Lyrics from “A paixão e a jura” by Paulo César Pinheiro and Mauro Duarte (1981)
—
Eu ando sofrendo tanto // I’ve been suffering so much
Quando essa paixão me invade // As this passion overcomes me
e às vezes me pego em prantos // And sometimes catch myself in tears
com receio de ferir outra amizade// Afraid of wounding another friendship
você me procura (você me procura) // You come after me (you come after me)
eu não sei negar amor nem resistir // And I’m unable to turn down love, or resist
mas fiz uma jura // But I made a vow
e essa jura é tão difícil de cumprir // And that vow is so hard to keep
Eu tenho pensado nisso // I’ve been thinking it over
Mas não sei na realidade // But the truth is I don’t know
Se desfaço compromisso// If I should break my commitment
Ou se evito um grande amor contra vontade // Or shun a great love, against my will
Isso é uma tortura (isso é uma tortura) // This is torture (this is torture)
Eu bem sei ninguém por mim vai decidir // And I know well that no one will decide for me
A paixão e a jura vão fazendo um coração se dividir // Passion and vow, splitting a heart in two
Talvez tudo isso seja breve // Maybe all of this will be short-lived
Talvez eu volte ao meu caminho // Maybe I’ll get back on my course
Talvez essa paixão me leve // Maybe this passion will carry me away
Talvez eu venha terminar sozinho //Maybe I’ll end up alone
— Commentary —
Together, Paulo César Pinheiro and Mauro Duarte composed some of Brazil’s most beautiful and most melancholy sambas. They were close friends, and Mauro Duarte introduced Paulo César Pinheiro to Clara Nunes around 1974, the same year Nunes recorded Mauro Duarte’s first hit, “Menino Deus,” composed with Paulo César Pinheiro. Pinheiro and Nunes married about a year later, and Clara Nunes went on to release several more of Pinheiro and Duarte’s best-loved songs, including “Canto das três raças” and “Portela na avenida.”
Mauro Duarte also composed “Um ser de luz” with Paulo César Pinheiro after Clara’s tragic sudden death on April 2, 1983, at age 40.
Roberto Ribeiro was the first to release “A paixão e a jura” on his 1981 album Massa, Raça e Emoção.
For more on Pinheiro and Duarte’s friendship and musical partnership, see this post.
Lyrical Brazil 