Tiro ao Álvaro
"Tiro ao Álvaro" is a samba song composed in 1960 by Brazilian composer and singer Adoniran Barbosa (real name João Rubinato). In his style of the "paulista" samba, it has humorous lyrics written in a popular Portuguese language. Lyrics by Osvaldo Moles [1]
[2]
Lyrics
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Original
De tanto levar frechada do teu olhar
Meu peito até parece sabe o quê?
Tauba de tiro ao álvaro
Não tem mais onde furar
Tauba de tiro ao álvaro
Não tem mais onde furar
Teu olhar mata mais
Do que bala de carabina
Que veneno estriquinina
que peixera de baiano
Teu olhar mata mais
Do que atropelamento de automove
Mata mais que bala de revorve
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Standard Brazilian Portuguese
De tanto levar flechada do teu olhar
Meu peito até parece sabe o quê?
Tábua de tiro ao alvo
Não tem mais onde furar
Tábua de tiro ao alvo
Não tem mais onde furar
Teu olhar mata mais
Do que bala de carabina
Que veneno estricnina
que peixeira de baiano
Teu olhar mata mais
Do que atropelamento de automóvel
Mata mais que bala de revólver
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Free translation
After receiving so many arrow shots from your gaze
My chest even looks like, you know what?
A target practice board
It has no more space for holes
A target practice board
It has no more space for holes
Your looks kill more
Than a carabine's bullet
Than strychnine poison
Than a fishing Baiano's knife
Your looks kill more
Than an automobile running over
Kills more than the bullet of a gun
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Note: Even though the Portuguese lyrics contain many colloquial features (and at least one hypercorrection, "álvaro" instead of "alvo") that would be considered mistakes according to the standard language norm, they depict the actual language spoken by Paulistanos at the time. Unfortunately these features are lost in the English translation.
See also
References