In the early 90's, the effervescent musical scene of Bahia generated a new … Read Full Bio ↴In the early 90's, the effervescent musical scene of Bahia generated a new phenomenon: Timbalada - a huge group of percussionist with tribal paintings on their bodies and a female singer that performed topless. they all played timbaus, a tall drum that hangs from the shoulder of the percussionist and is held between the legs.

A product of the brilliant imagination of singer, songwriter and virtuoso percussionist Carlinhos Brown, Timbalada does justice to Bahia's rhythmic tradition and, at the same time, introduces modernity and boldness to it. The main singer's hoarse voice, the non-sense of the lyrics, the tribal painting an the collective use of sunglasses helped to place Timbalada among the most original and ceative bands to appear in the last years.

Timbalada is an Afro-Brazilian musician group from Candeal, Salvador, Brazil. It was founded by drummer Carlinhos Brown. The musical style is between samba reggae and axé, with strong influences from African music. They are a highly popular group that regularly plays sold-out shows throughout Brazil.

The group is mostly known for its active participation to the carnival each year in the streets of Salvador de Bahia. It also engages in social activism by working with needy children, providing education and drum courses to help them in social integration.

Musically, Timbalada is credited with two major innovations in the instrumentation of Afro-Brazilian music: the revival of the timbal (a tall, high-pitched hand drum), and the development of a rack of 3 surdos (bass drums) that can be played by a single player. The timbal, which had been nearly extinct before Timbalada began featuring it, has since become widespread in many Afro-Brazilian genres, including axé and samba-reggae. The rack of surdos, also called a bateria-de-surdo (surdo drumset) is now widely used by many groups for stage performances when not parading. Because the bateria-de-surdo can only hold 3 surdos within arm's reach of a single player, the traditional 4-surdo arrangements of many samba-reggae rhythms is often trimmed down to a 3-surdo arrangement

Suplício Sertanejo
Timbalada Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Sou um seranejo
Delatando a minha dor
Aqui nesse cerrado
Humilhado sempre sou
Estou de pé bem cedo
E acordo antes do amanhecer
Aqui só tem trabalho
Mulher tarda a derreter

Tem calo inté na bunda
De açudes cavucar
E o homem, vejo a hora, coitado
Da coluna arrebentar

Ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah
Ah, ah

Matei um periquito pra família
Alimentar
Meus sete pequeninos
Nem sequer podem estudar
Escola é uma enxada
Terra seca do piar
Tem calo inté na bunda
De açudes cavucar
Situação moço, ê, moço, ê, moço, da
Gente
Situação

Ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah
Ah, ah

Situação moço, ê, moço, ê, moço, da
Gente
Situação moço, da gente

Timbau Timbaleiro
Baticum, Baticum Ba

Overall Meaning

The above lyrics are from Timbalada's song "Suplício Sertanejo". The song is sung from the perspective of a Sertanejo - a rural worker from the cerrado region of Brazil, who laments the harsh realities of life in the rural areas. The Sertanejo describes himself as a man who is always subjected to humiliation and pain in his daily life. He has callouses on his backside from digging out ponds and canals, and he fears for his health as he watches other men suffer from back problems from years of manual labor.

The Sertanejo describes his daily routine, waking up before dawn and working all day long without respite. He laments that there is no time for education or to even consider it as an option, as children are expected to work alongside their parents from a young age.

The most poignant lines of the song come towards the end when the Sertanejo reveals that he had to kill a parakeet to feed his seven children who are unable to go to school. He describes how the only tool they have for education is a hoe, and the land they work on is dry and barren. The last lines reiterate the dire situation of the Sertanejo's community, and the need for help.

Overall, "Suplício Sertanejo" is a powerful song that brings attention to the everyday struggles of Brazilians living in rural areas and highlights the need for better education, social welfare programs, and opportunities in these regions.

Line by Line Meaning

Sou um seranejo
I am a sertanejo (a rural Brazilian living in the countryside)

Delatando a minha dor
Sharing my pain

Aqui nesse cerrado
Here in this dry woodland

Humilhado sempre sou
Always humiliated

Estou de pé bem cedo
I'm standing up very early

E acordo antes do amanhecer
And wake up before sunrise

Aqui só tem trabalho
Here there's only work

Mulher tarda a derreter
Women are slow to melt (i.e., to warm up to a man)

Tem calo inté na bunda
I have blisters even on my butt

De açudes cavucar
From digging ponds

E o homem, vejo a hora, coitado
And the man, I can see it coming, poor thing