simple pleasures

Over the past 48 hours, nothing has made me happier than this video here.



It's Chega de Saudade (Enough Longing) by Joao Gilberto, accompanied by his daughter Bebel Gilberto (who is now a popular singer in Brazil), back in 1980. It's really beautiful how two people of different ages interpret saudade. For the young Bebel, it's as if romantic sadness seems to far away, you simply sway along and giggle and beat along. At the same time, her voice quivers, as if expressing her apprehension towards the inevitability of heartbreak somewhere down the road for the young girl. In contrast, Joao's almost whisper-like consistency and cringes makes it feel so heartbreaking. It's kind of like his own song, kind of like "leave me alone as I sing to myself songs of suffering". At the same time, although the voice floats, there is a sternness to it, kind of like an assurance to the child that yes, it's going to be tough, but you just have to enjoy it. At the end of the day, the beauty of life comes in the resolution of its most heart wrenching melodies, just like in this bossa nova classic.

I'm not saying I'm endorsing such emotional outbursts, but listening to this again and again, reading the translation again and again, and following the song repetitively just made me realize how beautiful different languages are, how so much treasure lies in words untainted by "progressive" culture. You know it's bad when the word "partner" has other interpretations than "companion", and when a professor says "carpet" and people laugh (this just happened a couple of hours ago). In the same way, sadness is shallow compared to tristeza or the heart-wrenching saudade. It's more than just being "emo", a depth that has to be interpreted in a different culture to be understood.

For whatever purposes, just enjoy the song. If you can't appreciate it, nobody will judge you. You don't have to judge me either, just click on some other link somewhere and you'll pull yourself out of any misery I might have inadvertently caused.

I really think the 35 bucks I spent on the Gilberto concert will be the best investment I have made this year.

I'M OUT!!!