Mestre Candeia... Axé!

I was just listening to some old recordings by Candeia, the legendary guerreiro (warrior) and tireless defender of traditional samba. I thought I should post more about this mythical figure. I have already posted several entries relating to Candeia. He was one of the original members of the Mensageiros do Samba along with Mestre Casquinha and you can catch up on that post here. I also posted something from Partido em 5 here which featured Candeia with the percussionist Doutor.

Candeia (Antônio Candeia Filho 1935-1978) was born into a family of sambistas. He was one of those cats that had a big voice, but sang in a way that was almost slightly out of tune, yet his compositions and melodies were amazing and his lyrics often heartbreakingly beautiful. The lyrics he wrote later in life (in the 1970s) reflected the painful reality of his paralysis and seemed to predict his impending death. In the 1960s, with the Mensageiros do Samba, mentioned above, he was still walking.

Candeia was a big man. He was a police officer, and a notoriously mean one at that. Something that caused some of his friends to distance themselves from him. He got caught in a shootout which severed his spinal cord, putting him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Legend has it that the shooting happened because of a curse put on him by a prostitute that he had slapped around. The very next day he was shot.



The album Axé! (1975) is considered by samba aficionados to be mandatory listening. Therefore if you want to go any further in this blog, you must listen!


"Dia de Graça" from the album Axé! (1975)

Hoje é manhã de carnaval (ao esplendor)
As escolas vão desfilar (garbosamente)
Aquela gente de cor com a imponência de um rei,
vai pisar na passarela (salve a Portela)
Vamos esquecer os desenganos (que passamos)
Viver alegria que sonhamos (durante o ano)
Damos o nosso coração, alegria e amor a todos sem distinção de cor
Mas depois da ilusão, coitado
Negro volta ao humilde barracão
Negro acorda é hora de acordar
Não negue a raça
Torne toda manhã dia de graça
Negro não humilhe nem se humilhe a ninguém
Todas as raças já foram escravas também
E deixa de ser rei só na folia e faça da sua Maria
uma rainha todos os dias
E cante o samba na universidade
E verás que seu filho será príncipe de verdade
Aí então jamais tu voltarás ao barracão

Axé!!!