LISBON — It’s Saturday night in Lisbon, Portugal, and on stage at the bar Samambaia, in the Graça neighborhood, the beating of the tambourine and the strumming of the guitar signal the beginning of a hit by the carioca samba singer Martinho da Vila, which lists the various women who passed through the life of a man.
But this Saturday, the original version re-emerged as a new, liberating and empowered reinterpretatio, sung by Brazilian artist Nega Jaci.
Instead of “I’ve had women of all colors,” Nega Jaci sings “We are women of all colors,” from an updated version created by Brazilian artists Doralyce and Silvia Duffrayer in 2018 – an adaptation that rewrites some stanzas of the original lyrics and which, since then, has become an anthem of female resistance in the “patriarchal” universe of samba.
The rewritten version by the Brazilian duo removes references to “unbalanced and confused” women in the lyrics, replacing them with feminist heroes in Brazil, including Chica da Silva and Elza Soares. Jaci also included a tribute to former Carioca councilwoman Marielle Franco, murdered in 2018.
The new lyrics reposition the woman’s role, from being responsible for the man’s happiness, finally concluding, in a liberated and independent tone, that the woman is everything that she one day dreamed to be.
“Samba lyrics tend to be super sexist and prejudiced, looking at women either as objects to serve men or as someone who needs to be taken care of, without giving due value to female power,” explains Jaci, who was born in Bahia, Brazil as Jacilene Santos Barbosa and has been living in Lisbon for eight years.
The feminist version of the well-known samba is unmissable in her set, and the moment when Jaci sings it in the presentation is preceded by a call to the women in the audience. It is for them that the performance is dedicated.
“I sing in honor of the women, but the men end up listening and reflecting on the theme in their own way,” she says.
This reflection has led other musicians to also look for a way to reposition themselves. Jaci recalls that not even Chico Buarque himself, universally loved among Brazilian musicians and apparently incontestable, is immune to the slippage of lyrics written in other times and contexts, but which now seem to no longer find space in a repertoire governed by political correctness.
“Chico is one of my favorite composers and singers, and being who he is, attentive and sensitive, he made a public mea culpa and said that there are songs from his repertoire that he would no longer sing. And he really does not sing them any more,” recalls Jaci.
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Women (Mulheres) – Martinho da Vila |
Women (Mulheres) – Doralyce and Silvia Duffrayer version |
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I’ve had women of all colors Of different ages, of many loves With some for a while, I stayed With others, I gave myself just a little I’ve had women of the sassy type The shy type, the experienced type Needy married, happy single I’ve had a damsel and even a harlot Centered and unbalanced women Confused women, of war and peace But none of them made me as happy as you make me I looked for happiness in all women But I didn’t find it and I kept missing it It started off well, but it all had an ending. You are the sun of my life, my will You are not a lie, you are the truth You are everything that one day I dreamed of for myself |
We are women of all colors Of different ages, of many loves I remember Dandara, a cool woman I know And Elza Soares, an outlaw woman I remember Anastácia, Brave, warrior And Chica da Silva, every Brazilian woman Growing up oppressed by patriarchy My body, my rules now, changed the frame Centered and very balanced women Nobody’s confused, I didn’t ask you anything It’s them, for them listen to this samba that I’m going to sing to you I don’t know why I have to be your happiness You are enough My dear, love like this, I want far from me I’m a woman, I own my body and my will I was the one who discovered pleasure and freedom I am everything that one day I dreamed of for myself. |
Suite dos Pescadores – Nega Canta a Bahia – Rtp africa
A voice that has gone around the world
A well-known voice in the increasingly popular samba circles of Lisbon, Jaci travelled the world singing Brazilian rhythms before landing in the Portuguese capital. A former backing vocalist with singer and current Minister of Culture of Brazil, Margareth Menezes, Jaci’s solo career has taken her to Italian, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and English stages.
It was in London that she met her husband, Portuguese photographer Francisco Rivotti. The union motivated her move to Lisbon.
“I used to spend my holidays in Lisbon, and I always thought the city was beautiful; the vibe was great. Moving turned out to be a natural path,” explains Jaci.
She’s also a mother and, like many professionals, sometimes has to take her children to work. Salvador and Matheus, aged 6 and 3, are often seen on stage during performances. The eldest, Salvador, already sings a few choruses and has been trying to convince his mother to let him join the band D’Ori. “He’s learning the cello and has been asking to play with the other musicians,” she laughs.
Chico Buarque’s new feijoada recipe
Authors of the new version of the old da Vila hit, Pernambucan Doralyce and Carioca Silvia Duffrayer, say that the idea of adapting the samba came about after being criticized during a performance in Rio de Janeiro, when a woman from the audience protested the sexist lyrics.
That was what led São Paulo musician Manoel Vitorino Júnior, Mannu Jr., to write a new version of one of the great successes of Chico Buarque, Complete Feijoada (Feijoada Completa).
The original lyrics written by Chico Buarque relegate to the kitchen a woman who hears her partner say that he is going to bring some friends to talk. Among other duties, she is left in charge of serving “stupidly cold beer for a battalion” and “frying a lot of pork rinds to go with it.”
“I used to play in a group called Samba na Cozinha and the day we were finalizing the repertoire, someone suggested Chico’s music,” recalls Mannu Jr. “Then, one of the women in the band immediately vetoed the song, finding it too sexist.”
I thought maybe there was a less radical way to resolve the issue than cancelling it.
Manu Jr says that what happened led him to reflect on a solution. “Since I like the song so much, I thought maybe there was a less radical way to resolve the issue than cancelling it. I sat down and came up with Correct feijoada,” he says.
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Complete Feijoada (Feijoada Completa) – Chico Buarque |
Correct feijoada (Feijoada Correta) – Mannu Jr version |
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Woman, you will like it I’m bringing some friends to talk They go with a hunger that they can’t even tell They go with a thirst from the day before yesterday Bring stupidly cold beer for a battalion And let’s put water on the beans Woman, don’t get flustered You don’t have to set the table, there’s no need Put the dishes on the floor, and the floor is made And prepare the sausages for the appetizer Alcohol, sugar, bowl of ice, lemon And let’s put water on the beans Woman, you will fry A lot of pork rinds to go with it White rice, farofa and chilli The Bahia orange or the select Throw the paio, dried meat, bacon in the cauldron And let’s put water on the beans Woman, after salting Make a good stew, to get fat Use the fat on the pan To season better the cabbage from Minas Gerais Say it’s hard, hang the invoice on our brother And let’s put water on the beans |
Woman, you will like it I’m bringing some friends to talk They go with a hunger that they can’t even tell They go with a thirst from the day before yesterday Bring stupidly cold beer for a battalion And let’s put water on the beans Woman, don’t get flustered You don’t have to set the table, there’s no need I put the dishes on the floor, and the floor is made And I prepare the sausages for the appetizer Alcohol, sugar, bowl of ice, lemon And let’s put water on the beans Woman, I’m going to fry A lot of pork rinds to go with it White rice, farofa and chilli The Bahia orange or the select I throw the paio, dried meat, bacon in the cauldron And let’s put water on the beans Woman, after salting I make a good stew, to get fat I use the fat on the pan To season better the cabbage from Minas Gerais Say it’s hard, hang the invoice on our brother And let’s put water on the beans |
In the new lyric, which is usually heard in Manu Jr.’s presentations on Lisbon nights, the man asks the woman not to rush and then says: “I put the dishes on the floor, and the floor is made, and I prepare the sausages for the appetizer,” also announcing that it will be up to him to throw the paio, the dried meat and the bacon in the cauldron, in addition to making the stew, taking advantage of the fat from the frying pan to season the cabbage from Minas Gerais.
It seems like a detail, but it makes a difference.
“It seems like a detail, but it makes a difference to call the actions in the first person. It is better to continue singing with the changes than to remove it from the repertoire completely. Those adjustments are part of a transition provoked by a very serious matter, and it must be done,” says Mannu Jr.
