Tema de Beija-Flor [English translation]

Meu amor foi meu amor

My love was my love

- The love of my life was my

beloved.

Distinto e tão consagrado

Distinct and so consecrated

- Consecrated means made sacred

- Could mean marriage or a

promise a vow Between lovers

Naquele tempo passado

In that time in the past

Eu já senti seu calor

I already felt its warmth

- "calor" can be translated as

heat, here it was translated

as warmth as in heart-warming

- "seu" is a possessive that

here can refer to the love

(feeling) or to the warmth

of the beloved

Hoje eu sou um sofredor

Today I am a sufferer

E seja pra onde for

And wherever I go

O pensamento pensando

With the thoughs thinkink

- "Wherever I go in my mind

this tought goes on"

Ah, se eu fosse um beija-flor

Oh, if I were a hummingbird

de dia tava voando

in the day I would be flying

E de noite tava beijando

and in the night I would be kissing

Os lábios do meu amor

The lips of my love

- The same expression is used

for "my love" and "my lover"

in Portuguese this may have

both the connotation of "the

love I feel" and "the one I

love"

Te amei com sacrifício

I loved you with sacrifice

O amor não foi barato

The love wasn't cheap

Mandei botar teu retrato

I told [them] to put your portrait

- This is an indefinite subject

sentence, this kind of

construction is not used in

english.

Na porta do edifício

On the building's door

- Many men from Northwestern

Brazil went to São Paulo,

Rio and other places to work

in construction, leaving

their families and bringing

their pictures

Pelo momento propício

For the propitious moment

- Propitious has a meaning close

to "auspicious," in this

context it may mean the moment

of reunion with the lover

Enfrentando o sacrifício

Confronting the sacrifice

- Struggling through hardships

para sentir seu calor

to feel your warmth

Ah se eu fosse um beija-flor

Oh, if I were a hummingbird

de dia tava voando

in the day I would be flying

E de noite tava beijando

and in the night I would be kissing

Os lábios do meu amor

The lips of my love

É eu no Rio de Janeiro

[Now] It is me in Rio de Janeiro

- Again the theme of the worker

coming to the big cities

E você lá no Sertão

And you in the outback

- The "Sertão" here is a semi-

-arid region in Northeastern

Brazil, it's somewhat like a

savannah or the Australian

Outback

e o meu amor verdadeiro

and my [one] true love

Eu guardo no coração

I keep in the (my) heart

Peço o tema a gavião

I ask the theme to [the] hawk

- "Gavião" here refers to a

kind of hawk in the Sertão

- The "theme" in the sense of

words, verses or song

Poeta da profissão

Poet of the profession

e também é sonhador

and (who) is also a dreamer

Ah se eu fosse um beija-flor

Oh, if I were a hummingbird

de dia tava voando

in the day I would be flying

E de noite tava beijando

and in the night I would be kissing

Os lábios do meu amor

The lips of my love

Te amei com sacrifício

I loved you with sacrifice

Sem dar passada perdida

Without making missteps

- Construction work is very

dangerous, the workers could

fall to their deaths with a

single slip of misstep

- "Passada perdida" means a

(careless) lost step

Preparei um edifício

I prepared an edifice

- This means making a building

but "prepare" is also used,

subtly, in the sense of a

monument, an altar or a shrine

(to the loved one)

Mesmo em frente da guarida

Even in front of the (den of the) beasts

- This has the meaning of

facing all the risks and

demands of work and living

a displaced life in the

big cities

- Guarida means both a den of

beasts and a place of shelter

or a refuge, this provides an

additional layer of meaning

to this verse

eu não quero despedida

I don't want a goodbye

- "Despedida" means a goodbye

or a farewell.

nem palavra aborrecida

not even an upset (sad) word

- "I don't want to hear your

sadness" (because it hurts

me)

Sou seu adorador

I am your adorer

- "I adore you and it breaks my

heart to see you sad"

Ah se eu fosse um beija-flor

Oh, if I were a hummingbird

de dia tava voando

in the day I would be flying

E de noite tava beijando

And in the night I would be kissing

Nos lábios do meu amor

[On] The lips of my love

- Like on my lover's arms, but

"in the embrace of my lover's

kiss.

• Artist:Vital Farias