Ney de Souza Pereira (born August 1, 1941, in Bela Vista, Mato Grosso do Su… Read Full Bio ↴Ney de Souza Pereira (born August 1, 1941, in Bela Vista, Mato Grosso do Sul), widely known as Ney Matogrosso, is a Brazilian singer.

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.

Bomba H
Ney Matogrosso Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Pra que rancor, tanto tédio
Pra que terror, tanta mágoa
A vaca já foi pro brejo
Os burros já deram n'água
Os burros já deram n'água
Pra quê rogar tanta praga
Pra quê, se não tem remédio
Pra que abrir outra chaga

Por que não dormir sem medo
Por que não dormir sem medo
Pra que ferir, ser ferido
Pra que somente repúdio
Pra que achar tudo errado
Se o tal telhado é de vidro
Se o tal telhado é de vidro
Pra que olhar raso n'água
Por que não só de desejo
Paixão é qual bombea H

Seu estopim é o beijo
Seu estopim é o beijo.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Ney Matogrosso's song Bomba H are incredibly insightful and thought-provoking. The song aims to question the reasons behind feelings of resentment, boredom, and fear, and highlights the futility of holding onto these negative emotions. The opening lines ask, "Why hold onto grudges and boredom? Why feel so much terror and resentment?" The song then goes on to reference the idiom "the cows have already gone to the slaughter" and the saying "the horses have already drowned in the water," to convey that whatever negative events have happened, there's no point in dwelling on them.

The song also encourages the listener to question their motivations for things such as wishing ill on others or being overly critical of those around them. The chorus repeats the line "Why look so shallow in the water? Why not only desire?" then goes on to compare passion to a bomb, with the trigger being a kiss. The song suggests that perhaps it's better to let go of the negative and focus on the positive; to let go of the past and live in the present moment.

Line by Line Meaning

Pra que rancor, tanto tédio
Why hold onto grudges and boredom

Pra que terror, tanta mágoa
Why fear and carry so much pain

A vaca já foi pro brejo
The situation has already gone south

Os burros já deram n'água
The mistakes have already been made

Pra quê rogar tanta praga
Why curse so much

Pra quê, se não tem remédio
Why bother if it's beyond fixing

Pra que abrir outra chaga
Why create another wound

Por que não dormir sem medo
Why not sleep without fear

Pra que ferir, ser ferido
Why cause harm and risk being hurt

Pra que somente repúdio
Why only show disdain

Pra que achar tudo errado
Why see everything as wrong