Sérgio Santos Mendes (born Niteroi, 11 February 1… Read Full Bio ↴See Sérgio Mendes.
Sérgio Santos Mendes (born Niteroi, 11 February 1941) is a Brazilian musician. Born the son of a physician in Niteroi, Brazil, Mendes attended the local conservatory with hopes of becoming a classical pianist. As his interest in jazz grew, he started playing in nightclubs in the late-1950s just as bossa nova, a jazz-inflected derivative of samba, was taking off. Mendes played with Antonio Carlos Jobim (regarded as a mentor), and many U.S. jazz musicians who toured Brazil.
Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded Dance Moderno in 1961. Touring Europe and the United States, Mendes recorded albums with Cannonball Adderly and Herbie Mann and played Carnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and cut two albums under the Brasil '65 group name with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records. When sales were tepid, he replaced his Brazilian born vocalist Wanda Sa with the distinctive voice of Chicago native Lani Hall (who learned Mendes' Portuguese material phonetically) and switched to Herb Alpert's A&M label and released Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. (Hall would later marry Alpert). The album ultimately went platinum based largely upon the success of the single Mas Que Nada and the personal support of Alpert, with whom Mendes toured regularly. Though his early singles with Brasil '66 (most notably Mas Que Nada) met with some success, Mendes really burst into mainstream prominence when he performed the Oscar nominated Burt Bacharach/Hal David song "The Look of Love" on the Academy Awards telecast in March 1968. Brasil '66's version of the song quickly shot into the top 10, eclipsing Dusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of the movie, and Mendes spent the rest of 1968 enjoying consecutive top 10 and top 20 hits with his follow-up singles, "The Fool on the Hill" and "Scarborough Fair." Though he continued to enjoy adult contemporary chart successes with Brasil '66 through 1971, he would not experience the mainstream chart hits he enjoyed in 1968 until his comeback album in 1983 generated the biggest single of his career, "Never Gonna Let You Go." However, from 1968 on, Mendes was arguably the biggest Brazilian star in the world, enjoying immense popularity worldwide and performing in venues as varied as stadium arenas and the White House, where he gave concerts for both President Johnson and President Nixon.
Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled in the mid-70s, but he remained very popular in South America and Japan. (This disparity became a Seinfeld in-joke.) His two albums with Bell Records in 1973 and 1974, followed by several for Elektra from 1975 on, found Mendes continuing to mine the best in American pop music and post-Bossa writers of his native Brazil, while forging new directions in soul with collaborators like Stevie Wonder, who wrote Mendes' R&B-inflected minor hit, "The Real Thing." In 1983, he rejoined Alpert's A&M records and enjoyed huge success with a self-titled album and several follow-up albums, all of which received considerable adult contemporary airplay with charting singles. By the time Mendes released his Grammy-winning Elektra album Brasileiro in 1992, he was the undisputed master of pop-inflected Brazilian jazz. The late-1990s lounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' oeuvre, particularly the classic Brasil '66 albums. He has released over thirty-five albums, and still plays his bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk. His newest album, Timeless released in 2006, featured Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas, Q-Tip, Justin Timberlake, and Pharoahe Monch.
(Text taken in whole from the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Mendes on March 30, 2006)
Berimbau
Sergio Mendes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
O amor que lhe quer seu bem
Quem diz muito que vai, não vai
Assim como não vai, não vem
Quem de dentro de si não sai
Vai morrer sem amar ninguem
O dinheiro de quem não dá
É o trabalho de quem não tem
Mas se um dia ele cai, cai bem.
Capoeira me mandou
Dizer que ja chegou
Chegou para lutar
Berimbau me confirmou
Vai ter briga de amor
Tristeza camará
The lyrics to Sérgio Mendes's Berimbau is a reflection on what it means to be a good person, the importance of loyalty, and the power of love. The first two lines state that a virtuous person does not betray the love that is meant for their own good. Furthermore, the following lines discuss how actions always speak louder than words - those who talk a lot about their intentions seldom follow through with them. The next line emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself and expressing their love genuinely. In contrast, those who keep their emotions bottled up will die without ever experiencing love.
The final two lines discuss the correlation between money and work, and how those who withhold their generosity rob others of opportunities to earn an honest living. The song moves on to discuss Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that is both beautiful and dangerous. The lyrics personify Capoeira and mention that it has arrived and is ready to fight. The final lines confirm that there will be a fight for love and that it will be a sad one. Overall, the lyrics of Berimbau inspire listeners to reflect on their own values and the importance of honesty, loyalty, and love.
Line by Line Meaning
Quem é homem de bem não trai
A man of good character does not betray the love that seeks his good.
O amor que lhe quer seu bem
Love wants what is best for him.
Quem diz muito que vai, não vai
One who talks too much of doing, never does it.
Assim como não vai, não vem
Just as he does not go, he does not come.
Quem de dentro de si não sai
Whoever does not come out from within oneself will die without having loved anybody.
Vai morrer sem amar ninguém
He will die without loving anyone.
O dinheiro de quem não dá
The money of those who do not give.
É o trabalho de quem não tem
Is the hard work of those who do not have.
Capoeira que é bom não cai
Capoeira, when it is good, does not fall.
Mas se um dia ele cai, cai bem.
But if one day it falls, it falls well.
Capoeira me mandou
Capoeira sent me a message.
Dizer que já chegou
To tell that it has arrived.
Chegou para lutar
It arrived to fight.
Berimbau me confirmou
The Berimbau confirmed it to me.
Vai ter briga de amor
There will be a fight of love.
Tristeza camará
Companions, sadness is here.
Contributed by Carter A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
KRIS IS
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Quem e homem de bem nao trai
O amor que lhe quer seu bem
Quem diz muito que vai, nao vai
Assim como nao vai, nao vem
Quem de dentro de si nao sai
Vai morrer sem amar ninguem
O dinheiro de quem nao da
E o trabalho de quem nao tem
Capoeira que e bom nao cai
Mas se um dia ele cai, cai bem
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Capoeira me mandou dizer que ja chegou
Chegou para lutar
Berimbau me confirmou vai ter briga de amor
Tristeza camara.
Quem e homem de bem nao trai
O amor que lhe quer seu bem
Quem diz muito que vai, nao vai
Assim como nao vai, nao vem
Quem de dentro de si nao sai
Vai morrer sem amar ninguem
O dinheiro de quem nao da
E o trabalho de quem nao tem
Capoeira que e bom nao cai
Mas se um dia ele cai, cai bem
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Capoeira me mandou dizer que ja chegou
Chegou para lutar
Berimbau me confirmou vai ter briga de amor
Tristeza camara.
Capoeira que e bom nao cai
Mas se um dia ele cai, cai bem
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Capoeira me mandou dizer que ja chegou
Chegou para lutar
Berimbau me confirmou vai ter briga de amor
Tristeza camara.
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau, berimbau
Grania52
I was, maybe, 9 years old. My sister was 14 years older, married and had an interesting collection of records. I spent a lot of time at her house because our mother was ill a lot of the time.
This album, but especially this song, opened new worlds to me. I gained an appreciation of music that I might have missed.
tuxguys
Isn't it interesting that one of the absolute tightest bands of the '60's wasn't a Rock band at all (although Mendes and Co. were certainly aware of everything, musically, that was going on around them), and yet they still managed to crack the Top 40, doing what they did, right from this very first LP?
This stuff is TIMELESS, which means that this stuff is CLASSIC.
cuauhtemoc risueño
Sergio moustrosamente magnífico!! desde el 66 que lo conocí hasta siempre!! Y sus musicos y coros magistrales!!
Ibuki Osorio
Sergio Mendes, you're a truly legend. Much love from Mexico!
dale tedesco
I grew up with this incredible music. I’m so glad this generation can enjoy!
Pliash Muldba
Same and i just found out it is still in my head so many decades later, and BTW i am "only " from 66, and its not like my parents was playing music a lot at home.
Sp really i have no idea where it come from.
Jorge Mario Rodas
I have always liked this song, through I do not understand Portuguese, so I do not know what it says. But the rythm, the music and the voices combined are fantastic.
John Hirsch
It has classic swing--
Nothing wrong with that
Jorge Mario Rodas
This song has a sad message at the start, but has hope of leaving behind the sadness at the end. I saw the lyrics in Portuguese, and since that language is similar to Spanish, that I do speak and understand, I finally got its meaning. Nice to listen with a very good rhythm, and good voices and nice music.
Ben Garcia
I got in on the ground floor with Sergio and his bands, back in 1964, and have been a fan ever since. The Lani Hall years were the absolute best.