The band´s interesting name did not come about until journalist João Piment… Read Full Bio ↴The band´s interesting name did not come about until journalist João Pimentel, writing for Brazil´s top selling daily paper O Globo, made a reference in one of his articles to the group of musicians that played with Teresa Cristina every Saturday night at the bar Semente, placed in one of Rio´s most bohemian neighborhoods, Lapa. It was in 1998 that Bernardo, João, Pedrinho, Ricardo Cotrim (no longer a member of Semente) and other friends, got together for the first time. Back then, Teresa was selecting repertoire for a tribute show she intended to put together in honor of Brazilian music virtuoso Candeia, and handpicking the musicians. Bernardo, at the time a member of group Acorda Bamba, invited band mate Alexandre Bittencourt (who, in turn, invited other musician pals, including Pedrinho, João and Ricardo) to Teresa´s 30th birthday party. That was when the invitation was formalized and well accepted, prompting a routine of meetings between Teresa and the guys to rehearse Candeia´s repertoire, though, in the end, the show never made it to the stage. Still in that year, Teresa and the boys played together for the first time at a show celebrating the International Women´s Day at the Planetário da Gávea theatre. Their premiere on the pulsating night of Lapa, one of Rio de Janeiro´s musical cribs, took place right after this, when Teresa and the group were invited by a certain well known character "Seu Guaracy", of Portela Samba School, to launch the new night music program at local bar Semente, known as a health food place, up until then. It worked out so well that soon Teresa Cristina and Grupo Semente were being called the "rescuers of Lapa´s night life", that had been going down since the eighties. After becoming a hit band playing at Semente, Teresa and the guys went on to perform at other venues in Lapa, such as carioca da Gema and Centro Cultural Carioca, for an ever growing audience. Media recognition came with the release of the first album, a double tribute to Brazilian idol Paulinho da Viola´s 60th birthday, which won Teresa a couple of awards - "Prêmio Rival BR" and "Prêmio Tim"- as "Best New Artist", and a "Best Samba Album" nomination at the 2003 Latin Grammy´s. After that, many were the invitations that took Teresa and Semente all over Brasil and even to Japan, showing the world all the beauty of the good genuine Brazilian music. In 2004, Teresa, Bernardo, Pedrinho and João welcomed Mestre Trambique, coming to replace Ricardo Cotrim, who was leaving the band, and they went in the studio once again to record the band´s second album "A Vida Me Fez Assim" ("Life has Made Me This Way"), which featured Teresa´s premiere as a songwriter. They gathered an excess of overwhelming reviews, and sold-out theatres on which they performed. On that same year, the band hit the road with the "Projeto Pixininguinha" tour, performing at the main cities of the Northeast of Brazil. In 2005, they performed at the "Brazilian Year" Celebrations in Paris, while recording their fist live CD and DVD, suitably titled: "O Mundo é Meu Lugar" ("The World is My Place").

Cantar
Teresa Cristina Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Cantar
Desnudar-se diante da vida
Cantar é vestir-se com a voz que se tem
Achar o tom da alegria perdida
E não ter que explicar pra ninguém
A razão desta tal melodia
Encharcada de sorriso e pranto
No cantar, a lembrança se cria

E envelhece de repente
Vai solta no ar
Por isso eu canto
Canto pra amenizar
Grande dor que me traz
O sorriso de alguém
Se a minha escola querida
Cruzar a avenida
Eu canto também
No canto

Vou jogando a minha vida pra você
Por isso, fecho os olhos pra não ver

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Cantar by Teresa Cristina e Grupo Semente praise the act of singing as a way of baring one's soul to the world. Singing is a way of putting on a new outfit, one that is made of the voice that one possesses. It allows one to find the lost tone of joy and express it without having to explain why. Singing is a way of creating memories and those memories age suddenly, they go loose in the air. Singing is a way of calming the pain that is brought by someone's smile. It is also a way of expressing solidarity with the community, hence, if the beloved school has to cross the avenue, the singer would also sing along.

Overall, the lyrics reflect the cathartic experience of singing, as well as the sense of community and shared experiences that can be created through music. The singer encourages us to lose ourselves in the song, to close our eyes and let the music take us away.

Line by Line Meaning

Desnudar-se diante da vida
To sing is to undress in front of life

Cantar é vestir-se com a voz que se tem
To sing is to dress oneself with the voice that one has

Achar o tom da alegria perdida
To find the key of lost happiness

E não ter que explicar pra ninguém
And not have to explain to anyone

A razão desta tal melodia
The reason for this melody

Encharcada de sorriso e pranto
Soaked with smiles and tears

No cantar, a lembrança se cria
In singing, the memory is created

E envelhece de repente
And it ages suddenly

Vai solta no ar
It goes freely in the air

Por isso eu canto
That's why I sing

Canto pra amenizar
I sing to alleviate