Graduado Voador - Falou (Capoeira song lyrics, translation, and information)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a sound file and English lyrics of the Brazilian capoeira song "Falou".

Information about capoeira and persons mentioned in this song are also included in this post.

Editor's note: I've not been able to find any biographical information online about Graduado Voador. I'm not sure if he is the composer of "Falou" as well as the vocalist of this recording. I also don't know when this song was composed and first recorded. Any information about this song and about Graduado Voador would be appreciated.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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INFORMATION ABOUT CAPOEIRA (CAPOEIRA NAGO)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira_music
"In capoeira, music sets the rhythm, the style of play, and the energy of a game. In its most traditional setting, there are three main styles of song that weave together the structure of the capoeira roda. The roda represents the most strict and traditional format for capoeira and is ideally suited for an introduction and discussion of the music. Though we may consider the music traditional, because it has been passed orally from one to the next until the early - mid 20th century when songs and rhythms began to be notated and recorded, there is no record of to what extent and exactly how the music has evolved over time. Capoeira's Brazilian heritage plays a heavy role in the way capoeira is perceived by its practitioners and understood at a subconscious level. It is a common feature of many Brazilian ethnic groups, for instance, as well as others throughout the world, that music is not so much a form of personal entertainment as it is a medium to bring about group cohesion and dynamic.

Music in the context of capoeira is used to create a sacred space through both the physical act of forming a circle (the roda) and an aural space that is believed to connect to the spirit world. This deeper religious significance exists more as a social memory to most capoeira groups, but is generally understood as evidenced in the use of ngoma drums (the atabaques of Yoruba candomblé), the berimbau whose earlier forms were used in rituals in Africa and the diaspora in speaking with ancestors, the ever-present term axé which signifies life force, the invocation of both Afro-Brazilian and Catholic spirituality, and certain semi-ritualized movements used in Capoeira Angola that bring "spiritual protection".
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I reformatted this passage to enhance its readability.

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FEATURED SOUND FILE: Graduado Voador - Falou (Capoeira Nago)



verča vítková Uploaded on Sep 7, 2011

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ENGLISH LYRICS: FALOU
(as sung by Graduado Voador)

I spoke, spoke of slavery, I spoke,
I spoke, spoke of oppression, I spoke,
I spoke, there in the times of Bimba, I spoke,
I spoke, was heard today…

I spoke, spoke of slavery, I spoke,
I spoke, spoke of oppression, I spoke,
I spoke, there in the times of Bimba, I spoke,
I spoke, was heard today…

The negro that suffers in the slave quarters,
And one day he heard a lament
It was Zumbi of Palmares
It was he who freed him
Today I spoke…

I spoke, spoke of slavery, I spoke,
I spoke, spoke of oppression, I spoke,
I spoke, there in the times of Bimba, I spoke,
I spoke, was heard today…

Berimbau helped the capoeiristas
There in the time, there in the time of oppression
If you heard the rhythm of Cavalaria
When the police followed, berimbau already warned me
Today I spoke…

I spoke, spoke of slavery, I spoke,
I spoke, spoke of oppression, I spoke,
I spoke, there in the times of Bimba, I spoke,
I spoke, was heard today…

Manuel was the respected master
Creator of the Regional art,
Today his name will be remembered
Now don’t forget the man that spoke Capoeira…
Today I spoke…

I spoke, spoke of slavery, I spoke,
I spoke, spoke of oppression, I spoke,
I spoke, there in the times of Bimba, I spoke,
I spoke, was heard today…

History that narrates the past
Players who we hear of until today
And the songs that take me to those times
Remembering those moments where the berimbau played
Today I spoke…

I spoke, spoke of slavery, I spoke,
I spoke, spoke of oppression, I spoke,
I spoke, there in the times of Bimba, I spoke,
I spoke, was heard today…

Source: http://capoeiralyrics.info/Songs/Details/2175
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Click that link for the Portuguese lyrics for "Falou".

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INFORMATION ABOUT ZUMBI
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zumbi
"Zumbi (1655 – November 20, 1695), also known as Zumbi dos Palmares...was the last of the leaders of the Quilombo dos Palmares, a fugitive settlement in the present-day state of Alagoas, Brazil...

Quilombo dos Palmares was a self-sustaining republic of Maroons escaped from the Portuguese settlements in Brazil, "a region perhaps the size of Portugal in the hinterland of Bahia".[1] At its height, Palmares had a population of over 30,000. Forced to defend against repeated attacks by Portuguese colonists, many warriors of Palmares were expert in capoeira, a martial arts form that was brought to and enhanced in Brazil by African slaves at about the 16th century on."

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INFORMATION ABOUT BIMBA
http://capoeira.union.rpi.edu/history.php?chapter=Bimba
"Mestre Bimba is the father of the style of Capoeira known as Regional. He was born Manuel dos Reis Machado in 1900; he was also born with the nickname "Bimba" as a result of a bet between his mother and the midwife about the sex of the baby. When he was born, the midwife cried "He is a boy! Look at his bimba [Penis]!". Bimba was taught Capoeira from the age of twelve by a ship's captain, an African named Bentinho.

Despite the intense pressure of Capoeira still being illegal, Bimba practiced and even demonstrated Capoeira, keeping the art alive. After performances for the governor of Bahí¬a and even the president of Brazil, rather than being arrested, Bimba was given permission to open a recognized, legal school of Capoeira.

In the old days, there was just one style of Capoeira... it could equally be said that there was a style of Capoeira for every Capoeirista. Mestre Bimba codified what he called the "regional fight from Bahía, with the goals of bringing Capoeira to the middle and upper classes and gaining respect for the art from the people of Brazil. He ensured his students wore clean, white uniforms and performed well in school, and gave them coloured scarves to show rank, a system adopted after the Eastern martial arts' coloured belts. Bimba made all of his students observe his academy's rules”

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INFORMATION ABOUT CAPOEIRA CALVARIA
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira_toques
"In the game of capoeira, toques are the rhythms played on the berimbau. Many toques are associated with a specific game (i.e. style and speed of play), although organizations differ on how to play each toque. Capoeira toques have their roots in African rhythmic music, which was modified and further developed among the slaves of Brazil.

Some of the more important toques are described below, including; traditional toques, and those created or popularised by Mestre Bimba who was responsible for significant developments to modern capoeira...

Cavalaria

Originally used to alert players that the police were coming, the toque imitates the galloping of horses (and some say it sounds like a police siren)."
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Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berimbau for information about the berimbau musical instrument.

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Thanks to Graduado Voador for his recording of this song. Thanks also to the historical figures who are mentioned in this song. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.

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