Um Dia Na Senzala
Lyrics, Translations, Music Video and Song Meaning
Um Dia Na Senzala
Song Lyrics
0:01 - Quem ja foi na Senzala um dia
Eng: Who had been in the Senzala
0:06 - Sabe me dizer como e
Eng: Can you tell how it is
0:12 - Moendo cana ee
Eng: Grinding cane
0:18 - socando pilão
Eng: And pounding pestle
0:21 - Moendo cana ee
Eng: Grinding cane
0:26 - socando pilão
Eng: And pounding pestle
0:30 - O negro era escravizado
Eng: The blacks were enslaved
0:33 - Sobre o olho do capitão
Eng: Under the watch of the Captain
0:36 - De dia trabalhava descalco
Eng: During the day they worked barefoot
0:39 - Com os pes no chão
Eng: With their feet on the floor
0:41 - Moendo cana ee
Eng: Grinding cane
0:46 - socando pilão
Eng: And pounding pestle
0:49 - Moendo cana ee
Eng: Grinding cane
0:55 - socando pilão
Eng: And pounding pestle
0:59 - Negro sofria na senzala
Eng: The blacks suffered in the slave quarters
1:02 - na vista do coronel
Eng: Under the watch of the Colonel
1:04 - Onde olhava da sacada
Eng: Where he watched from the balcony
1:07 - Como um raio vem do ceu
Eng: Like a ray of lightning from the sky
1:09 - Moendo cana ee
Eng: Grinding cane
1:15 - socando pilão
Eng: And pounding pestle
1:18 - Moendo cana ee
Eng: Grinding cane
1:23 - socando pilão
Eng: And punching pestle
1:27 - Mas que vida era aquela
Eng: But that was life
1:30 - Hoje jã não existe mais
Eng: Today it no longer exists
1:33 - Como era ruim ficar
Eng: How bad it was to stay
1:35 - na mira de um capataz
Eng: under the gaze of a Captain
1:38 - Moendo cana ee
Eng: Grinding cane
1:44 - socando pilão
Eng: And punching pestle
1:46 - Moendo cana ee
Eng: Grinding cane
1:52 - socando pilão
Eng: And punching pestle
1:55 - Moendo cana ee
Eng: Grinding cane
2:01 - socando pilão
Eng: And punching pestle
2:04 - Moendo cana ee
Eng: Grinding cane
2:09 - socando pilão
Eng: And punching pestle
History and sentiment behind song
Senzala refers to a slave camp in colonial Brazil.
The word senzala comes from the bantu language Quimbundo (or Kimbundu) which meant dwelling. A Senzala became the name for the houses where the slaves were kept with their families during the hours when they were not working in Brazil. Before the eighteenth century they were called black houses or slave shacks or huts.
They were precarious houses without privacy or luxury of any kind, the only separation was between men and women who were rarely permitted to sleep in the same room. Sometimes they chained the slaves in the senzala to prevent them from fleeing, and there would be guards posted at the door who watched to avoid escape attempts. These guards used to be black, the Capitão do Mato, and they were in charge of persecuting and torturing the slaves.
