Comments on: “Mais que nada, sai da minha frente…”

By: Gaura

Gaura — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:31:54 +0000

@arbilab

This is the real translation of Mais Que Nada

Mais que nada
More than anything

Sai da minha frente
Move out of my way

Que eu quero passar
I want to pass

Pois o samba está animado
This samba is really good

E o que eu quero é sambar
What I want is to dance samba

Este samba
This samba [song]

Que é misto de maracatu
Which it’s a mixture of maracatu*

É samba de preto velho
It’s old black’s samba

Samba de preto tu
black’s samba like you

Mais que nada
More than anything

Um samba como este tão legal
Samba like this is really cool

Você não vai querer
You don’t want

Que eu chegue no final
me to get [to the dance floor] at the end [of the song]

*[maracatu is a folk style from pernambuco-brasil]

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:50:28 +0000

Thanks all. Daniel, can you please provide a translation for the second verse as well?

By: Marcos Navaes

Marcos Navaes — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:21:48 +0000

Hey! Daniel’s translation is the best I’ve seen so far. In fact, it’s been over 40 years and I haven’t realized the “in front of a nightclub” thing, which fits the situation just fine.

By: arbilab

arbilab — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:30:52 +0000

I am not fluent in Brazilian Portuguese. But after extensive research, on dozens of translation sites, this is what I have come up with: O aria riao Song that is a ray Oba oba oba Wow, wow, wow. Mas que nada But what nonsense. Sai da minha frente Get out from in front of me. Eu quero passar I want to pass Pois o samba esta animado 'Cause the samba is moving. o que eu quero sambar You that I want, and to samba Este samba que e misto de marakatu This samba and the mixture of maraktu (a folk style) E samba de preto velho And samba of old black(s). Samba de preto tu Samba of your blackness. Mas que nada But what nonsense. Um samba como esse tao legal A samba like this is barely legal. Voce nao vai querer You are not going to like. Que eu chegue no final When I arrive in the end.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 09:34:49 +0000

Here’s a better translation of Mas Que Nada

Oh, it’s that Rai song
yeah, yeah, yeah…

(Raï (Arabic: راي) is a form of folk music, originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s and has been primarily evolved by women in the culture.)

Oh oh oh oh oh, it’s that Rai song
yeah, yeah, yeah

More than anything
I want it to leave me alone and let me pass [for white]
but the samba is alive in me
and I love to do the samba.

It’s the Samba, that mixture of maracatu — the samba of the ancient blacks (Maracatu is is an Afro-Brazilian performance genre )

More than anything,
it’s an honest to goodness samba
You start off doing it, and in the end it winds up in you.

By: Roger

Roger — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:43:07 +0000

I’ve just read this thread – no, it’s “Mas, que nada”, not “Mais que nada”. It’s “but”, not “more”.

It doesn’t mean “more than nothing”; it’s a colloquial Brazilian phrase, literally, word-for-word, “but, what a nothing”, perhaps not perfectly rendered in translation by “but no way!” or “why, no way”, but far closer than “more than nothing”, which is based on a misconception. The title was incorrectly printed on Sergio Mendes’ album.

It was supposedly an expression used all the time by Jorge Benjor’s friend Rosinha, from whom he picked it up and incorporated it into his lyric (Jorge Benjor wrote the song and his is the original recording, of course – still my favourite version of this great number).

(Lynda Phipps said over a year ago – lol, rsrsrs – “Hey. Where are you people reading these lyrics? They are MAIS que nada (more than nothing), not MAS que nada. Mais means more, not BUT (mas).”

Com cubrimentos, Roger

By: roberto

roberto — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:09:00 +0000

There is a nice version on a new CD released April 07 called Birds in Flight with singer Kat Parra and great music.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 05:29:01 +0000

The original mas que nada is great! The new version with BEP is not so great runined the song actually!!!
Some songs should never be blasphemed like this

By: Islandgrrrl

Islandgrrrl — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 00:39:24 +0000

I love this song sooooo much , can you imagine Sergio Mendez and Carlos Santana calabo WOW that would be time less …
any one with the entire english translation Please email it to me .

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 00:17:58 +0000

The Original song was made by Jorge Ben Jor. You can find “Mas que Nada” on SoulSeek, just look for Jorge Ben Jor.

Here is the original Lyric:

Mas Que Nada
Jorge Ben Jor

O ariá raió
Obá obá obá

Mas que nada
Sai da minha frente
Eu quero passar
Pois o samba está animado
O que eu quero é sambar
Esse samba
Que é misto de maracatu
É samba de preto velho
Samba de preto tú

Mas que nada
Um samba como este tão legal
Você não vai querer
Que eu chegue no final

O ariá raió
Obá obá obá