Lyrics from “Alvorada” by Cartola, Carlos Cachaça and Hermínio Bello de Carvalho (1968)
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Good Audio Version
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Dawn up on the hillside, what beauty
No one cries, there’s no sorrow, no one feels displeasure…
The sun, coloring, is so lovely, is so lovely
And nature smiling, painting, painting, … dawn
You too remind me of the dawn when it arrives
Illuminating my lifeless paths
And the rest for me is so little, or almost nothing
Just rambling on like this, on this lost highway
— Interpretation —
The inspiration for this song – another classic samba from Mangueira mainstays Cartola and Carlos Cachaça – came one early morning as the two were walking down Rio’s Pendura a Saia hill, which is part of the larger Morro de Mangueira. Moved by the beauty of the first light of day, and its contrast with the destitution on the hillside, they composed the first lines of the samba together. They then brought the piece to their friend Hermínio Bello de Carvalho for completion; Carvalho wrote the final lines while Cartola composed the melody. (For more on the friendship and partnership between Cartola and Carlos Cachaça, see these posts.)
The song recalls the final scene in Black Orpheus, the 1959 film adaptation of Vinicius de Moraes’s play, Orfeu da Conceição (1954). The play brought the Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice to the hillside slums of Rio de Janeiro; it was also the first time Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim composed together.
Lyrics in Portuguese
Alvorada lá no morro, que beleza
Ninguém chora, não há tristeza
Ninguém sente dissabor
O sol colorindo é tão lindo, é tão lindo
E a natureza sorrindo, tingindo, tingindo
( a alvorada )
Você também me lembra a alvorada
Quando chega iluminando
Meus caminhos tão sem vida
E o que me resta é bem pouco
Ou quase nada, do que ir assim, vagando
Nesta estrada perdida.M
Main source for this post: A Canção no Tempo: 85 Anos de Músicas Brasileiras, vol. 2 : 1958 – 1985 by Jairo Severiano and Zuzu Homem de Mello
Lyrical Brazil 