Brazilian Northeastern popular music derives from very simple technical processes and, in general, is not linked to any kind of theorization. Its birth, diffusion, and duration are intrinsically linked to the activities and interests of the population and, if socially accepted, will propagate over time. It truly represents people’s feelings, desires, fears, prejudices, and cultural baggage.
According to scholars on the subject, popular music comes from anonymous creation and is used collectively. In other words, authors are unknown and, therefore, no one can claim copyright rights against those who sing and/or spread them. It is transmitted from generation to generation by practical means - usually orally - and memory is its main diffusion and conservation channel
The siriri - a lively song of unknown authorship - is also a children’s dança de roda (a form of nursery rhyme) in the Brazilian Northeast. The term derives from the word Osiriri, which belongs to the Tupi dialect and means “to flee, to run.” The song is composed of the chorus below:
Ô siriri, ô meu bem, ô cirirá,
roubaro (roubaram) o meu amor
e me deixaro (deixaram) sem amar,
eu agora arranjei outro
e quero vê (ver) você tomar
[Oh siriri, my dear, oh cirirá,
They stole my love
And left me without loving,
I now have got another,
And I’d like to see you take it from me]
After singing the chorus, a trova is sung with the same melody as the chorus. A chorus follows, then a different trova, then a chorus until all are tired of the joke.
We should explain that the trova - a lyrical composition - originates from the popular quatrain of the Portuguese settlers, and represents a literary genre that is exclusive to the Portuguese language. It can be defined as a small four-verse poem, with rhyme and complete meaning.
The most popular siriri trovas are:
Minha mãe chama-se Caca, Da tua casa pra minha
Minha avó Caca Maria, corre um riacho no meio,
Em casa, tudo era caco, tu de lá dá um suspiro,
sou filho da cacaria. e eu de cá suspiro e meio.
[My mother’s name is Caca ---- From your house to mine
My grandma’s, Caca Maria, ---- runs a stream in between,
At home, all was shard, ---- From there, you give a sigh
I’m the son of cacaria ---- from here, I, a sigh and a half.]
A folha da bananeira As estrelas no céu correm
de tão verde amarelou, correm tudo em carreirinha,
a boquinha de meu bem mesmo assim corre um beijinho
de tão doce açucarou. da tua boca pra minha.
[The banana tree leaf, ---- The stars in the sky run
So green, it turned yellow ---- They all run in a little straight line,
My dear’s little mouth, ---- Still, it runs a little kiss
So sweet, it cristallized. ---- From your mouth to mine.]
Minha mãe me chamou feia Açucena dentro d’água
me chamou mal-amanhada, a durar quarenta dias,
eu então chamei a ela um amor longe do outro
velha da cara engelhada. chora de noite e de dia.
[My mother called me ugly, ---- The lily inside the water
Said I was clumsy ---- lasts for forty days,
So I fired back at her ---- a love far from another
You drab old hag ---- cries night and day.]
Cajueiro pequenino Lá detrás da minha casa
carregado de fulô (flor) tem um pé de papaconha,
eu também sou pequenina quem quiser tirar um galho,
carregadinha de amor. é descarado e sem-vergonha
[Little cashew tree ---- Behind my house,
Filled with Flowers ---- there’s a ipecacuanha tree
I’m also tiny ---- whoever wants to take a branch,
Filled with love. ---- Is shameless and brazen.]
Sete e sete são catorze As flores também se mudam
com mais sete, vinte e um, do jardim para o deserto,
tenho sete namorados de longe também se ama
e não me caso com nenhum. quem não pode amar de perto.
[Seven plus seven makes fourteen ---- Flower also move
plus seven, twenty-one ---- from the garden to the desert,
I’ve seven boyfriend ---- from afar, we also love
But I won’t marry none. ---- Those we can’t love from near]
Quem me dera dera dera, Menina dos olhos verdes,
Quem me dera dera só, sobrancelhas de veludo,
me deitar em tua cama, o teu pai não tem dinheiro,
me cobrir com teu lençó (lençol). mas teus olhos valem tudo.
[Oh, how I wish ---- Green-eyed girl,
Oh, how I really wish ---- with velvety eyebrows,
To lay in your bed, ---- Your father has no money,
And cover me with your bedsheets. ---- But your eyes are worth everything.]
Menina se quer ir vamos, Por debaixo d’água passa,
não te ponhas a maginar (imaginar), duas tesouras de ouro,
quem magina (imagina) cria medo uma pra cortar ciúme
quem tem medo não vai lá. e outra pra cortar namoro.
[Girl, if you want to go, let’s go ---- Under the water pass,
don’t start wondering ---- two golden scissors,
who wonders gets afraid ---- one to sever jealousy
who’s afraid, won’t go. ---- and another, relationships]
Caco caco caco, Sete e sete são catorze,
caco de torrar café, com mais sete, vinte e um,
tu inda (ainda) fala comigo, teu pai é ladrão de bode
cara de porco baé. tua mãe de jerimum.
[Pan pan pan pan, ---- Seven plus seven makes fourteen
Coffee-roasting pan, ---- plus seven, twenty-one ,
You still take to me, ---- Your father steals goats
You swine-faced man. ---- Your mother, pumpkins.]
Lá detrás da minha casa, Um sabonete cruzado,
tem um pé de mororó, na mala quem tem sou eu,
quem quiser “mangar” de mim, aproveite, desgraçado,
vá “mangar” de sua avó. um amor que já foi teu.
[Behind my house, ---- An accursed bar of soap,
there’s an orchid plant, ---- I have in my suitcase,
if you wanna mock me, ---- enjoy it, you bastard,
mock your grandma. ---- a love that once was yours]
Se tiver raiva de mim, Bananeira bota cacho,
E não puder se vingar, e também bota um galhinho,
meta o dente na parede um rapaz pra ser bonito
coma terra até inchar. tem que usar um bigodinho.
[If you’re angry at me, ---- Banana trees give bunches,
and can’t get revenge, ---- and also a little branch,
stick your teeth to the wall ---- for a boy to be handsome
and eat dirt until you swell. ---- he needs a little mustache.]
Nunca vi carrapateira, A laranja de madura,
botar cacho atravessado, caiu n’água e foi ao fundo,
nunca vi quem é solteiro triste de quem é solteiro
namorar quem é casado. e casa c’um (com um) vagabundo.
[I’ve never seen a castor oil plant ---- The orange, so ripe
have a intertwined branches, ---- fell deep into the water
I’ve never seen single ---- sad is anyone
Date married people. ---- who marries a bum.]
Lá vem a lua saindo, Lá detrás da minha casa,
por detrás do leque-leque, passa boi passa boiada,
filho de branco é menino, e também passa amarelo,
filho de preto é moleque. Do bucho de panelada.
[There’s the moon coming out, ---- Behind my house,
Behind the leque-leque ---- passes a bull, passes a herd,
A white man’s son is a dear, ---- and also passes he who’s afraid
A black man’s, a boy. ---- From stripe stew.]
Cajueiro abaixa o galho, Tô (estou) chorando, tô chorando,
deixa o meu gado passar, tô chorando por você,
ele vem de lá de longe, se você não acredita,
do sertão do Ceará. vou chorar pra você ver.
[Cashew tree, lower your branch ---- I’m crying, crying
let my cattle pass through, ---- I’m crying for you,
he comes from far away, ---- If you don’t believe me,
from the hinterland in Ceará. ---- I’ll cry until you do]
Minha mãe me chamou feia, Lá vem o carro apitando,
de bonita que ela é, cheio de cana crioula,
ela é o pé da rosa esses rapazim (rapazinhos) de hoje,
e eu sou a rosa do pé. vestem calça sem ceroula.
[My mother called me ugly, ---- The car comes honking,
So beautiful she is, ---- filled with sugarcane,
She is a rose bud ---- these young boys of today,
I’m the dirt on which it stands --- wear trousers without underwear.]
Siriri requires the production of trovas, the most popular of poetic forms, to exist. And, even unintentionally, the troubadours, by laughing at these poetic forms, express their philosophies of life, prejudices, doubts, certainties, joy, and good humor, highlighting the values that are embedded in the Brazilian Northeastern popular culture.
Recife, January 3 2007.
sources consulted
ALVARENGA, Oneyda. Danças, recreação, música. In: MAYNARD, Alceu Araújo. Folclore Nacional. São Paulo: Melhoramentos, 1967. v. 2.
CASCUDO, Luís da Câmara. Dicionário do folclore brasileiro. 9. ed. Rio de Janeiro: Edições de Ouro, 1954.
how to quote this text
VAINSENCHER, Semira Adler. Siriri. In: PESQUISA Escolar. Recife: Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, 2007. Available at:https://pesquisaescolar.fundaj.gov.br/en/artigo/siriri/. Accessed on: month day year. (Ex: Aug. 6 2009.)