Maybe it was the cachaça I tasted earlier, but I think this song popped up from a case of the old saudades. Have you heard of Jorge Ben? Certainly one of the most influential cariocas and quoted Afro-Brazilian artists of geração tropicália. If the name doesn't place it for you, but the sound does, it's probably because his most famous song has been covered by everyone from the Black Eyed Peas to others - that are more to Afrodesia's taste - like Ella and Oscar Peterson.
Here's a bit of biography from the website of the man himself. Bit propagandastic, but he's kind of the shit, so it's pretty much true. Since this is the Lyrics Files, I'll just go ahead and translate for the non-lusophonic reader.
"Assim desde o início de sua carreira Ben Jor mostrou-se inovador. Como compositor, cantor, músico, bandleader e arranjador Ben Jor é único. É impossível classificar sua música e seu balanço, que são inconfundíveis. Mas “esse samba que é misto de maracatu”, marca registrada de Jorge Ben Jor, encontrou espaço no mundo todo e tornou-se sucesso universal. Ele é a única unanimidade brasileira....
"Na época do início da MPB, Jorge transitava como intérprete, pelos programas Fino da Bossa, comandado por Elis Regina e Jair Rodrigues, Jovem Guarda, de Roberto Carlos e O Pequeno Mundo, de Ronnie Von. Eram terrivelmente antagônicos. Um artista que participava de um desses programas, imediatamente era proibido de cantar nos outros. A única exceção sempre foi Jorge Ben Jor."
"From the beginning of his career, Ben Jor showed himself to be an innovator. As composer, singer, musician, lead, and arranger he's one-of-a-kind. It's impossible to classify his music and balance, which are unmistakable. But "esse samba / que é misto de maracatu" - the trademark line - found its place in the world and turned into a universal hit. He's respected by artists everywhere, of all styles, from the '60s bossa nova until today.....
"In the early years of MPB (Música Popular Brasileira), Jorge moved along as a performer, appearing in the show Fino da Bossa with Elis Regina together with many others. They were terribly antagonistic [the performers on the shows]. An artist who participated on one of these programs, was prohibited immediately from singing on the others. The only exception to this rule was always Jorge Ben Jor."
So here it is, the double dose. First up is "Chove Chuva", the track that will forever remind me of being holed up in a seaside cabin during a sudamericano winter morning.
Chove Chuva / Chove sem parar...
Rain, rain / pour without end
Pois eu vou fazer uma prece / Prá Deus, nosso Senhor
Prá chuva parar / De molhar o meu divino amor...
Well I'm gonna say a prayer / to God the Lord
For the rain to stop / soaking my divine love
Que é muito lindo / É mais que o infinito
É puro e belo / Inocente como a flôr...
Who's so beautiful / it's beyond the infinite
Who's pure and pretty / innocent as a flower...
Por favor, chuva ruim / Não molhe mais
O meu amor assim...
Please, nasty rain / don't soak anymore
My love like that
Chove Chuva / Chove sem parar...
Rain, rain / pour without end...
Well that was the one that I had stuck in my head, but I feel guilty that it was short. I don't want to be weak for the first one of the year, so here's another - not a Ben Jor original, but it is his recording that I like the most. This one sticks for me not just because it's off of one of the greatest classic albums of all time, but mainly for how I first heard it. When I spent a few weeks in a place where the only path from the house led right into the ocean, there wasn't much to do but listen to records and roll becks. My erstwhile classmate (turned surf partner) had grown up on these records, and pulled off a Jorge falsetto better than will-i-am could ever hope to. He rarely sang along (too busy studying Che texts) but when he did it was damn good.
Por causa de você bate em meu peito
Baixinho, quase calado / Coração apaixonado por você
Because of you it beats in my chest
Softly, almost silent / heart impassioned for you
Menina... Menina que não sabe quem eu sou
Menina que não conhece o meu amor
Girl... girl you don't know who I am
Girl you don't know my love
Pois você passa e não me olha / Mas eu olho pra você
Anyway you pass by and don't look / But I look at you
Você não me diz nada / Mas eu digo pra você
You don't say anything / But I'm talking to you
Você por mim não chora / Mas eu choro por você
You don't cry for me / But I do cry for you
The only video floating around teh interwebs of this track seems to be of Ben Jor dueting with the axé singer, Ivete Sangalo. It's pretty cool in that you can read the Brazilian lyrics as they're trading off parts. In the original, Jorge sings it by himself, as if he's actually sitting on a street corner singing that unrequited song to some 1970's lovechild of the Ipanema girl. He also handles the "Saiupá" in an explosive high-octave sort of falsetto that makes you wonder why they ever hired backup singers in the first place. I don't see the original online anywhere in video, but if you succumb and pay that $.99, you'll hear it, and a sweet samba piano riff to boot. If you pay close attention, you'll hear the overemphasized 'sssssh' vocalization on the 'voce' at the end of each line. To me, it sounds like he's almost pouting by making this clownish pronunciation. "Come back, tesouro, pwwwease come back." It takes any aggression out of his voice and leaves him sounding playful, childish even.
Ben Jor is still playing gigs - last I heard there was one this January. Count yourself lucky if you're in Rio and you're able to hear these sounds from the old masters. Just like Venice, it won't be there forever.
O Jorge tem um grande futuro, né? Sempre terá.
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