É véspera de Natal! (It’s Christmas Eve!) Since last post was about some Christmas traditions in Brazil, I thought I’d get you in a festive mood by showing you some Christmas songs that typically invade Brazilian homes, shops, restaurants and cafés during the Holidays.

As mentioned previously, many Brazilian Christmas customs were largely influenced by European traditions, so our Christmas music mostly consists of foreign songs that were adapted into our language. Find below my selection of the three most popular, along with their lyrics in Portuguese.

Divirtam-se (Have fun) and Feliz Natal (Merry Christmas)!

Bate o Sino (Jingle Bells)

Bate o Sino (Jingle Bells) is one of the most common Christmas songs de todos os tempos (of all time), popular in several countries. It was composed in 1857 and translated into Portuguese nearly cem anos depois (a hundred years later). You will notice that the translation in Portuguese differs greatly in content from its original:

Bate o sino pequenino, sino de Belém

Jingle bells, tiny bells, bells of Bethlehem

Já nasceu Deus Menino para o nosso bem

Baby Jesus was born for our good

Paz na Terra pede o sino alegre a cantar

Peace on Earth, claims the bell, joyfully singing

Abençoe Deus Menino este nosso lar

Baby Jesus bless our home

 

Hoje a noite é bela, juntos eu e ela

Today is a lovely night, together her and I

Vamos à capela, felizes a rezar

Are going to the chappel, praying hapilly

Ao soar o sino, sino pequenino

When the bells jingle, tiny little bells

Vai o Deus menino, nos abençoar.

Little baby Jesus will bless us all

 

Paz na Terra, pede o sino, alegre a cantar

Peace on Earth, claims the bell, joyfully singing

Abençoe Deus Menino este nosso lar

Baby Jesus bless our home

 

Vamos minha gente, vamos à Belém

Come on, everybody, let’s go to Bethlehem

Vamos ver Maria e Jesus também

Let’s see Jesus and Mary too

Já deu meia noite,já chegou Natal

The clock struck midnight, it’s Chistmas already

Já tocou o sino lá na catedral

The bells have rung in the Cathedral

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfbuWPNdOGA
Noite Feliz (Holy Night)

Originally in German and first performed in 1818 in Austria, Noite Feliz has been widely recorded throughout the world. Its title in English is Silent Night, more closely associated to the original meaning in German, but in Portuguese it can be translated as “Happy Night”:

Noite feliz! Noite feliz!

Happy night! Hapy Night!

o Senhor, Deus de amor,

O Lord, God of love

pobrezinho nasceu em Belém.

The poor thing was born in Bethlehem

Eis, na lapa, Jesus, nosso bem!

Lies in the shelter, Jesus our blessing

Dorme em paz, ó Jesus!

Sleep in peace, o Jesus!

Dorme em paz, ó Jesus!

Sleep in peace, o Jesus!

 

Noite feliz! Noite feliz!

Happy night! Hapy Night!

Oh! Jesus, Deus da luz,

O Jesus, God of Light

quão afável é teu coração

How kind your heart is

que quiseste nascer nosso irmão

That wished for our brother to be born

e a nós todos salvar!

And save us all!

e a nós todos salvar!

And save us all!

 

Noite feliz! Noite feliz!

Happy night! Hapy Night!

Eis que, no ar, vêm cantar

Behold, in the air, singing

aos pastores os anjos dos céus,

to the pastors, the angels of heaven

anunciando a chegada de Deus,

announcing God’s arrival

de Jesus Salvador!

of Jesus our savior!

de Jesus Salvador!

of Jesus our savior!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkeuDRS4RAg

 

Então é Natal (Happy Christmas)

This 1971 John Lennon song was initially a protest song against the Vietnam War, as a means to promote peace activism through the appeal of Christmas. Its most well-known version here is by Brazilian singer Simone, the first musician to ever record an album exclusively dedicated to Christmas songs in the country. You may identify some great similarities between the two, but some slight alterations have been made:

Então é natal, e o que você fez?

So this is Christmas, And what have you done?

O ano termina, e nasce outra vez.

The year is over, and then born again

Então é natal, a festa Cristã.

And so this is Christmas, the Christan party

Do velho e do novo, do amor como um todo.

Of the old and the new, of love as one

Então bom natal, e um ano novo também.

So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Que seja feliz quem, souber o que é o bem.

Let those who know good be happy

 

Então é natal, pro enfermo e pro são.

So this is Christmas, for the sick and the sane

Pro rico e pro pobre, num só coração.

For the rich and the poor, in a single heart

Então bom natal, pro branco e pro negro.

And so Happy Christmas for black and for white

Amarelo e vermelho, pra paz afinal.

Yellow and red, peace at last

Então bom natal, e um ano novo também.

So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Que seja feliz quem, souber o que é o bem.

Let those who know good be happy

 

Então é natal, e o que a gente fez?

So this is Christmas, And what have we done?

O ano termina, e começa outra vez.

The year is over, and the born again

E entao é natal, a festa Cristã.

And so this is Christmas, the Christan party

Do velho e do novo, do amor como um todo.

Of the old and the new, of love as one

 

Harehama, Há quem ama.

Harehama, Those who love

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Mururoa …

Então é natal, e o que você fez?

So this is Christmas, And what have you done?

O ano termina, e nasce outra vez.

The year is over, and then born again

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Mururoa …

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7JMVEAjyfY