I’ve already done a translation of an Antonio Zambujo song – Flagrante – but it was in the context of a grammar lesson so I thought I’d come back and have a go at one of his others – Pica do Sete. I mainly chose it because it always bothers me. I think he’s singing about a woman who’s punching his ticket but in the video the woman is a passenger and he’s… well, stalking her, really. And at the end there’s a male conductor, so maybe she’s supposed to be narrating? I dunno, maybe spending some time really getting into the lyrics will straighten it out in my mind.
First of all, the title. As far as I understand it, “o Sete” is the number 7 tram. Pica is a bit trickier and I suggest being careful how you use it because it can mean lots of different things including a spliff (in portugal) or a penis (in brazil) so you know… handle the word with care! Anyway, in this context, it’s the ticket inspector. I think it comes from the verb picar which means to puncture something. You can read more about the life of a “pica” on Lisbon trams in this really good blog post written at around the time the song was released.
| Portuguese | English |
| De manhã cedinho Eu salto do ninho e vou pra paragem De bandolete à espera do sete Mas não pela viagem Eu bem que não queria Mas um certo dia vi-o passar E o meu peito cético Por um pica de elétrico voltou a sonhar | Early in the morning I jump out of my nest and go to the tram stop Wearing an Alice band, waiting for the number 7 But not for the journey I didn’t really want it But one day I saw him pass by And my skeptical heart* Went back to dreaming about a tram conductor |
| A cada repique Que soa do clique daquele alicate Num modo frenético O peito cético toca a rebate Se o trem descarrila o povo refila e eu fico num sino Pois um mero trajeto no meu caso concreto é já o destino | Every time the bell rings When that clipper makes its clicking sound In a frenetic way The skeptic heart sounds the alarm If the tram derails, the people complain and I’m quite happy** Because, in my case, the route is the destination. |
| Ninguém acredita no estado em que fica o meu coração Quando o sete me apanha Até acho que a senha me salta da mão Pois na carreira Desta vida vão Mais nada me dá a pica que o pica do sete me dá Que triste fadário e que itinerário tão infeliz Cruzar meu horário com o de um funcionário de um trem da carris | Nobody believes the state my heart gets into When the number seven picks me up Until I think the ticket will jump out of my hand Because in the path That this life takes Nothing pierces me like the conductor on the number 7 What a sad fate, what an unfortunate timetable To cross my schedule with that of a tram employee |
| Se eu lhe perguntasse Se tem livre passe pró peito de alguém Vá-se lá saber talvez eu lhe oblitere o peito também Ninguém acredita no estado em que fica o meu coração Quando o sete me apanha Até acho que a senha me salta da mão Pois na carreira desta vida vão Mais nada me dá a pica que o pica do sete me dá | If I asked him If he had a free pass for someone’s heart Who knows, maybe I’ll invalidate*** his heart too Nobody believes the state my heart gets into When the number seven picks me up Until I think the ticket will jump out of my hand Because in the path That this life takes Nothing pierces me like the conductor on the number 7 |
| Ninguém acredita no estado em que fica o meu coração Quando o sete me apanha Até acho que a senha me salta da mão Pois na carreira desta vida vão Mas nada me dá a pica que o pica do sete me dá Mas nada me dá a pica que o pica do sete me dá | Nobody believes the state my heart gets into When the number seven picks me up Until I think the ticket will jump out of my hand Because in the path That this life takes Nothing pierces me like the conductor on the number 7 Nothing pierces me like the conductor on the number 7 |
* The actual word is “chest” (peito) but “skeptic btreast” sounds weird
** Refilar and Sino both have multiple meanings. I originally thought the passengers are leaving the tram and queuing for the next one, but she is staying in, ignoring everything (metaphorically under a glass bell jar) because she wants to stay where she is. That doesn’t seem to case. Refilar usually means to grumble and complain and that’s what it means here. “Estar num sino” just means to be well-disposed and calm, according to this page. It doesn’t seem to be a very well-known expression though, judging by people’s reactions when I asked.
***Obliterar obviously sounds like obliterate and usually means the same but one of the meanings Priberam gives is to invalidate something by means of a stamp or a mark or by piercing it – so basically what a tram conductor does to a ticket then!
OK, well I think we can be pretty sure that the narrator of the song is the female passenger and she’s got the hots for the male conductor. The singer is just voicing her interior monologue, not stalking her. I’ve highlighted the two words that give the clue: she says she’s wearing a bandolete – an alice band or hairband. Well, men can wear those but it’s unusual, and the woman in the video has one but Zambujo doesn’t. Then fuurther down he says “um pica” not uma pica, so it’s a male conductor.
If I were portuguese and wanted to study the equivalent male phenomenon, I guess I’d have to analyse the old sitcome “On the Buses”. Coincidentally, I’ve recently watched my first episode of that. My daughter is obsessed with Reece Shearsmith at the moment and apparently they are planning to do an On the Buses parody in the current series of Inside Number 9. I’m old but even I’m not old enough to remember it when it was first broadcast.
Further musings about the expression “estar num sino”
I gently pointed out in reddit that it was surprising that quite a well-known song had an expression in it that hardly anyone understood and people seemed to be fine with not knowing what he was in about. Obviously there are plenty of songs in English that are the same (try listening to the lyrics of “Whiter Shade of Pale” sometime for example) so it’s not really surprising, but I thought it was fun to ask if people were actually listening to the lyrics.
Fiz uma pergunta ontem sobre a letra de uma música do António Zambujo. Há uma expressão na canção que diz “Fico num sino” que mal entendi*. O que mais me marcou foi o facto de os** respondentes também não saberem o significado da frase. Mas… É uma canção bem conhecida não é? Será que grande parte das pessoas ouviram a música e pensaram “Pois é, está presa*** numa campainha. Faz todo o sentido”
* mal entendi meaning I barely understood it. Maybe should have written “entendi mal” (i misunderstood it) or não entendi (i didn’t understand it) to be more accurate.
**de and os are separate here because “o facto de” is a sort of standalone expression.
*** apesar do cantor ser masculino a narradora da canção não é.
Luso 