An uncommon artist with an uncommon sopranino voice, Ney Matogrosso fell in the Brazilian popular music scene like a bomb in the '70s aboard the Secos & Molhados. The end of the group marked the beginning of a fertile and successful solo career in which he began exploring his sensuous and charismatic persona through satiric and ironic repertories. As time passed, he substituted self-contained and deeply sensitive interpretations of classics for the popular and classical Brazilian music. Along with his representative and prolific solo discography, for which he received three platinum and three gold records, Matogrosso recorded in Itália with Astor Piazzola, performed in Argentina, Uruguay, participated in two Montreux Jazz Festivals (Switzerland), and toured Portugal several times. He also performed in Israel and the U.S., but always refused invitations to develop an international career. Matogrosso also worked as an actor in Sonho de Valsa (by Ana Carolina, the director, not the singer/composer) and Caramujo Flor (short subject by Joel Pizzini), and directed shows by RPM, Cazuza, and Simone.
Arriving in Rio de Janeiro in 1966, Matogrosso became a hippie leather artisan and divided his time between Rio, São Paulo, and Brasília, where he was a close friend of singer/composer Luli. Through her he met João Ricardo, who had a vision for a groundbreaking group and was searching for a high-pitched male voice. Invited by Ricardo, Matogrosso moved to São Paulo where he spent one year dedicating himself to exhaustive rehearsals, artisanship, and theater plays. With the explosive success of Secos e Molhados and the group's final dissolution, Matogrosso started his solo career exploring his unusual voice timbre, his mesmerizing scenic persona, and his androgynous visuals, enhanced by innovative and exotic costumes. A second solo album, Água do Céu - Pássaro, was supported by the show Homem de Neanderthal, in 1975, with which Matogrosso opened in Rio de Janeiro, drawing both raves and packed houses. "Barco Negro" and "Homem com H" appeared amongst considerable polemics aroused by the usual conservatives on duty. In that period, he worked with Astor Piazzola in Milan, Italy, where he recorded a double single with the Argentinean composer. A cleaner Matogrosso recorded Bandido in 1976, having his first national hit as a solo artist with "Bandido Corazón," written especially for him by Rita Lee.
A Banda
Ney Matogrosso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Estava à toa na vida
O meu amor me chamou
Pra ver a banda passar
Cantando coisas de amor
A minha gente sofrida
Pra ver a banda passar
Cantando coisas de amor
O homem sério que contava dinheiro parou
O faroleiro que contava vantagem parou
A namorada que contava as estrelas parou
Para ver, ouvir e dar passagem
A moça triste que vivia calada sorriu
A rosa triste que vivia fechada se abriu
E a meninada toda se assanhou
Pra ver a banda passar
Cantando coisas de amor
Estava à toa na vida
O meu amor me chamou
Pra ver a banda passar
Cantando coisas de amor
A minha gente sofrida
Despediu-se da dor
Pra ver a banda passar
Cantando coisas de amor
O velho fraco se esqueceu do cansaço e pensou
Que ainda era moço pra sair no terraço e dançou
A moça feia debruçou na janela
Pensando que a banda tocava pra ela
A marcha alegre se espalhou na avenida e insistiu
A lua cheia que vivia escondida surgiu
Minha cidade toda se enfeitou
Pra ver a banda passar cantando coisas de amor
Mas para meu desencanto
O que era doce acabou
Tudo tomou seu lugar
Depois que a banda passou
E cada qual no seu canto
Em cada canto uma dor
Depois da banda passar
Cantando coisas de amor
Depois da banda passar
Cantando coisas de amor...
Ney Matogrosso's song A Banda (The Band) is a joyful and lively tune that tells the story of how a band passing by in the streets brings happiness and hope to people's lives. The song starts with the singer saying that he was feeling lost and aimless when his love called him to go see the band playing songs about love. The next verse talks about how the band's music brought relief and release to people's suffering, as they stopped what they were doing to watch and listen to the band pass by. The serious man who counted money, the lighthouse keeper who boasted, and the girlfriend who gazed at the stars, all stopped to make way for the band. Even the sad girl who lived in silence smiled, and the closed-up rose bloomed.
The song's chorus reinforces the idea that the band's music brings people together and uplifts their spirits. It repeats that the people said goodbye to their sorrows to watch the band pass by, playing songs about love. The rest of the verses talk about how the band's music affected people differently; the old man forgot his fatigue and danced on the terrace; the plain girl leaned on the windowsill believing the band played just for her, and the full moon that always hid showed up due to the joyful march. Everyone in the city decorated the streets to watch the band pass by, singing about love.
However, in the end, the singer expresses his disappointment that everything returned to normal once the band finished playing. Everyone went back to their pains, and the band's music was a fleeting moment of happiness. The song's bittersweet message reminds us that music and art, regardless of their beauty and healing power, cannot entirely erase the systemic problems that people face in their lives, but they can at least offer temporary relief and nourishment to the human soul.
Line by Line Meaning
Estava à toa na vida
I was idle in life
O meu amor me chamou
My love called me
Pra ver a banda passar
To see the band pass by
Cantando coisas de amor
Singing love songs
A minha gente sofrida
My suffering people
Despediu-se da dor
Said goodbye to pain
O homem sério que contava dinheiro parou
The serious man counting money stopped
O faroleiro que contava vantagem parou
The lighthouse keeper boasting stopped
A namorada que contava as estrelas parou
The girlfriend counting stars stopped
Para ver, ouvir e dar passagem
To see, listen, and give way
A moça triste que vivia calada sorriu
The sad girl who lived quietly smiled
A rosa triste que vivia fechada se abriu
The sad rose that lived closed opened
E a meninada toda se assanhou
And all the children got excited
Pra ver a banda passar
To see the band pass by
Cantando coisas de amor
Singing love songs
O velho fraco se esqueceu do cansaço e pensou
The weak old man forgot his tiredness and thought
Que ainda era moço pra sair no terraço e dançou
That he was still young enough to go out on the terrace and dance
A moça feia debruçou na janela
The ugly girl leaned out of the window
Pensando que a banda tocava pra ela
Thinking that the band was playing for her
A marcha alegre se espalhou na avenida e insistiu
The joyful march spread out on the avenue and persisted
A lua cheia que vivia escondida surgiu
The full moon that was hidden emerged
Minha cidade toda se enfeitou
My whole city decorated itself
Pra ver a banda passar cantando coisas de amor
To see the band pass by singing love songs
Mas para meu desencanto
But to my disappointment
O que era doce acabou
What was sweet ended
Tudo tomou seu lugar
Everything took its place
Depois que a banda passou
After the band passed by
E cada qual no seu canto
And each in their own corner
Em cada canto uma dor
In every corner, there is pain
Depois da banda passar
After the band passed by
Cantando coisas de amor
Singing love songs
Depois da banda passar
After the band passed by
Cantando coisas de amor...
Singing love songs...
Contributed by Grayson T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.