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)
Viramundo
Sergio Mendes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nas rondas da maravilha
Cortando a faca e facão
Os desatinos da vida
Gritando para assustar
A coragem da inimiga
Pulando pra não ser preso
Pelas cadeias da intriga
A vida como inimiga
A ter na morte da vida
Minha sorte decidida
Sou viramundo virado
Pelo mundo do sertão
Mas inda viro este mundo
Em festa, trabalho e pão
Virado será o mundo
E viramundo verão
O virador deste mundo
Astuto, mau e ladrão
Ser virado pelo mundo
Que virou com certidão
Ainda viro este mundo
Em festa, trabalho e pão
The lyrics of Sergio Mendes's song Viramundo are about a man who identifies himself as a "viramundo" - someone who roams the world in search of adventure and experience. He is depicted as a rugged and independent individual who is not afraid to face the challenges of life head-on, using his knife and machete to cut through the obstacles that come his way. He is shown as a fearless, determined figure who is not intimidated by his enemies, and who can frighten them away simply by raising his voice.
The song is a celebration of freedom and individuality, suggesting that it is better to be a "viramundo" - one who lives life on his own terms - than to be a conformist who is controlled by the forces of society. The repetition of the phrase "virado" (turned) throughout the song suggests that the singer is constantly changing, adapting to new situations as he travels across different parts of the world, but also that the world itself is constantly being turned, transformed by the presence of the "viramundo".
Overall, the song is a call to embrace an adventurous and unconventional lifestyle, to reject conformity and to follow one's instincts in search of meaning and purpose in life.
Line by Line Meaning
Sou viramundo virado
I am a wandering traveler transformed by my experiences
Nas rondas da maravilha
Traveling around the wonders of the world
Cortando a faca e facão
Overcoming life's challenges through determination and strength
Os desatinos da vida
The craziness of life's obstacles
Gritando para assustar
Making noise to intimidate those who try to discourage me
A coragem da inimiga
The courage of my adversaries
Pulando pra não ser preso
Jumping to avoid getting caught in the traps of life
Pelas cadeias da intriga
The bonds of deceit and trickery
Prefiro ter toda a vida
I would rather have a lifelong enemy
A vida como inimiga
Than to have my destiny decided in death
A ter na morte da vida
Minha sorte decidida
Sou viramundo virado
I am a wandering traveler transformed by my experiences
Pelo mundo do sertão
Exploring the desert regions of the world
Mas inda viro este mundo
But I will still find joy and success in life
Em festa, trabalho e pão
Through celebration, hard work, and nourishment
Virado será o mundo
The world will be transformed
E viramundo verão
And all travelers will witness this transformation
O virador deste mundo
The one who causes this transformation
Astuto, mau e ladrão
Crafty, sly, and cunning
Ser virado pelo mundo
To be transformed by the world
Que virou com certidão
Which was transformed with certainty
Ainda viro este mundo
I will still find joy and success in life
Em festa, trabalho e pão
Through celebration, hard work, and nourishment
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GILBERTO GIL, JOSE CARLOS CAPINAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
36indiancreek
Essa música me lembra os carnavais da minha cidade, onde Viramundo é uma música que evoca a juventude dos anos 70. Saudações de Barranquilla, Colômbia
jorge luis Padron
Excelente. Thanks for posting. 🕺💃👍👏👏👏👏👏👏
leoN Bonham
Quedé atado a esta pieza.
¡Es tremenda!
Ricardo Lopez
Maravillosa musica brasileña Se dice brasileña y no brasilera Para muchos periodistas
Ali Bell
❤️💪