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.
Moça Bonita
Nara Leão Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
O meu corpo cheira
Ao botão da laranjeira
Eu também não sei se é
Imagine o desatino
O teu cheiro é de café
Mas o meu cheiro é feminino
É só cheiro de mulher
Moço bonito
O teu olho brilha
Qual estrela matutina
Eu também não sei se é
Imagina minha sina
É o brilho puro da fé
Ou é só brilho feminino
Ou é só brilho de mulher
Moço bonito
O teu beijo pode
Me matar sem compaixão
Eu também não sei se é
Ou pura imaginação
Pra saber, você me dê
Esse beijo assassino
Nesses braços de mulher
In Nara Leão's song "Moça Bonita," the singer is describing her attraction to a handsome man. The first verse expresses how her body smells like the scent of an orange blossom while his scent is that of coffee. She questions if it's crazy to be drawn to someone with a different aroma than her own. The chorus follows with the repetition of the phrase "Moço bonito" ("handsome boy"), describing his shining eyes, pure faith, and potentially lethal kisses. The singer ends by inviting the young man to give her the kiss that could "kill her without compassion" in the embrace of a woman.
Line by Line Meaning
Moço bonito
Handsome young man
O meu corpo cheira Ao botão da laranjeira
My body smells like an orange blossom
Eu também não sei se é Imagine o desatino O teu cheiro é de café Mas o meu cheiro é feminino É só cheiro de mulher
I'm not sure if it's crazy, but your smell is like coffee and mine is just the scent of a woman
O teu olho brilha Qual estrela matutina
Your eyes shine like the morning star
Eu também não sei se é Imagina minha sina É o brilho puro da fé Ou é só brilho feminino Ou é só brilho de mulher
I'm not sure if it's my fate, but it's either the pure shine of faith or just a feminine glow
O teu beijo pode Me matar sem compaixão
Your kiss could kill me without mercy
Eu também não sei se é Ou pura imaginação Pra saber, você me dê Esse beijo assassino Nesses braços de mulher
I'm not sure if it's real, but to find out give me that deadly kiss in the arms of a woman
Contributed by Alexandra K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.