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Many consider Brazilian footballer Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior – or simply Neymar – to be among the best players in the world, but what is the English meaning of the lyrics of “his song,” Parado No Bailão?
With great power comes great responsibility. And with a great footballing reputation comes a higher risk of being fouled, it seems.
Since his first World Cup in 2014, Neymar has been on the receiving end of 53 World Cup fouls. That’s 11 more than any other player.
During Brazil’s group-stage 2-0 win against Serbia, Nikola Milenkovic tackled Neymar, and in the game’s 80th minute, his captain substituted him out with a sprained ankle.
What is the meaning in English of the lyrics of ‘Neymar’s song’ Parado No Bailão?
It’s not actually Neymar’s song – hence the quotation marks. And nor is it the only song people associate with Neymar. But it’s the one that today’s footballing fans are singing nonstop.
Neymar’s association with the song Parado No Bailão, by MC L Da Vinte and MC Gury, is such that people say you’re not a real Neymar fan if you “don’t know this song word for word.”
Which is arguably harder for English speakers (and others) who don’t understand Brazilian Portuguese, and who therefore can’t appreciate the meaning of Parado No Bailão’s lyrics.
Its title translates to “Standing On The Dance Floor.” And its lyrics, borrowed from Letras and translated by Google, are as follows. Note: some repetitions have been left out.
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Full lyrics of Parado No Bailão translated into English
It’s just that I wanted her so much
And she didn’t pay attention to me
I did everything for her to maintain a relationship
Today we don’t even talkI’m decided and it’s not for nothing that I threw myself at Mandela
Me standing on the dance floor
There on the dance floor
She with the big bang
And the big bang on the floorMe standing in the bailão
In the bailãoShe with big popo
The big popo on the floor
She with the popozão
And the popozão on the floor
The rest of the song repeats the above lyrics. Note that some of the words, such as ‘bailão‘ and ‘popozão,’ don’t translate directly. That’s because they’re Brazilian Portuguese colloquialisms, or slang words.
The Brazilian Portuguese word ‘bailão’ refers to a particular type of dancehall, or Brazilian funk house – a place where people dance. Meanwhile, the word ‘popozão’ refers to a part of the anatomy that features prominently in the lyrics of nightclub anthems all over the world.
But Parado No Bailão isn’t the only song people associate with Neymar
Neymar promotes Brazilian modern pop music almost as much as he does football. In particular, he’s a proponent of sertanejo music, or ‘música sertaneja,’ which originated in the Brazilian countryside in the 1920s.
For example, the viral popularity of a video of Neymar singing Michael Teló’s hit song ‘Ai Se Eu Te Pego,’ meaning Oh, If I Catch You, launched the tune onto the international stage. He even appeared with Teló at one of his concerts once.
In 2012, Neymar made a cameo appearance in the music video for another sertanejo track, ‘Eu Quero Tchu, Eu Quero Tcha’ (I Want Tchu, I Want Tcha), by João Lucas & Marcelo.
And the following year, he appeared in the music video for ‘País do Futebol’ by Guilherme Aparecido Dantas, better known by his stage name MC Guimê.
Fans are calling MC Gury’s hit ‘literally Neymar’s song’
TikTok and the World Cup 2022 have collided, causing Parado No Bailão to become more popular than ever.
Social media users have also cemented the track’s association with Neymar, meaning some have started to call it “Neymar’s song.”
For what it’s worth, however, it’s not Neymar’s song per se. It’s MC L Da Vinte’s, and features MC Gury. It came out at least four years ago, because Funk Explode completed a reworking of it in July 2018.
And, as with many modern pop dance tracks, when translated into English, the lyrics of Parado No Bailão – call it “Neymar’s song” if you will – reveal themselves to be simply about a man dancing with a woman.
