Fotografei você na minha Rolleiflex
Revelou-se a sua enorme ingratidão
Só não poderá falar assim do meu amor
Este é o maior que você pode encontrar, viu!
Você com a sua música esqueceu o principal
É que no peito dos desafinados
No fundo do peito, bate calado
É que no peito dos desafinados
Também bate um coração!
Só não poderá falar assim do meu amor
Este é o maior que você pode encontrar, viu!
Você com a sua música esqueceu o principal
É que no peito dos desafinados
No fundo do peito, bate calado
É que no peito dos desafinados
Também bate um coração!
The lyrics to Nara Leão's song "Desafinado" touch on the topic of criticism and judgment in the music industry. In the first stanza, Nara sings about how much it hurts her when her lover tells her she is singing off-key. She acknowledges that only a few people have as good an ear as her lover's, and that she can only use what God has given her - her own imperfect voice. In the second stanza, she addresses the critics who call her behavior "antimusical." She argues that this is just "bossa nova," a new style that is not meant to adhere to traditional musical norms.
In the bridge, Nara reveals that even the "desafinados" - the off-key singers - have hearts. She took a photo of her lover on her camera, but it only revealed their ingratitude towards her. However, she concludes that despite their criticism, her love for them is the greatest they will find. She reminds them that in the hearts of the "desafinados" also beats a heart.
Line by Line Meaning
Se você disser que eu desafino, amor
If you say that I sing out of tune, my love
Saiba que isso em mim provoca imensa dor
Know that this causes immense pain in me
Só privilegiados tem ouvido igual ao seu
Only privileged have an ear as good as yours
Eu possuo apenas o que Deus me deu
I only have what God gave me
Se você insiste em classificar
If you insist on classifying
Meu comportamento de antimusical
My behavior as anti-musical
Eu, mesmo mentindo devo argumentar
Even lying, I must argue
Que isso é bossa nova, que isso é muito natural
That this is Bossa Nova, that this is very natural
O que você não sabe, nem sequer pressente
What you don't know, not even sense
É que os desafinados também tem coração
Is that the tone-deaf also have a heart
Fotografei você na minha Rolleiflex
I photographed you with my Rolleiflex
Revelou-se a sua enorme ingratidão
Your enormous ingratitude revealed itself
Só não poderá falar assim do meu amor
You just can't talk like that about my love
Este é o maior que você pode encontrar, viu!
This is the biggest you can find, you know!
Você com a sua música esqueceu o principal
You with your music forgot the main thing
É que no peito dos desafinados
That in the chest of the tone-deaf
No fundo do peito, bate calado
At the bottom of the heart, it beats silently
É que no peito dos desafinados
That in the chest of the tone-deaf
Também bate um coração!
A heart also beats!
Contributed by Max T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.