Country: Brazil
Original language: Portuguese
A samba song from Brazil, initially recorded in 1939 by Carmen Miranda, then again in 1940 as part of
a legendary yet, for decades, unreleased recording Native Brazilian Music, a joint U.S./Brazilian
goodwill endeavor coordinated on the Brazilian end by iconic composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. The
original is an embolada, a fast-paced, often-improvised song style popular in northeastern Brazil in
which vocalists challenge each other, competing lightly based on verbal and vocal ability.
We dance bambo du *bambulelê,
we dance bambo de bambulalá
We dance bambo du bambu we’re dancing the samba
with our mother, brother, sister and papa, oh!
We dance samba samba samba samba samba samba
samba samba samba samba samba with mama
We dance samba samba samba samba samba samba
samba samba samba samba with papa
*"Bambo de bambulelê" is nonsensical.
Book suggestions for this song:
Many thanks to Jay Sand for permission to display these lyrics.
©All Around This World. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
