Aguapé

Belchior's song 'Aguapé' paints a vivid picture of rural desolation and the quiet, almost eerie stillness of life in the Brazilian sertão (backcountry). The lyrics are rich with imagery and metaphors that evoke a sense of abandonment and the passage of time. The song opens with a plea to a 'capineiro' (a person who cuts grass) not to cut the singer's hair, symbolizing a desire to preserve something personal and untouched amidst the harshness of life. The mention of the mother and stepmother introduces themes of familial relationships and loss, further emphasized by the fig tree and the bird, which could symbolize fleeting moments of life and nature's indifference to human suffering.

As the song progresses, Belchior addresses a 'companheiro' (companion) traveling through the sertão, advising them to leave an abandoned house in peace. This house, described in detail, stands as a metaphor for forgotten lives and memories. The rosemary branch, a symbol of remembrance and mourning, is futilely thrown at the house, only to disturb the moths that have made it their home. This imagery underscores the futility of trying to revive or honor what has been long abandoned.

The song's chorus, repeating 'Nada, nada' (Nothing, nothing), reinforces the overwhelming sense of emptiness and stagnation. The aguapé (water hyacinth) floating on the lagoon, leaving the canoe's edge perfumed, serves as a poignant metaphor for beauty and life persisting in stillness and decay. The final lines, describing the aguapé as the 'chimney' of a factory producing pure air, juxtapose industrial imagery with natural beauty, suggesting a delicate balance between life and death, activity and stillness. Belchior's 'Aguapé' is a haunting reflection on the quiet desolation of rural life, the passage of time, and the persistence of nature amidst human abandonment.