No jardim das rosas
De sonho e medo
Pelos canteiros de espinhos e flores
Lá, quero ver você
Olerê, Olará, você me pegar
Madrugada fria de estranho sonho
Acordou João, cachorro latia
João abriu a porta
O sonho existia
Que João fugisse
Que João partisse
Que João sumisse do mundo
De nem Deus achar, Ierê
Manhã noiteira de força viagem
Leva em dianteira um dia de vantagem
Folha de palmeira apaga a passagem
O chão, na palma da mão, o chão, o chão
E manhã redonda de pedras altas
Cruzou fronteira de servidão
Olerê, quero ver
Olerê
E por maus caminhos de toda sorte
Buscando a vida, encontrando a morte
Pela meia rosa do quadrante Norte
João, João
Um tal de Chico chamado Antônio
Num cavalo baio que era um burro velho
Que na barra fria já cruzado o rio
Lá vinha Matias cujo o nome é Pedro
Aliás Horácio, vulgo Simão
Lá um chamado Tião
Chamado João
Recebendo aviso entortou caminho
De Nor-Nordeste pra Norte-Norte
Na meia vida de adiadas mortes
Um estranho chamado João
No clarão das águas
No deserto negro
A perder mais nada
Corajoso medo
Lá quero ver você
Por sete caminhos de setenta sortes
Setecentas vidas e sete mil mortes
Esse um, João, João
E deu dia claro
E deu noite escura
E deu meia-noite no coração
Olerê, quero ver
Olerê
Passa sete serras
Passa cana brava
No brejo das almas
Tudo terminava
No caminho velho onde a lama trava
Lá no todo-fim-é-bom
Se acabou João
No jardim das rosas
De sonho e medo
No clarão das águas
No deserto negro
Lá, quero ver você
Lerê, lará
Você me pegar
--Antonio Carlos Jobim
Above are the Portuguese lyrics of the haunting Brazilian song "Matita Perê" by Tom Jobim. These have served as a recurring dream and a backdrop for exploration in recent days. It's hard to find an English translation for Jobim's "Matita Perê" online, so I have provided one below for anyone who might come searching. It's mostly literal, but some liberties have been taken to keep the flow in English. This translation is a crossover combination of the one found in the album notes of the original American release of the song in 1973, the transcription written by Dário Borim in the Jobim biography An Illuminated Man, and some assistance gleaned from a Portuguese-English dictionary.
The English translation of the Portuguese lyrics of "Matita Perê" by Antônio Carlos Jobim:
The English translation of the Portuguese lyrics of "Matita Perê" by Antônio Carlos Jobim:
In the garden of roses
Of dreams and fear
By beds of thorns and flowers
There, I want to see
Olerê, olará - if you can catch me
A cold dawn, a strange dream
João awoke, the dog was barking
João opened the door
The dream was there
And should João flee?
And should João leave?
And should João vanish?
(To where even God may not find him) - ierê
In the night's-morning, a forced journey
He starts with the advantage of a day's lead
Palm leaves clear the path
The ground, the palm of the hand, the ground, the ground
It was morning on the high rocks
He crossed the border of servitude
Olerê - I want to see
Olerê
And for all sorts of wicked ways
Seeking life, finding death
By the sun's compass to the northern quadrant
João, João
Some guy named Chico, called Antonio
A bay horse that was an old burro
On the cold sand bar, already across the river
Here came Matias, whose name is Pedro
Alias Horácio, aka Simão
Also called Tião
Known as João
Receiving warning, he altered his path
North-northeast to north-north
In the half-life of delayed deaths
A stranger named João
In the glare of the waters
In the black wilderness
There was nothing more to lose
Courageous fear
I want to see you there
For seven roads of seventy fortunes
Seven hundred lives and seven thousand deaths
This one, João, João
It was a clear day
It was a dark night
And it was midnight in the heart
Olerê, I want to see
Olerê
Past seven mountains
Past wild cane
In the swamp of souls
It all ended
On the old road where mud latches on
There at the all's-well-that-ends-well
It finished João
In the garden of roses
Of dreams and fear
In the glare of the waters
In the black wilderness
There, I want to see you
Lerê, lará
You caught me
