专辑简介

by Altair82 This Eu Vou Ser Como A Toupeira surprizes Zeca's followers a bit. It surprizes, a posteriori. For it's recorded between two rich and complex albums. That is, Eu Vou Ser Como A Toupeira is a very simple and undressed album. Like almost returning to the simplicity of Traz Outro Amigo Também. And that seems to suggest a break to think. I say almost, for, being a very quiet album, very a capella, it can't deny the contribute of a careful intrumentation introduced with the masterpiece Cantigas do Maio. Therefore, the percussions, the xilophone, the flutes, the backing voices and the echo play a notorios role that will make of this an unrepeatable album in his career. This time, it was recorded in Madrid, and José Niza on production. Besides, it counted with at the time new Galician friend Benedicto, with Carlos Alberto Moniz, José Jorge Letria and, once again, Teresa Paula Brito. The vocal timbre and skill reach here an unforgettable clearness. It's fantastic to think that, despite its closeness in time, all his Lps follow a coherent and secure evolution, without becoming enprisioned to what's already done. As it was his personal life: he always did what he wanted, and didn't make plans. And that, without giving space to elements that would desfigure the eminently popular character of all his oeuvre. This album is no exception. The album opens with the dramatic A morte saíu à rua / Death went out to the street, an unmistakeable sign of the time that was passing, dedicated to José Dias Coelho, a painter assassinated by the police on a street of Lisbon. The fultes, in choir, seem to scream the sad report. And it's also a beautiful and powerful poem by José Afonso. A morte saiu à rua num dia assim / Death went out to the street on a day like this Naquele lugar sem nome pra qualquer fim / On that nameless place to some point Uma gota rubra sobre a calçada cai / A red pour falls on the ground E um rio de sangue dum peito aberto sai / And a river of blood bursts from an opened breast O vento que dá nas canas do canavial / The wind that beats on the reeds of reed fields E a foice duma ceifeira de Portugal / And the scythe of a "ceifeira" of Portugal E o som da bigorna como um clarim do céu / The sound of the anvil like a sky clarinet Vão dizendo em toda a parte o pintor morreu / Everywhere people's saying the painter died. Teu sangue, Pintor, reclama outra morte igual / Your blood, painter, claims an equal death Só olho por olho e dente por dente vale / Only eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth is enough À lei assassina à morte que te matou / To the assassin law that killed you Teu corpo pertence à terra que te abraçou / Your body belongs to the earth that embrassed you Aqui te afirmamos dente por dente assim / Here we afirm you, like this, tooth for a tooth Que um dia rirá melhor quem rirá por fim / That one day will better laugh who will laugh last Na curva da estrada há covas feitas no chão / By the corner of the road there are holes in the ground E em todas florirão rosas duma nação. / And in all will flourish roses of a nation Fui à beira do mar / I went near to sea is amazingly serene and pure. Sete fadas me fadaram / Seven fairies enchanted me, with poem by the also paintor António Quadros, is a song in a popular tone, like in the traditional wordgames. We cannot ignore the percussion, in the background, and the voices, in a strange effect. Sete fadas me fadaram / Seven fairies enchanted me Sete irmãos m'arrenegaram / Seven brothers denied me Sete vacas me morreram / Seven cows died to me Outras sete me mataram / Other seven killed me Sete setes desvendei / Seven sevens I discovered Sete laranjinhas de oiro / Seven little gold oranges Sete piados de agoiro / Seven bad prediction jokes Sete coisas que eu cá sei / Seven things I know Sete cabras mancas / Seven armless sheeps Sete bruxas velhas / Seven old witches Sete salamandras / Seven salamanders Sete cega-regas / Seven noisy persons Sete foles / Seven air pumps Sete feridas / Seven wounds Sete espadas / Seven swords Sete dores / Seven pains Sete mortes / Seven deaths Sete vidas / Seven lifes Sete amores / Seven loves Sete estrelas me ocultaram / Seven stars hided me Sete luas, sete sóis / Seven moons, seven suns Sete sonhos me negaram / Seven dreams denied me Aqui d'el rei é de mais / (That's enough!) In Ó minha amora madura that rooted music feeling is well demonstrated in the vocal inflexions. A traditional tune (I'm not sure, but it sounds to Alentejo region) here performed like only he could. O avô cavernoso / The Caving grandfather is, like in Nevoeiro / Fog, written by Sérgio Godinho and sung by Zé Mário, a mention to the self-claimed "nation saviour"'s death. The empty and the echo, the backing sounds, serve the lyric, that tells us something of that moment. Salazar died in 1970, two years after (suposedly) having fallen from the chair that leaded him to hospital and that leaded Marcello Caetano to the power chair. O avô cavernoso / The caving grandfather Instituiu a chuva / Instituted the rain Ratificou a demora / Confirmed the waiting Persignou-se / Made the sign of the cross Ninguém o chora agora / No one cries for him, now Perfumou-se / He perfumed himself Vinte mil léguas de virgens vieram/Twenty thousand leagues of virgo women came Inutéis e despidas / Unuseful and undressed Flores de malva / Mallow flowers E a boina bem segura / And the hat, secure Sobre a calva / Over his bald head Ao avô cavernoso quem viu a tonsura? / Who saw the caving grandfather's tonsure? E a tenda dos milagres e a privada / And the miracle house, and his toilet? Na tenda que foi nítida conjura / In the house that was clearly a exorcise house As flores de malva murcham devagar / The mallow flowers slowly wither Devagar / Slowly Até que se ouvem gritos, matinadas / Until we hear screams, riots Ó ti Alves is the perfect example of the a capella character of this record. The closed accent in the begining take us to Algarve fishermen dialects, at the same time it announces the change: - Ó Ti Alves / Hei, Ti Alves São poucas ou muntas? / Are they few or "mony"? -São poucas mê menino / They are few "mey" child Mas prò ano / But next year Já são mai muntas / They'll be "mure" -Ó Ti Alves São magras ou gordas? / Are they thin or fat? -São magras me menino / They are thin "mey" child Mas prò ano / But next year Já são mai gordas / They'll be "mo" fat - Ó Ti Alves São pobres ou ricas? / Are they poor or rich? - São pobres me menino / They're poor "mey" child Mas prò ano / But next year Já são mai ricas / They'll be richer. The daily statement of No combóio descendente / On the train that goes down, by Fernando Pessoa, confirms the more "contemplative" side of José Afonso. Eu vou ser como a toupeira / I'll be like the mole, the album title song, is the second of some songs José Afonso sung only with percussion and voice. In this case, he's acompagnied byTeresa. The coherent sound of the adufes. A good song. You don't need much to do things like this. If at the end of Contos Velhos, Rumos Novos A Cidade / The City took us to some Mississipi, through harmonica, in this É para Urga, the musical phrase of the xilofone take us to some Macau. Pay attention to the syncronized vocals on that phrase. The window Zeca sings has iron bars. I quote the [www.aja.pt,AJA] site: This song was dedicated to the comunist Alftedo Matos when we was in prision, arrested by the political police (PIDE). He was tortured with the "statue" method, without sleep several days. Many arrested died in prision or, when they left, never could re-enter in the society. In the song it's stated the arrested isolation, the wall between the outside silence and the inside sceams. José Afonso was also arrested by PIDE and was in Caxias prision, where he wrote the songs that appear in "Venham mais cinco". Because he always contacted with the dictatorship reality (contrarely to the singers that escaped from the country, like Sérgio Godinho and José Mário Branco), José Afonso wrote more lyrics about the (comunist) oposition members luck. Besides, as he was a victim of that persecution, he describes it with more details. It's the case of Por trás daquela janela / Behind that window. His own experiences make so that he can understand Alfredo Matos' situation so well. This way it gets stronger the unstoppable force of the conviction that helped him to resist to persecution and must be part of encouragement to his companions: the suffering ("Tougher is the mill stone / And the faith, your companion"; "And his profile announces / In that cold wall") makes sense, times would come in which one will sing and live freely. (in "Portuguese intervention song - Contribution to a study and lyrical translation" by Oona Soenario, 1994-1995, Antwerp University). Here it is, to conclude this remarkable album. Por trás daquela janela / Behind that window Por trás daquela janela Faz anos o meu amigo / Cellebrates his birth my friend E irmão / And brother Não pôs cravos na lapela / He didn't wear carnations in his suit Por trás daquela janela / Behind that window Nem se ouve nenhuma estrela / Nor he listen no star Por trás daquele portão / Behind that gate Se aquela parede andasse / If that wall walked Se aquela parede andasse / If that wall walked Eu não sei o que faria / I don't know what I'd do Não sei / Don't know Se a minha faca cortasse / If my knife cut Se aquela parede andasse / If that wall walked E grito enorme se ouvisse / (And if we heard a just born baby scream) Duma criança ao nascer / Talvez o tempo corresse / Maybe time would run Talvez o tempo corresse / Maybe time would run E a tua voz me ajudasse / And your voice helped me A cantar / To sing Mais dura a pedra moleira / Tougher is the mill stone E a fé, tua companheira / And the faith, your companion Mais pode a flecha certeira / It can best the straight arrow E os rios que vão prò mar / And the rivers that go to sea Por trás daquela janela Por trás daquela janela Faz anos o meu amigo E irmão Na noite que segue o dia / On the night that follows the day Na noite que segue o dia O meu amigo lá dorme / There, my friend sleeps De pé / On his foot E o seu perfil anuncia / And his profile announces Naquela parede fria / In that cold wall Uma canção de alegria / A song of joy No vai e vem da maré / In the coming-going tide Por trás daquela janela Por trás daquela janela Faz anos o meu amigo E irmão Não pôs cravos na lapela / He didn't wear carnations in his suit Por trás daquela janela / Behind that window Nem se ouve nenhuma estrela / Nor he listen no star Por trás daquele portão / Behind that gate.