Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: forro
Song Meaning of “Asa Branca (Lead Vocals David Byrne)” by Forro In The Dark
Asa Branca, written in 1945 by Luiz Gonzaga, is a beautiful and bittersweet song about the longing for a dear homelands of Northeastern Brazil. The Forro in the Dark rendition is led by David Byrne, with his signature sound taking the lead. Its arrangements, featuring electropic instrumentals, take the listener through a voyage of both sadness and hope. The song speaks to the common struggle of distant longing for the beauty of home amongst the immigrant community, as well as the universal recognition of the human spirit’s resilience in the face of endurance.
The lyrics paint a vivid and moving portrait of home: “My heart sighs for the land of Piaui/Where the trees grow thin and leafy.” The longing for the sun “as big as the Moon” transports the listener to that distant and beloved place. The instrumentals further evoke an indelible sense of nostalgia and longing with the timely incorporation of a tarantella, a sound known to be connected to the lives of Italian immigrants in Brazil.
The appreciation of memory, ultimately, is the most defining sentiment of this song: “How wonderful will be my joy/When one day I return to my homeland.” In a collective travel through times and spaces, “Asa Branca” reflects the timelessness of human experience, encapsulating the search for home in a single beautiful song.