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.
Fazê o Quê?
Ney Matogrosso Lyrics
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Faiscando a ferradura
Na minha cabeça dura
E foi no lombo do cavalo
Ao galopá-lo
Fui salvando a minha vida
Que eu achava já perdida
Pelas esquinas do mundo
Poeta, tem muito pouco
Menos médico, mais louco
Vai enchendo a cabeça
Pra que apareça
Agarrada no seu verso
Idéia prum universo
Mais tranquilo e mais humano
Traçando plano
Reta, curva ou ladeira
Bosque, várzea ou ribanceira
Vai seguindo o arquiteto
Se tem Hermeto
Bispo, Marley, Gentileza
Isso só me dá certeza
Da nobreza que dá certo
Vô fazê, vô fazê
Música pra enriquecer (o quê?)
Os corações e o planeta
Basta um papel e uma caneta.
In Ney Matogrosso's song Fazê o Quê?, the singer reflects on his life as a poet and musician, struggling to find his place in the world. He describes his headstrong nature, likening himself to a horse wearing a horseshoe that is constantly pounding in his mind. Despite his wanderings as a vagabond, he realizes that he has the power to save himself and turns to his music to bring meaning to his life. He declares that he has "much less of a doctor and more of a madman," believing that through his poetic voice, he can make the world a more peaceful, tranquil and humane place.
The singer continues to explain that as a poet, he fills his head with ideas and tries to develop them into a unified whole. He strives to create a better world, one that is not only for himself, but for everyone. The architect of his vision is his own imagination and inspiration from his mentors, Hermeto Pascoal, Bob Marley, and the Brazilian street artist known as Gentileza. In turn, the singer believes that his own work will inspire others, enriching their lives and rejuvenating the earth through their collective efforts.
Overall, the song is an ode to the power of music and the creative spirit to heal and guide us through life's challenges. Ney Matogrosso reminds us that it is never too late to find meaning and purpose, and that we all have the power to make a difference in our world.
Line by Line Meaning
Prendi as coisas
I took hold of things
Faiscando a ferradura
Sparking the horseshoe
Na minha cabeça dura
In my stubborn head
E foi no lombo do cavalo
And it was on horseback
Ao galopá-lo
While galloping
Fui salvando a minha vida
I saved my own life
Que eu achava já perdida
That I thought was already lost
Pelas esquinas do mundo
Around the corners of the world
De vagabundo
Like a vagabond
Poeta, tem muito pouco
Poet, there's not much to it
Menos médico, mais louco
Less of a doctor, more of a madman
Vai enchendo a cabeça
Filling up your head
Pra que apareça
So that it becomes visible
Agarrada no seu verso
Clutching onto your verse
Idéia prum universo
An idea for a universe
Mais tranquilo e mais humano
More peaceful and more humane
Traçando plano
Drawing a plan
Reta, curva ou ladeira
Straight, curved, or uphill
Bosque, várzea ou ribanceira
Forest, meadow, or cliff
Vai seguindo o arquiteto
Following the architect
Se tem Hermeto
If you have Hermeto
Bispo, Marley, Gentileza
Bishop, Marley, Gentileza
Isso só me dá certeza
That only gives me certainty
Da nobreza que dá certo
Of the nobility that works
Vô fazê, vô fazê
I'm gonna make, I'm gonna make
Música pra enriquecer (o quê?)
Music to enrich (what?)
Os corações e o planeta
Hearts and the planet
Basta um papel e uma caneta.
All it takes is a paper and a pen.
Contributed by Cooper T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Tifum 65
Muito bom o Ney é o Ney
um cronista de m3rd4 2 um cronista
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