Composer: Dilermando Reis 🇧🇷
Dilermando Reis was a Brazilian guitarist and composer born in Guaratinguetá city, São Paulo in 1916. He was the third of 15 children, and his parents where both music lovers. His mother used to sing the songs of Catulo da Paixão Cearense and his father Francisco was his first guitar teacher.
Se ela perguntar is one of Dilermando Reis’ most popular compositions. It’s a nostalgic Valsa (Brazilian Waltz) originally written for solo guitar in 1952 and soon transformed into a song with lyrics added by Jair Amorim. A beautiful orchestrated version was recorded by the singer Carlos Galhardo in the same year. The lyrics reflect with great accuracy the emotions which the melody evokes.
Below are the original lyrics in Portuguese alongside their English translation which is based on the one made by Eugenio from the brazilianguitar.net forum with some minor modifications.
🇧🇷
Se ela um dia, por acaso perguntar por mim
Diga, por favor, que eu sou feliz…
É preciso a própria mágoa disfarçar assim,
Dissimulando a dor à sombra de um sorriso…
Coração talvez não tenha aquela por quem dei
Tudo o que sofri e que sonhei
Estrela solitária que no céu do meu amor
Eternamente, desde que brilhou,
Nunca se apagou!
Esperança de revê-la ainda
Amargura de poder somente
Suplicar por ela, assim, alucinadamente
Na paixão
Que é perdição
No amor
Que sempre é dor
Feliz porque não diz
As lágrimas que
Sempre, sempre, esconderei sorrindo
Desfolhando apenas malmequeres
Pois ferir o coração é próprio das mulheres
É sofrer, mesmo assim, é VIVER!
🇬🇧
If someday, by any chance, she asks about me
Please tell her that I am happy…
I need to hide my own suffering
By disguising my pain in the shadow of a smile…
Maybe she doesn’t have a heart
I gave her all my dreams and suffering
Lone star in the sky of my love
Her eternal shining light
Has never faded away!
I hope to see her again
Bitterness for only being able
To madly supplicate for her love
In the passion
That is a loss
In love
It is always painful
A happy pain that doesn’t tell
about the tears
That I’ll keep hiding behind a smile
Picking petals off a daisy flower
Because women like to hurt the men’s hearts
Even though to suffer is TO LIVE!
SOURCES
Original lyrics & translation: http://brazilianguitar.net/topic/349-lyrics-and-song-titles/page/2/
Biography: http://enciclopedia.itaucultural.org.br/pessoa637388/dilermando-reis
https://steemit.com/classical-music/@guifaquetti/the-guitar-by-dilermando-reis-1916-1977
Diego Galárraga Sugoniaev 