Meaning title: Sampa is a nickname for São Paulo
Music, lyrics & performance: Caetano Veloso
Português
Alguma coisa acontece no meu coração
Que só quando cruza
a Ipiranga e a Avenida São João
É que quando eu cheguei por aqui
eu nada entendi
Da dura poesia concreta de tuas esquinas
Da deselegância discreta de tuas meninas
Ainda não havia para mim Rita Lee
A tua mais completa tradução
Alguma coisa acontece no meu coração
Que só quando cruza
a Ipiranga e a Avenida São João
Quando eu te encarei frente a frente
não vi o meu rosto
Chamei de mau gosto o que vi,
de mau gosto, mau gosto
É que Narciso acha feio
o que não é espelho
E à mente apavora o que
ainda não é mesmo velho
Nada do que não era antes
quando não somos mutantes
E foste um difícil começo
Afasto o que não conheço
E quem vem de outro sonho feliz de cidade
Aprende depressa a chamar-te de realidade
Porque és o avesso do avesso do avesso do avesso
Do povo oprimido nas filas,
nas vilas, favelas
Da força da grana que ergue
e destrói coisas belas
Da feia fumaça que sobe,
apagando as estrelas
Eu vejo surgir teus poetas
de campos, espaços
Tuas oficinas de florestas,
teus deuses da chuva
Pan-Américas de Áfricas utópicas,
túmulo do samba
Mais possível novo quilombo de Zumbi
E os novos baianos passeiam na tua garoa
E novos baianos te podem curtir numa boa
English
Something happens in my heart
Only when I arrive at the crossing
of Ipiranga and Avenida São João
When I first got here
I didn't understand anything at all
Of the hard concrete poetry of your corners
Of the discrete inelegance of your girls
I still didn't have Rita Lee by then
Your most complete interpretation
Something happens in my heart
Only when I arrive at the crossing
of Ipiranga and Avenida São João
When we were standing face to face
I didn't recognize myself in you
I called what I saw showing bad taste,
bad taste, bad taste
It is what Narcissus finds ugly
what does not mirror himself
And it scares the mind
what still is not really old
Nothing of what wasn't before
when we are not mutants
And it was a difficult start
I turn down what I don't know
And who comes from a happy dream of a city
Learns soon to call you the reality
Because your are the opposite
From the oppressed people in the lines,
in the villages, shanty towns
From the power of the money that rises
and destroys beautiful things
From the ugly smoke that rises
and extinguishes the stars
I can see appear your poets
from fields, open spaces
Your forest factories,
your rain gods
Pan-Americas from utopian Africas,
grave of the samba
But possibly the new quilombo of Zumbi (1)
And the new baianos (2) walk thru your drizzling rain
And new baianos can enjoy you really good
(1) Zumbi was the leader of the Quilombo of Palmares, which was a town of escaped slaves.
(2) In the former century, great numbers of migrants left the poor and drought-plagued Northeast to try to find a living in the more prosperous Southeast of Brazil, especially São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Many times they were discriminated and ended up in the shanty towns. Although these migrants came from various states in the Northeast, all of them where derogatory called "baianos" (habitants of the state Bahia).
Nederlands
Het brengt iets teweeg in mijn hart
Alleen wanneer ik op de kruising kom
van Ipiranga en Avenida São João
Toen ik hier net kwam,
snapte ik er niks van
van de harde betonnen poëzie van je hoeken
van de onelegante discretie van je meisjes
Ik had toen nog niet Rita Lee
Jouw meest complete vertolking
Het brengt iets teweeg in mijn hart
Alleen wanneer ik op de kruising kom
van Ipiranga en Avenida São João
Toen ik oog in oog met je stond
herkende ik mijzelf niet in jou
Ik noemde dat wat ik zag getuigen
van slechte smaak , slechte smaak
Het is wat Narcissus lelijk vindt
wat geen afspiegeling van hemzelf is
En onze geest is bang
voor wat nog niet echt oud is
Niets van wat er eerder ook niet was
als we geen mutanten zijn
En het was een moeilijke start
Ik wijs datgene af dat ik niet ken
E wie komt van een gelukkige droom van een stad
Leert snel om je de realiteit te noemen
Want jij bent het tegenovergestelde
Van het onderdrukte volk in de rijen,
de dorpen, sloppenwijken
Van de macht van het geld dat opkomt
en mooie dingen vernietigt
Van de lelijke rook die opstijgt
en de sterren dooft
Zie ik je dichters verschijnen
over velden, open ruimtes
Je werkplaatsen van wouden,
je regengoden
Pan-Amerika's van utopische Afrika's,
graf van de samba
Maar de mogelijke nieuwe quilombo van Zumbi
En de nieuwe baianos wandelen in je motregen
En nieuwe baianos kunnen goed van je genieten