Capoeira Song of the Week: Ô Iaiá

You submit the songs. We show you the lyrics, translation, and give some phonetic spelling to help your pronunciation.

The format works like this:

The lyrics in Portuguese are in bold

The phonetic spelling for pronunciation is in italics with the STRESSED SYLLABLES IN ALL CAPITALS with syllables se-pa-ra-ted by dash-es

The English translation is in regular text

Thanks to Risos for this week's submission. Enjoy!

Ô Iaiá*

* for more on what Iaiá and Ioiô mean, see our Wiki-Word of the Week here

Ô Iaiá, meu senhor mandou chamar Ô Iaiá

Oh yah-yah, meh/ooh sehnh-YOHRH mahn-DOH chah-MAHRH, Oh yah-yah

Oh little miss, my boss sent you to call me, Oh little miss

Ô Iaiá

Oh yah-yah

Oh little miss

Mais eu só vou quando acabar, Ô Iaiá

Mayez eh/ooh soh voh KWAHN-dooh ah-kah-BAHRH, Oh yah-yah

But I will only be going when it finishes, Oh little miss

Ô Iaiá

Oh yah-yah

Oh little miss

Que beleza pra jogar, Ô Iaiá

Keeh beh-LEH-zah prah zhoh-GAHRH,  Oh yah-yah

What a beautiful thing to play, Oh little miss

Ô Iaiá

Oh yah-yah

Oh little miss

No mercado popular Ô Iaiá

Nooh mehrh-KAH-dooh poh-pooh-LAHRH Oh yah-yah

In this popular marketplace, Oh little miss

Ô Iaiá

Oh yah-yah

Oh little miss