AIDE
aide e uma negra africana que tinha magia no seu cantar
tinha os olhos esverdeados
e sabia como cozhinar
Sinhozinho ficou encantado e com aide ele quiz se casar
eu dice a aide nao se case
vai pro quilombo vai se libertar – aide
VOLTA PRA CAMUJERE, aide
VOLTA PRA CAMUJERE, aide
VOLTA PRA CAMUJERE, aide
VOLTA PRA CAMUJERE
chegando no camujere a liberdade aide encontrou
juntou-se a os negros irmaos
encontrou um grande amor
hoje aide canta sorrido
ela fala com muito lovou
a liberdade nao tem precio
o negro sabe quem nos libertou – aide
CORO
sinhozinho que disse entao
o quilombo eu vou a acabar
se aide nao se casa comigo
com ninguem ela vai se casar -aide
CORO
chegando no camujere
sinhozinho se soprendeu
o negro tinha uma arma
que na senzala se desenvolveu
o negro venceu a batalha
no quilombo sinhozinho morreu – aide
CORO

and translation:
aide is a black african woman
who had magic in her singing
she had green eyes [often a black woman with green eyes is thought to have magical powers]
and she knew how to cook [i change this line to "e sabia como vadiar" ie. she knew how to play, for obvious reasons]
sinhozinho became enchanted with her [sinhozinho means literally "little master, so probably the master's son]
and he wanted to marry aide
i said to aide, don’t marry him ["i" is presumably another slave, a friend]
go to the quilombo, go to be free – aide
RETURN TO CAMUJERE, aide (four times) [camujere is the name of a quilombo, which it is very unlikely that aide has ever been to before, thus 'return' i guess refers to an idea that it is her rightful home as an african woman, an idea i find beautiful. kind of reminiscent of the rastafairan idea of 'return' to africa]
arriving in camujere, aide found freedom
she united herself with her black brothers and sisters
and found great love [i can't tell if this refers to a specific relationship or just love between the people there]
today aide sings smiling
and she says with much reverence
liberty has no price
the black people know who freed us [ie. god], aide
CHORUS
then sinhozinho said
i’m going to finish that quilombo
if aide won’t marry me
she’s never going to marry anyone – aide
CHORUS
arriving in camujere
sinhozinho was surprised
the black people had a weapon
which in the senzala [slave-yard] was developed
the black people won the battle
and in the quilombo sinhozinho died – aide
CHORUS

hope you guys like it. my portuguese ain’t topnotch so please feel free to help me out with spelling grammar translation

But, for ex., Dona Alice; what’s even anti-feminist about that ?!
He’s telling a woman not to grab his hand…did i miss something ?

Being a newbie in capoeira, i’ll mind my words writing this in attempt to avoid a strong bencao in my nads LOL\
I support feminism in terms of its goals; things like inspiring women to work, to have their own life, to be respected as individuals and to respect themselves, first of all…
But you can’t change people; you can inspire them to change and it’s up to them what to do and how to respond or use that inspiration

It’s really irritating for me (a neutral guy) when i see so-called feminists dissatisfied with the milestones feminism achieved in actually having women’s rights recognized in terms of laws and regulations…and instead want other people to THINK differently and must absolutely argue everyone who disagrees with them into submission

That, and the fact that connotations are VERY, if not totally, discarded through translation due to cultural differences and there’s also intention involved; i mean seriously…someone playing capoeira has the capacity to criticize women ?.
Also, i can guess that, minimum, 70% of those who play capoeira don’t understand protuguese lol

Axe

The problem i have with labeling songs as misogynistic is that often they *are* poetry, and thus open to interpretation. They may have historic significance lost to time–significance that is different than what is read into them by (may i say) the more sensitive people of today?

I don’t even get what’s wrong with the one about the ugly woman. i mean, if she’s a bitch (ugly) at home (where she dominates), he wants to reclaim his own space and head out to the roda. If it was the other way around (an ugly, dominating man) and the woman wanted to get out and do her thing would there be any complaints?

I’ve never had a problem being a woman in capoeira. Yes, i have noticed a difference, i have been treated differently and i have been intimidated. So what?

Sou mulher, nao sou homem. Eu nao tenho problem com isso, e se alguem tem, e problema dele.

I just read through the song lyrics, and have a quick comment to make. Admittedly I didn’t have enough time to read through all the responses, so I apologise if someone’s already made this comment. It about the song “O dende o dende… sou homem nao sou mulher”.

Last Easter (2008) we were lucky enough to have Contra-Mestra Daisy and Mestre Jogo de Dentro at our International Encounter here in NZ. We have a post encounter for our senior students and during this we had some amazing discussions with them about music and history and all sorts. One of the major things I took away from the discussion was what Mestre Jogo said about the song above. He said that originally it was not meant in the way it’s sung today. The lyrics were originally “Sou homem nao sou moleque”, illustrating that the narrator was not some little street rat, but now a man. This was misinterpreted at some point to become the more widely sung “sou homem nao sou mulher”. Our group really appreciated hearing this and we’ve changed the way we sing it for the most part. I personally sing moleque regardless of where I am, and it gives me a certain sense of satisfaction knowing I’m singing it in both a non-discriminatory AND more traditional way

He also told us that the correct lyrics are “Doralice nao me pegue nao” rather than Dona alice… Unfortunately I can’t quite remember what he described as being the difference in the significance right now, but I’d imagine that possibly it’s a bit better that he’s not calling her Ms. Alice or something.

Again, sorry if someone’s posted this already I enjoy reading your blog. There will be an event in sydney, australia in november this year at Mestre Roxinho’s ECAMAR academy that will consist of a bunch of Mestras as guests, you should keep an eye on ECAMAR’s Website.

Also, if you really want to know what goes on in the mind of a New Zealand capoeirista when they think of capoeira, we have a cool event with Mestre Jogo and Mestre Marcelo (and our own Mestre Brabo) at Easter (april 10-13) this year. You can have a look at our groups website for more info on that: Capoeira Mandinga Aotearoa

Thanks for the useful insights your blog provides

~Rastinha~

I’m so glad you guys liked this post/the lyrics, and find it/them useful!!

Jasmim, even if no one else replied to this post except for you, what you said alone would have made it worth it. =)

Mree, on one of the capoeira.com forum threads someone says that Deixa Menina Jogar can be found on one of Grupo Muzenza’s albums:

“Best of Muzenza Vol II – 25 Anos de Sucesso no sul: O sonho nao acabou”

Track 19 ( Capoeira e Bahia ) – It’s the third song on this track.”

Thanks for listening/understanding, and I think we’ve basically ended up on the same page! I do get what you mean about having to face reality even if we don’t like it, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do what’s possible to change it. And yes, I agree about creating capoeira songs to empower women…in fact, the recent women’s conference by Mandingueiros dos Palmeres in Rhode Island did exactly that!

Oh, p.s., I’m not moving YET…it’s just inevitably in the future, because my husband is Navy. I think we have another few years in San Diego…but we’ll see. =)

You make really powerful points in your response. Looking back at my comment, i realize that it was very general for me to say it is “impossible to say which songs are offensive or not” and i could see how you might see this as dangerous.

I completely understand your efforts of identifying and sharing research regarding the misogynistic lyrics within songs—–and i definitely think that if you are to sing anything in the roda, you should know what you are pouring your energy into singing. And also, it is important to know what is being sung while you are playing.

I absolutely do not support the cultural roots which breed inequalities and inflexible gender roles—-but the reality is that they DO exist–and its important to be able to deal with them. Racism–Sexism–Elitism are wrong, but they are a reality.

Much of the jogo is a mental one. If a horriblyoffensive song like the one Cigana posted above was sung while i played in the roda– pointing me out as the ugly wife who should stay home and wash her husband’s pants— do i freak out, tense up, mentally get knocked off of my flow of calm?? or do i keep smiling and keep my game??

I’m just a beginner in Capoeira, and in reality–in life. But i know that it would be easy if everything in life, or the jogo, were empowering, supporting and fair. But it’s not really about that, is it? It is a journey about discovering what each of us can Create out of what things are.

My comment above was not to blanket everything as OK–or “oh, you know, that is just Brasilian humor.” It was to point out that yes—there are many things that other cultures find appropriate and humorous and that we may not understand WHY. Its just a fact that exists. But it doesn’t mean that i think it is OK or good.

So what do we do about it?? YES—we educate ourselves.
Learn Portuguese—be aware of what you are singing, of the message being said—-but then we should Act.

To balance the misogyny in Capoeira songs, there should be a movement to create empowering songs–specifically for Women. I think there is a great deal of this already going on—the lists provided above by yourself and Shayna.

Also, let us not forget that there is also the improvisation factor of twisting and turning a song that perhaps was misogynistic in the first place and transforming it into a song that empowers.