Their first album, Rotomusic de Liquidificapum, was released in 1993. Since then, they have released another eight: Gol de Quem?, Tem Mas Acabou, Televisão de Cachorro, Isopor, Ruído Rosa, MTV ao Vivo: No Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Toda Cura para Todo Mal and Daqui pro Futuro.
The band's popularity began to increase along with two other groups from Belo Horizonte, Jota Quest and Skank. The band plays pop-rock but frequently resorts to electronic music elements as well. Pato Fu is often said to be influenced by Os Mutantes, a famous Brazilian tropicalist group from the 1960s, probably because of the experimentalism found in both bands' songs. One can find in Pato Fu musical influences by Devo, The Cure, Radiohead, Pizzicato Five, Super Furry Animals and also MPB, among various others.
With the release of Ruído Rosa, Pato Fu was nominated as one of the best bands of the world by Time Magazine in 2001. The band's 10th anniversary in 2002 was celebrated with the release of MTV ao Vivo: No Museu de Arte da Pampulha, a live performance with some of their most famous songs. As of 2005, popular hits include:
* Sobre o Tempo (Gol de Quem?)
* Pinga (Gol de Quem?, about alcoholism)
* Canção pra Você Viver Mais (Televisão de Cachorro)
* Um Dia, Um Ladrão (Televisão de Cachorro)
* Made in Japan (Isopor; the song is almost entirely in Japanese. It was written in Portuguese by John and translated by a Japanese teacher. Its video clip is a tribute to old Japanese Sci-Fi movies and a satire against Americanization which won a VMB (the Brazilian VMA)). The song chorus is from the song Manah Manah '(see the External links section)'.
* Depois (Isopor)
* Imperfeito (Isopor)
* Perdendo Dentes (Isopor)
* Eu (Ruído Rosa)
* Ando Meio Desligado (Ruído Rosa)
* Por Perto (MTV Ao Vivo (Museu de Arte da Pampulha))
* Não Mais (MTV Ao Vivo (Museu de Arte da Pampulha))
* Uh Uh Uh, Lá Lá Lá, Ié Ié! (Toda Cura para Todo Mal)
* Anormal (Toda Cura para Todo Mal)
Fernanda Takai and John are married and had a daughter, Nina, in 2003.
The name of the band was taken from a Garfield comic strip where Garfield attacked a mailman with his "Cat Fu" techniques. The band liked the wordplay, but decided to replace Gato (cat) with Pato (duck). Coincidentally or not, the expression had also previously appeared in the Brazilian translation of the Howard the Duck movie; in it, Howard says he knows "Pato Fu" (Quack Fu in the original).
Nunca Diga
Pato Fu Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Querida nunca diga
Que eu tenho mal gosto
E saiba que o belo da vida
Ainda está pra nascer
Querida por favor
Olhe bem em meu rosto
E tente enxergar o que os outros
Fui lhe mostrar
Um disco que eu comprei
De um cantor
Que eu sempre gostei
Mas você
Não me deu atenção
E voltarei pra casa
Pelo mesmo caminho
Escutarei o meu disco sozinho
Dentro do meu quarto
Na escuridão
Querida por favor
Olhe bem em meu rosto
E tente enxergar o que os outros
Não conseguem ver
E tente enxergar o que os outros
Não conseguem ver
In Pato Fu's song "Nunca Diga," Frank Jorge is singing to his lover who doesn't appreciate his taste in music. He pleads with her not to think he has bad taste and that the beauty of life is yet to be discovered. He asks her to look into his face and try to see what others cannot see. Frank has just shown his lover a record he bought of an artist he admires, but she did not pay attention. Feeling dejected, Frank decides to go back home and listen to the record by himself in his room in the darkness. He begs his lover to try and see things from his perspective, to see the beauty in the music he loves that others may not be able to see.
The lyrics of "Nunca Diga" speak to the theme of individuality and the struggle of trying to share one's passions with someone else who may not understand or appreciate them. The singer is frustrated by his lover's lack of understanding, but he still holds out hope that she will see things from his perspective. The song also touches on the idea that true beauty is subjective, and what one person may find beautiful, others may not be able to see.
Line by Line Meaning
Querida nunca diga
My dear, never say
Que eu tenho mal gosto
That I have bad taste
E saiba que o belo da vida
And know that the beauty of life
Ainda está pra nascer
Is still yet to come
Querida por favor
My dear, please
Olhe bem em meu rosto
Look closely at my face
E tente enxergar o que os outros
And try to see what others
Não conseguem ver
Cannot see
Fui lhe mostrar
I tried to show you
Um disco que eu comprei
A record that I bought
De um cantor
From a singer
Que eu sempre gostei
That I've always liked
Mas você
But you
Não me deu atenção
Didn't pay attention to me
E voltarei pra casa
And I'll go back home
Pelo mesmo caminho
By the same path
Escutarei o meu disco sozinho
I'll listen to my record alone
Dentro do meu quarto
Inside my room
Na escuridão
In the darkness
E tente enxergar o que os outros
And try to see what others
Não conseguem ver
Cannot see
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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