Cantigas de Capoeira
Lyrics, Translation, comments, etc.
We are very proud of our new CD and we want to share with you some parts of it.
In this section, we are offering you not only the translation of the lyrics, but also
comments on the meaning of some words and on the cultural context in which
those words function. We believe that those insights are important for our
American students who want to learn about the cultural context in which capoeira
thrives. Please note, that the orthography of some of the words is phonetic in the
way that capoeira people speak.
This CD was a very fun project and we truly believe that it materializes our
statement in its insert: “Capoeira is a celebration of joy without boundaries“. We
also want to thank all of our friends for the support, to Mestre Olavo for the
berimbaus we used in this recording and to our students for their enthusiasm and
constant inspiration. Among the students, Mark Rendón (Bateria) was an essential
participant with his good will and positive presence as Assistant Producer.
A couple of words of concern. It is very common for any of us to pick up material
that we like and to place them out of its original context, creating a different image
from the one intended by the author. Therefore, we ask all of you who are reading
this material to be careful when quoting it, because we are dealing with deep
cultural values of a people who have devoted centuries of their life to capoeira.
Please, be careful to not distorting it and consequently misrepresent capoeira.
Love capoeira for what it is and then it will love you for what you are.
Mestre Acordeon
Band 1:BERIMBAU DE OURO
Lead singers: Acordeon, Destino (Destani Wolf-Bravo) and Cravo
Comments by Mestre Acordeon
Literally, berimbau de ouro means “berimbau of gold.“ When people use the
term “de ouro,“ however, they mean something very precious. One of the
musical pieces I like the most was recorded by Vavá, who died in 1998. He
was the son of Popó de Santo Amaro (Paulino Aloisio de Andrade), the man
responsible for preserving the art form of maculelê. Without Popo, maculelê
probably would have disappeared as did many other popular African-
Brazilian expressions. In Vava’s album recorded in 1984/88 by the Instituto
Nacional do Foclore MEC/Brasil, Vavá sung in his Ladainha. “O meu
berimbau de ouro, eu deixei no Carimbó...“ This gave me the idea of singing
“I left my golden berimbau in the Gantois“. Gantois is the neighborhood of a
famous candomblé. Candomblé is the name of the social organization of
African-Brazilian religions and beliefs. For many years, the Candomblé in the
Gantois was guided by the tender, sweet hands of Mãe Menininha, one of the
most famous mãe de santo (candomblé priestess) of all times.
The high point of this recording is Destino’s vocals, bringing another
dimension in terms of musical quality to this piece.
O meu berimbau de ouro, minha mãe, eu deixei no Gantois
O meu berimbau de ouro , minha mãe, eu deixei no Gantois
É um gunga bem falante que dá gosto de tocar
Eu deixei com Menininha para ela abençoá
Amanhã as sete horas p’ra Bahia vou voltar
Vou buscar meu berimbau que deixei no Gantois, Ha! ha!
I left my berimbau of gold in the Gantois
It is a gunga (a bass berimbau) with a good voice that pleases one to play. I
left it with Menininha for her to bless. Tomorow at 7 am I will go back to
Bahia. I’m going to pick up my berimbau de ouro that I left in the Gantois.
E viva meu Deus.
Eh a capoeira, camará It is difficult to translate “sacode a poeira, embalanca, embalança“.
Ai ai Aide Literally, it does not make sense a sentence such as: “shake the dust, wobble.
Joga bonito que eu quero ver wobble...“ Sacudir a poeira really means “to go for it“, “to step on the gas“.
joga bonito que eu quero aprender “to commit yourself. “ It also means if you take a fall in life, you should shake
Joga bonito que eu quero ver the dust and to move forward immediately. “Embalança, embalanca,
Joga bonito que eu quero aprender embalançá“ reminds me of a popular expression in Portuguese that can be
translated as: “whoever goes on the crest of the wave goes wobbling,“
Angola ê, Angolá, Angola ê mandigueira, Angolá whoever takes the initiative also takes the chance of not performing very well.
Vou mimbora pra Bahia amanhã eu vou pra la Capoeiristas always go for it during the jogo. They may stumble but they will
Vou jogar a capoeira no mercado popular always find a way of not falling too badly. Then, I comment on my berimbau
saying that “it is made of beriba wood with a nice gourd and it was given to
Paranaê, paranaê, paraná me by Mestre Bimba. It steps in the roda, opens its chest and sings the
Vou mimbora, vou mimbora como ja disse que vou paraná rhythms of Iuna and Banguela, showing all the power of its voice.
Paranauê, Paranauê
Ai ai aide
Vim lá da Bahia pra lhe ver Olha joga bonito que eu quero aprender
Vim lá da Bahia pra lhe ver Ai ai aide
Vim lá da Bahia pra lhe ver ***
P’ra lhe ver, p’ra lhe ver, p‘ra lhe ver

Vou manda leco

Cajuê
vou manda loia
Cajuê
Lecô, loiá

Eh sacode a poeira, embalança, embalança, embalança

Berimbau e feito de beriba, uma cabeça bem maneira Mestre Bimba que me deu
Entra na roda, abre o peito e sai falando toca Iuna e banguela mostra o som que
Deus lhe deu

O meu berimbau de ouro, minha mãe, eu deixei no Gantois

O meu berimbau de ouro, minha mãe, eu deixei no Gantois
Eu sai da minha terra por ter sina viajeira
Caminhando pelo mundo, ensinando capoeira
Amanhã as sete horas p’ra Bahia vou voltar
Vou buscar meu berimbau que deixei no Gantois, camaradinho.
Eh viva meu Deus
Eh é hora é hora
Eh vamos embora
 When I met Medicina - - one of the first students of Mestre Suassuna from
Band 2: MANDE UM ABRAÇO PRA ELA Itabuna city in the interior of Bahia -- he was teaching in Mar Grande, a
Lead singer and comments by Mestre Rã. small city in the Island of Itaparica. His capoeira group with many good
capoeiristas was called “Meninos da Ilha.“ Among his students there was a
great songwriter and singer named Barão da Ilha. I always loved his songs,
This was the very first capoeira song I ever fell in love with. It reminds me of specially the one bellow. I could only remember the chorus part. Therefore, I
my first teacher, Mestre Evaldo Lopes “Galo“. Galo was a great capoeirista rewrote my own version of the song, using the same chorus.
who studied with Mestre Joel in São Paulo. He never gave to his students a
very formal capoeira class, however, he instilled in all of us a great love for E toma sentido
the art. This song was one of his preferred canto de capoeira. I decided to No aperto da mão
start with it because it brings back good memories. Que a capoeira
E’ historia e tradição
Capoeira que vem da Bahia Eleva o espirito
Vem da terra de São Salvador Para me inspirar
Mande um abraço pra ela Jogo capoeira
E diga pro meu amor Pra pode me libertar
Diga que estou pra morrer de saudade Eu falei capoeira ai ai
Capoeira me chamou
Eh capoeira ai aia
Tico tico canta na mata E’ um jogo que balança o corpo pra la’ e pra ca’ Eu falei capoeira ai ai ai
Sabia’ canta na laranjeira
Nunca vi roda de samba
Sem jogo de capoeira Attention, the senses come together
Eh beriba e’ pau de fazê berimbau at the hand shake, because capoeira
Beriba é pau is history and tradition.
De fazê berimbau It elevates the spirit and it inspires me
I play capoeira to free my soul
I’m talking about capoeira!
Capoeira that comes from Bahia Eh capoeira-a-a
It comes from the land of São Salvador It is a game that makes the body swing around
Send a hug to my love and let her know
that I miss her to death and that
capoeira is calling me

“Tico-tico“ bird sings in the woods

Sabiá sings on the orange tree
I’ve never seen a “roda de samba“
without being followed by capoeira games
Biriba is a wood,
the wood to make berimbau
Entrou pra historia
No Brasil colonial
Lutou em batalhas
Virou luta nacional
E deu volta ao mundo
E o mundo virou
Em terras alheias a todos encantou

It made history
During the colonial times
It fought in battles
to become a national fight
And it went around the world
turning the world around,
enchanting all.

One way or the other, most of the songs in this CD mention the city of
Salvador, Bahia. I decided to include a song about the city of Rio de Janeiro
which has a long capoeira tradition. In the late 1800’s, in the streets of Rio, a
capoeirista nicknamed Manduca da Praia become famous and well respected
for his memorable fights using his inseparable cane as an efficient weapon.
He is a hero in many capoeira songs such as this one:

Que barulho e’ esse e’ um tal de zum zum zum?

Foi o Manduca da praia que acabou de matar um
Quando a policia chegou foi um tal de auê, auê
Vamo simbora seu moço que essa briga e’ pra vale

What noise is that, a kind of zoon zoon zoon ?

That was Manduca da Praia who just killed another one
When the police arrived it was a big mess
Let's get out of here 'cause this fight is for real

***
 Hoje em dia me espanto
Band 3:BRINCADEIRA TEM HORA Com tanto papo furado
Lead singer and comments by Mestre Acordeon Se dizer que capoeira
É somente brincadeira
This song was one of the most difficult for me. First of all, the pitch was really Esquecendo a sua historia
high for my vocal range. Second, this is the song with the highest charge of O seu passado de glória
emotion in this recording. I believe that the contemporary discourse of Como luta verdadeira
capoeira is at fault in many aspects and I wanted to protest by bringing up
some qualities and characteristics of Mestre Bimba: his style, roots and Capoeira é uma arte
africanicity. At the same time, I did not want to sound bitter or upset about Do Africano de valor
the diversity of opinions because I am not. I do welcome this diversity because Que usava a cabeçada
it means that people from many walks of life have been bewitched by the P’ra se livrar do feitor
capoeira enchantment.
Oi, sim, sim, sim . Oi não, não, não
Vocabulary: Oi, sim, sim, sim. Oi Não, não, não

Quilombola: people who lived in the quilombos (maroon society of the 19th
century} or those with a positive proposal for the black people’s self
affirmation.
Mandigueiro: Someone who has the knowledge of mandinga, sorcerer power
of the candomblé people. In capoeira, mandinga encompasses several
qualities, including the knowledge and use of rituals, tricks and cunning.
Manhoso: a quality of who has “manha“, one kind of feline quality,
apparently
soft and unharmful but wise and sharp on the stalk of the prey.
Quilombola full of mandinga, capoeira player
Mestre Bimba was the king from Pituba to Ribeira
Quilombola full of mandinga, capoeira player
He used to play hard and “manhoso“ our true art.
There is a time to full around (which is not at this game)
Play with your guts and mandinga because
This game is “full of edges“ (demanding, trick...)
It is not capoeira angola, it is capoeira of Bimba

Nowadays I’m amazed with so much bull,

Quilombola mandigueiro jogador de capoeira such as the talk that capoeira is only a playful game
Mestre Bimba era o rei, da Pituba a Ribeira Not taking into consideration its glorious past
Quilombola mandigueiro jogador de capoeira and history as a true fight.
Jogava duro e manhoso, nossa arte verdadeira
Capoeira is an art that comes from the African of worth
Brincadeira tem hora who used head butts to free himself from
Joga com garra e mandinga the slave hunters.
Esse jogo é tinhoso não é angola
É capoeira de Bimba

Joga com garra e mandinga ***

Esse jogo e tinhoso não é angola
É capoeira de Bimba
Faixa 4: EU NASCI FOI DE REPENTE
Bentivi botô gameleira no chão
Lead singer and comments by Mestre Rã Bentivi botô
Gameleira no chão
Botô que euvi
Modesty is a great quality that every capoeirista should cultivate. But every Gameleira no chão
capoeirista likes to brag from time to time about how good they are. This is Botô botô
part of the game’s ritual, normally done in the form of singing but with such Gameleira no chão
an absurd exaggeration that it is actually funny. In this song, I imagine myself
at the berimbau, getting ready for a rough game. Bentivi (a Brazilian bird) took the Gameleira tree down.
Capoeiristas sing their songs in different ways. In this case, I sing about a
Eu nasci foi de repente bird, but in other versions of this traditional song, people sing of a crab from
Sem parteira e nem Dotô the swamps of the Bay of All Saints that takes the Gamaleira tree down by
Saltei fora bem ligeiro pinching the roots with its claws. The capoeira moral of the story is the
Minha mãe nem sentiu dô smaller opponent can still take the big guy down, or that strength and size
Eu caço sem cão nem gato don’t always count in the jogo de capoeira.
Porque sou bom caçadô
De mulé eu tive muita Camujerê como tá como tá
Mas nehuma me pegô Camujerê
Agora cabei de crê Como vai vosmecê
Que general num é dotô Camujerê
Eu vou bem de saúde
I was born suddenly Camujerê
Without midwife or doctor Para mim é um prazer
I jumped out into this world so quickly
That my mother felt no pain Nem tudo que reluz é ouro
* I hunt without dog or cat Nem tudo que balança cai
Because I am a good hunter Nem tudo que reluz é ouro
I have had lots of women Nem tudo que balança cai
But none ever caught me
Now I just believed Cai cai cai cai
That general is not a doctor Cai cai cai cai
Capoeira balança mas não cai
* In portuguese, the expression “Who does not have a dog will hunt with a
cat.“ So when I say, “I hunt without dog or cat“ I mean that I make do with Not everything that shines is gold
what I have, and even with what I don’t have. Not everything that stumbles falls
Capoeira stumbles but doesn’t fall
Camará...
Iê viva meu mestre
Iê quem me ensinou
Iê a capoeira
Foi você quem me disse
Que filho de Bimba não cai
It was you who told me
That Bimba’s son won’t fall
May fall, may fall
Capoeira stumbles but doesn’t fall
Dona Maria do Camboatá
Ela chega na venda e manda botá
Dona Maria do Camboatá
Ela chega na venda e da salto mortá
Dona Maria do Camboatá
É do Camboatá é do Camboatá
Dona Maria do Camboatá
Santo Antônio é protetor
Da barquinha de Noé
Santo Antônio é protetor
Cariri boca da areia
Santo Antônio é protetor
Nazaré Paranaguá
Santo Antônio é protetor
Nega que vende aí
Camujerê
Lembaê lemba
Lemba do barro vermelho
Abalou capoeira abalou
***
Faixa 5 AVISA MEU MANO
Lead singer and comments by Mestre Acordeon
Avisa meu mano, avisa meu mano,
avisa meu mano, capoeira mandou me chamar
Capoeira é luta nossa da era colonial
E nasceu foi na Bahia Angola e Regional
Let my brother know that capoeira sent for me
Capoeira is our fight from the colonial era
It was born in Bahia, Angola and Regional
Gunga é meu, gunga é meu
Gunga é meu foi meu pai quem me deu
This gunga is mine my daddy gave it to me
Valha-me Deus, senhor São Bento
Vou cantar meu barravento
Valha-me Deus senhor São Bento
Buraco fundo tem cobra Dentro
Madeira de masaranduba, madeira de jacarandá
Eh beriba é pau é madeira, madeira de tocar
***
Faixa 6: CANTANDO ATRAVESSADO
Lead singer and comments by Mestre Acordeon
Once a student of mine Orlando Green wrote a ladainha for me in which he
said that “capoeira voou... voou.“ In the context of his lyrics, the meaning was
that capoeira flew through the world because of Mestre Bimba’s work and
my teachings. Orlando’s lyrics stuck in my mind. “Cantando Atravessado“
came about because of Orlando’s ladainha, that one day I will record in its
entirety.
“Cantando Atravessado“ also means singing off rhythm. I sang the entire
first part of this song - - the ladainha - - one bit ahead of the right tempo. I
did that intentionally, trying to recreate the unique mood which my dearest
friend Mestre João Pequeno brings out while singing out of the rhythm. João
usually sings: “Boa noite meus, senhores, a todos eu vou louvar... “ in his own
rhthym but he always get his message across because he has capoeira in his
veins and soul.
Boa noite gente fina
Boa noite gente fina, a todos vamos louvar
Hoje é dia de festa, sua benção Oxalá
Eu também sou capoeira, da licença vou cantar
Vou cantar para o meu mestre que me ensinou a jogar
Agradeço a Mestre Bimba o que sei da brincadeira
Dessa luta mandigueira, arte de muito valor
Que ele me ensinou sorrindo, com axé e com amor
Vadiar na malandragem e lhe dar o seu valor
Cada qual tem seu caminho, sua ideia opinião
Vida é redemoinho, todo mundo a girar
Gira roda, gira mundo, roda gira vamos la, camaradinho
Viva meu Deus
Good evening, my good people
I want to salute all of you because
today is a celebration day... I ask for your blessing, Oxalá!
I’m asking permission to sing because I’m a capoeirista and
I want to sing to my mestre, he who taught me how to play capoeira
I’m thankful to Mestre Bimba for whatever I know about this playful game,
about this fight full of mandinga, this art of true worth.
An art form that he taught me with a smile on the face, with axé and great
love. He taught me how to go around the world and how to give capoeira its
worth.
Each one has his or her own path, idea and opinion
The life is a whirlpool, everybody spinning around
Spin wheel, spin world, the roda is spinning. Let’s go play, my friend.
Long live my god!
Olha Santa Maria mãe de Deus, eu fui na igreja vou me confessar
Hoje é dia de festa, dia de Oxalá
Vou rezar p’ro meu santo me abençoá
Quem não pode com mandinga não carrega patuá
Olha Santa Maria mãe de Deus, eu fui na igreja não me confessei
Saint Mary, mother of God, I went to the church
to confess my sins.
Today is a celebration day, day of Oxalá
I’m going to pray to my saint to bless me
Who can not handle mandinga does not carry a patuá
Saint Mary, mother of God, I went to the church but I did not confess.
Patuá is a little bag full of magical (sacred) stuff that people carry around
their necks to protect themselves against evil eyes and bad influences. When I
sing “who can not handle mandinga does not carry a patuá“, goes along with
a very popular saying from Bahia that means something like “if you can not
stand the heat get out of the kitchen“.
Oh nega que vende ai, agora vou perguntar
Onde mora o Waldemar
Voce ouviu ele cantar
aonde mora o Waldemar
Agora vou perguntar
Onde mora o Waldemar
Oh sister who is selling goods on the street
Where does Mestre Waldemar live?
Did you hear him singing?
Where does he live?
Mestre Waldemar, a contemporary of Mestre Bimba was one of the greatest
capoeira singers I ever met. He also was very famous for making berimbaus
and organizing a roda de capoeira every Saturday by his school at the
Liberdade neighborhood. He died a couple of years ago, after recording a CD Seu Pastinha avoou
in which Mestre Canjiquinha also participated. Canjiquinha avoou
Eziquiel avoou
Mas to dormindo to sonhando, tão falando mal de mim O Vermelho avoou
Oh não me deixam sossegar
Vou benzer meu patuá He flew away... Mestre Bimba flew away
Tão falando mal de mim He went to heaven and did not return
Agora vou acordar Mestre Pastinha flew away
Mestre Canjiquinha, Eziquiel and Vermelho also flew away
I’m sleeping deeply and dreaming and they are talking badly about me
They do not let me rest quietly Adeus Corina Dandão
I’m going to bless my patuá Dandandan dandarandão
because they are talking badly about me
And now, I’m going to wake up Good bye Corina Dandão!

Olha chora menino

Menino chorou ***
Porque não mamou
Cala boca menino
Oh menino danado
O menino é chorão
O menino chorou
Porque não mamaou

The baby is crying because he did not breast feed

Be quiet little boy
This boy is a crying baby
He is crying because he did not eat

Quem nunca viu venha ver, nicouri quebrar Dendê

Quem nunca viu venha ver, ah meu Deus, Nicouri quebrar Dendê

In reality, I should have sung: “licuri botá dendê.“ Licuri is a kind of tree and
dendê is the seed of the read palm tree. It refers to an odd thing that may
happen during a jogo.

Who has never seen, come now to see

The nicuri braking dendê.

Voou, voou, Meste Bimba avoou

Eh foi por céu e não voltou
 A bananeira caiu
Band 7: JOGO ARREPIADO Cai, cai, cai bananeira
Lead singer and comments by Mestre Acordeon A bananeira caiu
Cai, cai, cai, cai, cai bananeira
A bananeira caiu
Lá na mata escura, o galo cacarejou
Nessa roda mandigueira o jogo arrepiou The machete hit (sliced) low and the banana tree fell down
Ole-le-ô, o jogo arrepiou Normally we use this song in the game when some one took a nice and clean
rasteira , a technique using the feet to sweep the opponent.
Down far into the dark jungle the rooster sang
In this roda full of mandinga the game itself got goose bumps. Mas eu pisei na folha seca eu ouvi fazer xuê, xuá
Xuê, xuê, xuê, xuá
When we say the “game itself got goose bumps“ it means that the game eu ouvi fazer, xuê, xuá
becomes difficult, challenging and fight oriented.
Lá na mata escura, o galo cacarejou
Quem não quer melar o dedo, não come do vatapá Nessa roda mandigueira o jogo arrepiou
Quem não tem o couro grosso nessa roda vai sobrar Ole-le-ô o jogo arrepiou
Ole-le-ô, o jogo arrepiou Ole-le-ô o jogo arrepiou, macá

Who does not want to get their finger dirty Quebra la mi cumugê, macá (Quebra milho como gente, macaco)
Does not eat the Vatapá
Who does not have a hard skin will be left out of this roda This is one of the onomatopoeic lyrics when the grammatical form of the
words are completely distorted to sound good with the music. “Quebra milho
Vatapá is a typical food from Bahia made with stale bread, dried shrimp, como gente, macaco“ means exactly break corn like people, macaque.
cashew, and red palm oil (Azeite de Dendê). See the recipe in the section of However, “quebra la mi cumugê, macá“ doesn't mean anything.
Cultural Environment, including traditional Brazilian Food recipes, coming
soon.
***
Oi sim, sim, sim,
Oi não, não, não

Oi sim, sim, sim,

Oi não, não, não

Mas hoje tem amanhã não, mas hoje tem amanha não
Oi sim, sim, sim,
Oi não, não, não

Mas o facão bateu em baixo, comadre

A banananeira caiu
Mas o facao bateu em baixo, compadre
Band 8 CAPOEIRA MAGIA

Voice by Destino, kalimba (thumb piano) by Daniel Randolph, didjiridu by John

Miguel, atabaque by Mestre Rã, xequerê and reco-reco by Bateria, and agogó and
comments by Mestre Acordeon.

In this song, we initially recorded atabaque, agogó and xequerê with a thumb
piano played by Daniel Randolph, a musician that, once in a while, comes to
our classes and plays with us. Later, I brought in John Miguel with his
Didjiridu. The didjiridu is an Australian wind pipe made of Eucalyptus that
was hollowed out by termites. It is a traditional instrument called Yidarki in
its original tongue. It symbolizes the penis in a story about fertility. My
original plan was to play berimbau along with the other instruments. Well, I
tried the berimbau and it did not work. My voice-over says:

“Capoeira é uma arte mágica. Suas raizes estão fincadas no solo da mãe Africa
como raizes de um baobá gigante, plantada pelos orixas para absorver o legado de
ancestrais distantes“.

This means: Capoeira is a magical art. Its roots are deep in the soil of Mother
Africa like the roots of a gigantic baobá tree, laid down by the Orixás to
absorb the legacy of distant ancestors.

Destino’s voice came about so beautifully, as an encompassing experiment of

interaction with these instruments and my own voice. However, I took my
voice out. It did not stand up to the power of my fellow musicians.