Paula was raised by her paternal grandparents, Paulo and Renée. Paulo was a retired surgeon, an ex-adviser of the president of Brazil and of the government of the state of Guanabara, a historian and also an author of several books. Renée was a homemaker and the manager of a boarding house for senior women.
In her infancy and adolescence, the predominant music in her home was that of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin, among other classical performers. Along with Spanish music and opera. On the more modern side, she also listened to the music of Carmen Miranda, Elis Regina and The Beatles (the only rock her grandfather would accept). In school, Paula took ballet and English classes with the intention of becoming an English professor.
At the age of 17, she began taking courses in Industrial Design and Visial Comunication at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro (PUC) and started studying French. In conjunction with her course work, she did an internship in a visual programming office where she would put into practice the things she learned in school. In the meanwhile, she would arrange side jobs to complement her small salary. Her side jobs included translating books and term papers for her fellow students, assuming the position of secretary in her dance studio during the holidays and revised her grandfather's books. In her brother's room, she heard for the first time James Brown and Tim Maia.
The first discs she bought were the soundtracks of her favorite telenovelas (which included songs by Stevie Wonder, Marcos Valle, and the Jackson Five). After that, she got interested in Janis Joplin and Rita Lee. She would often go to small parties called "Arrastas" where they would play artists like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Billy Paul, Michael Jackson. Once in the university, she became addicted to listening to the radio.
By 1982, she was already singing in the group Kid Abelha, and two years later, she gave up on school right before reaching graduation. In the same year, she began taking voice lessons with a professor and lyrical singer Vera Maria do Canto e Mello and started singing Lieder (songs) in German, which awoke her interest in the language that she still studies today.
One of her favorite pastimes is to take long drives alone in her car, listening to loud music. This is how she comes up with most of her lyrics which she tries to write down while she drives. The bathroom tub is also one of the places she prefers to think of lyrics in.
Since 1987, she has been married with the cinematographer Lui Farias and has one son, Gabriel.
More about in www.paulatoller.com
Anoche Soñe Contigo
Paula Toller Lyrics
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E não 'tava dormindo
Justo ao contrário
Estava bem desperto
Sonhei que não fazia
O menor esforço
Para que te entregasses
Que lindo que é sonhar
Sonhar não custa nada
Sonhar e nada mais
De olhos bem abertos
Que lindo que é sonhar
E não te custa nada mais que tempo
Sofrer com tanta angústia
Por coisas tão pequenas
Gastar essa energia
Assim não vale à pena
Quem dera me livrar
Pra sempre de mim mesmo
E só me reencontrar
Lá no teu doce abismo
Que lindo que é sonhar
Sonhar não custa nada
Sonhar e nada mais
De olhos bem abertos
Que lindo que é sonhar
E não te custa nada mais que tempo
Quem dera me livrar
Pra sempre de mim mesmo
E só me reencontrar
Lá no teu doce abismo
Que lindo que é sonhar
Sonhar não custa nada
Sonhar e nada mais
De olhos bem abertos
Que lindo que é sonhar
E não te custa nada mais que tempo
Que lindo que é sonhar
Sonhar não custa nada
Sonhar e nada mais
De olhos bem abertos
Que lindo que é sonhar
E não te custa nada mais que tempo
Nada mais que tempo
The line "À noite sonhei contigo" (last night I dreamed of you) sets the stage for Paula Toller's contemplation of the power of the dreaming mind over real life. She sings that she was not actually asleep when she dreamed of this person; she was fully awake. This hints at the idea that this person and the dream are both integral to her reality. In the dream, Toller was not exerting any effort to get the person to reciprocate her feelings, but rather, she was already in a state of complete devotion.
The chorus of the song emphasizes how beautiful it is to dream and to indulge in those fantasies, even if they never come to fruition. The lyrics urge the listener to let go of angst or unnecessary suffering due to everyday problems, because dreaming is effortless and can provide respite. The repeated phrase "que lindo que é sonhar" (how beautiful it is to dream) underscores this idea of the transcendent nature of dreaming.
In the final verse, Toller expresses her longing to escape her own self, with all its shortcomings and limitations, and to merge with the person she dreamt of. She describes this as the "sweet abyss" that represents the other person's embrace. Despite the desire for this escape, Toller still acknowledges the beauty in the act of dreaming and how it can offer temporary relief.
Line by Line Meaning
À noite sonhei contigo
Last night I dreamt of you
E não 'tava dormindo
And I wasn't sleeping
Justo ao contrário
Quite the opposite
Estava bem desperto
I was wide awake
Sonhei que não fazia
I dreamt that I did not make
O menor esforço
The slightest effort
Para que te entregasses
For you to surrender
Em ti, já estava imerso
I was already immersed in you
Que lindo que é sonhar
How beautiful it is to dream
Sonhar não custa nada
Dreaming costs nothing
Sonhar e nada mais
To dream and nothing more
De olhos bem abertos
With eyes wide open
Sofrer com tanta angústia
To suffer so much anguish
Por coisas tão pequenas
For such small things
Gastar essa energia
To spend that energy
Assim não vale à pena
It's not worth it
Quem dera me livrar
If only I could be free
Pra sempre de mim mesmo
Forever from myself
E só me reencontrar
And only rediscover myself
Lá no teu doce abismo
There in your sweet abyss
E não te custa nada mais que tempo
And it costs nothing more than time
Nada mais que tempo
Nothing more than time
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: KEVIN JOHANSEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind