South America introduced me to all kinds of new music, almost all of which has been Spanish pop and Tango. But I’ve also discovered a love for another genre from Brazil, which my Brazilian friends have called “Brazilian folk,” but might be best described as a sort of acoustic singer-songwriter genre in Portuguese. All of the music is beautiful and chill, and is the sort of music that might be played in a beachfront resort. Of all of this music, I have a favorite song right now: Quando Bate Aquela Saudade by Rubel from their album Pearl.
OK, so watch and listen and try and tell me that you don’t already know what the song is about and the emotions it is discussing.
But in case you couldn’t figure it out from the title, the song is about saudade, which is one of those incredible loanwords that simply cannot be translated from its original Portuguese. Saudade is an emotion that I can best describe as a profound sadness (all the online definitions use “melancholy” but I’m trying to sound less elitist than I clearly am) that comes from missing something, someone, or a time that may or will never return.
Picture a woman in the 1500’s sending her husband, a sailor, on a year-long voyage to explore the world. There’s no certainty that he’s going to come back or that he’ll be the same. There’s no certainty that they will regain the happiness they had before. That emotion of nostalgic sadness is saudade.
You probably know this emotion much better than your realize, even though English lacks a word to describe it. Supposedly, it is a defining emotion of Porguguese and Brazilian people. The closest translation in English might be “the blues” in AAVE.
So, back to Quando Bate Aquela Saudade. Listening to the melody, can you feel that emotion I’ve just described? Good, now let’s look at the lyrics.
Quando Bate Aquela Saudade by Rubel
É você que tem
Os olhos tão gigantes
E a boca tão gostosa
Eu não vou aguentar
Senta aqui do lado
E tira logo a roupa
E esquece o que não importa
Nem vamos conversar
Olha bem, mulher
Eu vou te ser sincero
Quero te ver de branco
Quero te ver no altar
Não tem medo, não
Eu sei, vai dar errado
A gente fica longe
E volta a namorar depois
Olha bem, mulher
Eu vou te ser sincero
Eu tô com uma vontade danada
de te entregar todos beijos que eu não te dei
E eu tô com uma saudade apertada de ir dormir bem cansado
E de acordar do teu lado pra te dizer
Que eu te amo
Que eu te amo demais
Olha bem, mulher
Eu vou te ser sincero
Quero te ver de branco
Quero te ver no altar
Não tem medo, não
A gente fica longe
A gente até se esconde
E volta a namorar depois
Que é você que tem
Os olhos tão gigantes
E a boca tão gostosa
Eu não vou aguentar
Olha bem, mulher
Eu vou te ser sincero
Eu tô com uma vontade danada
de te entregar todos beijos que eu não te dei
E eu tô com uma saudade apertada de ir dormir bem cansado
E de acordar do teu lado pra te dizer
Que eu te amo
Que eu te amo demais
Eu tô com uma vontade danada
de te entregar todos beijos que eu não te dei
E eu tô com uma saudade apertada de ir dormir bem cansado
E de acordar do teu lado pra te dizer
Que eu te amo
Que eu te amo demais
I know you all read Portuguese fluently, right? Just kidding, here they are in English:
Quando Bate Aquela Saudade by Rubel
It’s you who has
Those big eyes
And that delicious mouth
I cannot resist
Sit here by my side
And take off your clothes
Forget what doesn’t matter
Let’s not even talk about it
Take a good look, woman
I will be honest with you
I want to see you in white
I want to see you at the altar
Don’t be afraid, please don’t
I know, it won’t work
We’ll stay away
And we go back to dating after
Take a good look, woman
I will be honest with you
I want so goddamn much
to give you all the kisses I couldn’t
And I’ve been missing so much going to sleep tired
and waking up by your side
To tell you that I love you
That I love you so much
Take a good look, woman
I will be honest with you
I want to see you in white
I want to see you at the altar
Don’t be afraid, please don’t
I know it won’t work
We even hide ourselves
And we go back to dating after
It’s you who has
Those big eyes
And that delicious mouth
I cannot resist
Take a good look, woman
I will be honest you
I want so goddamn much
to give you all the kisses I couldn’t
And I’ve been missing so much going to sleep tired
and waking up by your side
To tell you that I love you
That I love you so much
I want so goddamn much
to give you all the kisses I couldn’t
And I’ve been missing so much going to sleep tired
and waking up by your side
To tell you that I love you
That I love you so much
(lyrics from LyricsTranslate.com, with some corrections by me)
They basically speak for themselves, don’t they? This song is so quiet but so beautiful. Does it evoke the same saudade for you as it does for me? Because something about this song connects for me and I can’t stop thinking about it or listening to it. Let me know what you think about Quando Bate Aquela Saudade the comments below!