Conversa de Botequim

Mister Waiter, do me a favor and bring me hurriedly
A good coffee that’s not reheated
Some bread, nice and warm, with plenty of butter
A napkin and a cup of chilled water
Close the door on the right, carefully,
As I’m not inclined to be exposed to the sun
And go ask your customer there the result of the football match.

If you go on cleaning the table, I’m not getting up nor will I pay the bill
Go ask your boss for a pen, an inkwell, an envelope and a card
Don’t forget to give me toothpicks, and a cigarette to scare the mosquitoes
Go tell the cigar maker to lend me some magazines, a lighter and an ashtray

Mister Waiter, do me a favor and bring me hurriedly
A good coffee that’s not reheated
Some bread, nice and warm, with plenty of butter
A napkin and a cup of chilled water
Close the door on the right, carefully,
As I’m not inclined to be exposed to the sun
And go ask your customer there the result of the football match.

Call, at least once, to three-four- four- three-three-three
And tell Mr. Osório to send me an umbrella here in our office
Mister Waiter, lend me some money, cause I left mine with the bicheiro
Go tell your manager to hang this tab on the hanger up front

Mister Waiter, do me a favor and bring me hurriedly
A good coffee that’s not reheated
Some bread, nice and warm, with plenty of butter
A napkin and a cup of chilled water
Close the door on the right, carefully,
As I’m not inclined to be exposed to the sun
And go ask your customer there the result of the football match.

— Interpretation —

Nearly eighty years after its release, “Conversa de Botequim” (roughly, bar talk) is still considered one of the most astute and poetic observations on carioca society in Brazilian popular music. Written by Noel Rosa, whom Ary Vasconcellos calls “without a doubt, the greatest name in samba carioca,” the song spiritedly satirizes a quotidian scene in Rio de Janeiro in the 1920s and 1930s that resonates today.

Noel Rosa (1910 – 1937) had a face that was badly deformed from an accident right after his birth.  Likely as a result, he spent much of his brief adult life in dimly lit bars and cafés in Rio de Janeiro, and became familiar with their clientele.  This song pokes fun at a customer who acts as if he owns the establishment just because he’s buying a measly coffee and bread. After making a litany of absurd requests of a waiter he addresses with a phony reverence, and referring to the bar as his “office,” the customer says he’s going to have to put the meal on his tab (from Portuguese, this line translates literally to “hang it on the hanger”) since he left his money with the bicheiro – the local boss of the Jogo do Bicho, a popular nationwide lottery allowing bets as low as a cent.

The character is Rosa’s depiction – or mild caricature – of the typical carioca malandro, the likes of which Rosa had little patience for. (The concept of the malandro is explained in this post.) The listener can infer that the character gets by day-to-day with this kind of idle talk and maybe some winnings from the Jogo do Bicho.

The song is also acclaimed for its perfectly matched syncopated melody, by Vadico.  And though many artists went on to record it, Zuza Homem de Mello and Jairo Severiano remark that Rosa’s recording (both versions above) is the best, “because he ‘speaks’ the lyrics with the same naturalness with which a malandro would give all of those orders to a bar waiter.”