Gilberto Gil
Água benta lyrics with English translation
- Language
- Portuguese
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1997
- Genre
- Samba
- Length
- 3:54
A água benta que batizou
The holy water that baptized
Contaminou o bebê
Contaminated the baby
A medicina e o seu doutor
The medicine and its doctor
Nada puderam fazer
Could do nothing at all
O desespero se apoderou
Despair took hold
Do padre, do pai, da mãe
Of the priest, the father, the mother
Foi quando então alguém se lembrou
It was then that someone remembered
De um feiticeiro de Ossãin
A sorcerer from Ossãin
Um simples banho de folhas fez
A simple bath of leaves did
O que não se esperava mais
What was no longer expected
Depois, depois muitos muitos anos depois
Then, then many many years later
Rapaz, aquele menino já então rapaz
Boy, that child was already a young man
Se fez um rei entre os grandes babalaôs
He became a king among the great babalaôs
Dos tais, dos tais como já não se fazem mais
Of those, of those that are no longer made
A água benta que ao bel prazer
The holy water that at its own pleasure
Se desmagnetizou
Was demagnetized
Desconectada do seu poder
Disconnected from its power
Por um capricho do amor
By a whim of love
Amor condutor do élan vital
Love, the conductor of vital energy
Que o chinês chama de ch'i
That the Chinese call ch'i
Que Dom Juan chama de nagual
What Don Juan calls nagual
Que não circulava ali
That did not circulate there
Ali na grã pia batismal
There in the grand baptismal font
O amor deixara de fluir
Love had ceased to flow
Talvez por mero defeito na ligação
Perhaps due to a mere flaw in the connection
Sutil entre a essência e a representação
Subtle between essence and representation
Verbal que tem que fazer todo coração
Verbal that every heart must make
Mortal ao balbuciar sua oração
Mortal when mumbling his prayer
A água benta que o bom cristão
The holy water that a good Christian
Contaminou sem querer
Unintentionally contaminated
A fonte suja que o sacristão
The dirty fountain that the sacristan
Utilizou sem saber
Used without knowing
A força neutra que move a mão
The neutral force that moves the hand
Do assassino o punhal
Of the assassin's dagger
E o bisturi do cirurgião
And the surgeon's scalpel
O todo total do Tao
The whole total of the Tao
Lâmina quântica do querer
Quantum blade of desire
Que o feiticeiro o sabe ler
That the sorcerer knows how to read
Fractal, de olho na fresta da imensidão
Fractal, with an eye on the crack of infinity
Sinal, do mistério na cauda do pavão
Signal, of the mystery in the peacock's tail
Igual, ao mistério na juba do leão
Like the mystery in the lion's mane
Igual, ao mistério na presa do narval
Like the mystery in the narwhal's tusk
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Key vocabulary
- água
- waterA1
- benta
- blessed
- batizou
- baptized
- contaminou
- contaminated
- bebê
- babyA2
- medicina
- medicine
- doutor
- doctorA2
- nada
- nothingA1
- puderam
- they could
- fazer
- doB2
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About this song
Gilberto Gil was a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter associated with Tropicália and other innovative trends in Brazilian music. He is known for expanding Brazilian musical language through late-1960s and 1970s recordings and for combining an active political career, including serving as Brazil’s minister of culture, with ongoing work as a recording artist.