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.