Learn Portuguese With Gusttavo Lima with these 23 Song Recommendations (Full Translations Included!)

Gusttavo Lima
LF Content Team | Updated on 2 February 2023
Learning Portuguese with Gusttavo Lima's music is fun, engaging, and includes a cultural aspect that is often missing from other language learning methods. It is also great way to supplement your learning and stay motivated to keep learning Portuguese!
Below are 23 song recommendations by Gusttavo Lima to get you started! Alongside each recommendation, you will find a snippet of the lyric translations with links to the full lyric translations and lessons for each of the songs!

Gusttavo Lima is one of Brazil's biggest sertanejo stars. Born Nivaldo Batista Lima in 1989 in Presidente Olegário, in the state of Minas Gerais, he started performing as a child alongside his brothers before going solo.

His 2011 single "Balada" turned him into a household name across Brazil and carried his music well beyond, charting in countries including the Netherlands, Spain, and France. Since then he has built one of the most successful careers in modern sertanejo, filling stadiums with a run of romantic, often bittersweet hits delivered in the direct, conversational style his fans love.

CONTENTS SUMMARY
Espetinho (Grilled Skewer)
Comigo era só muvuca
Com ele é só camarote
O meu cartão só dava recusado
E o do homem é ilimitado
With me it was just the crowd
With him it's only the VIP box
My card kept getting declined
And his card has no limit

This song is about being the poorer man in a love triangle, and finding out that money was never the thing that mattered.

The first verses lay out the comparison in very concrete terms. The other guy gets the VIP box while the singer is down in the crowd. The other guy has an unlimited card while the singer's card keeps getting declined. The other guy drives a brand new car while the singer drives one from 2004. He asks himself how he is supposed to compete with any of that.

Then the answer arrives, and it is the whole point of the song. The other man can hand her the entire world, but nobody ever asked her whether she wanted it. She would rather ride around in the little Gol, eat a skewer at a street stall, and be with someone whose affection costs nothing.

The chorus is where the title lands. An espetinho is a cheap grilled meat skewer sold on the street, the most ordinary night out you can have in Brazil, and here it stands for a relationship that is honest instead of expensive. His closing line says it plainly: he has his own worth, and he does not need to buy her love.

De Menina Pra Mulher (From A Girl To A Woman)
Já aprendi a te esquecer
Agora viu que eu 'to fazendo falta
Tudo que eu fiz, nada valeu
Agora vou fazer pra quem se importa
I've learned to forget you
Now you've realized you miss me
Everything I did, nothing was worth it
Now I'll do it for someone who cares

This is a song about moving on, and about the moment the person who let you go finally notices you are gone.

The singer opens by saying he has already learned to forget her. Only now, after the fact, does she realise he is missed. Everything he once did for her counted for nothing, so from here on he plans to give that effort to someone who actually cares. The door she shut is the same door the new woman walked straight through.

The chorus draws the comparison the title promises. "You're there, she's here." One of them knocked him down, the other looked after him. That gap, the singer says, is the difference from a girl to a woman: not age, but how a person treats someone who loves them.

The last jab is the sharpest. Until you grow up, he tells her, go find some kid to call your love. He is not asking her to come back. He is telling her he has stopped waiting.

The song is Brazilian sertanejo, and the lyrics use very spoken Portuguese: "'to" for "estou", "'ta" for "esta", "'ce" for "voce", and "pra" for "para". Learning to hear those shortened forms is most of what makes fast Brazilian speech click.

Perrengue (Hardship)
E não foi só uma vez não
Que eu tentei reconciliação
Eu bati demais na mesma tecla
Eu querendo paz e você guerra
And it wasn't just once no
That I tried reconciliation
I harped on the same string too much
I wanted peace and you wanted war

Perrengue is a breakup song about being the one who kept trying.

The singer says it was not just once that he went looking for a way back. He kept pressing the same point, wanting peace while she wanted a fight, and his name sat in her phone under "answer later." So he ended it. He admits he felt awful and that he is sad, but he also knows the simple rule of it: when one person does not want it, there is no couple left.

The rest of the song is what he expects to happen next. He will miss her, and he will drink while he remembers. But she is going to go through the same rough patch, the same perrengue, that his heart already went through, and it will hit her the day she realises she lost him. Everything that leaves comes back, he says, except him.

Underneath the hurt there is a lot of swagger. The band drops into a bachata groove halfway through, the crowd lifts their hands, and a sad story turns into something you can dance to.

Apelido Carinhoso (Pet Name)
Amor, não é segredo entre a gente
Que o meu término é recente
E você tá arrumando
O que ela revirou
Love, it's no secret between us
That my breakup's recent
And you're fixing
What she messed up

“Apelido Carinhoso” paints the picture of someone trying to move on from a fresh breakup while tip-toeing into a new romance. The singer is grateful that his new partner is “fixing what the ex messed up,” yet his heart is still cluttered with leftover feelings. He admits the confusion will fade eventually, but right now even a sweet pet name like “meu nego” or “bebê” is enough to yank him back to memories of the past.

The chorus is both a plea and a confession: Please don’t call me by those nicknames yet; they are the hardest souvenirs to forget. In just a few lines, Gusttavo Lima captures how powerful small words can be when they carry emotional history. The song blends honesty, vulnerability, and hope, reminding us that healing often means setting tiny boundaries until the heart feels ready to rename love.

Balada Do Buteco (Bar Party)
Balada do buteco
Tudo organizado, reservei a mesa
Já 'tá encostando um caminhão de bohemia
Minha ex 'tá louca, não para de ligar
Buteco ballad
All organized, I booked the table
Already 'is pulling over a truck of bohemia
My ex 'is crazy, don't stop calling

"Balada do Buteco" is a Friday night song about choosing the bar over a phone call you do not want to take.

A buteco is a small, plain neighbourhood bar in Brazil, the kind with plastic chairs on the pavement and cold beer that never runs out. The singer has the whole evening planned: the table is booked, and a truckload of drinks is already pulling up. Turning that humble bar into a balada, a nightclub party, is the joke the title runs on.

Then the ex starts calling, and she does not stop. His answer is to let the phone ring. "Ontem eu prestava, hoje eu já não presto" says he used to be the reliable one and tonight he is not, and he sounds pleased about it. "Troquei minha ex pela balada do buteco" is the line the whole song turns on: he traded her for the bar.

The chorus is mostly attitude. "Parararará" is a shrug set to music, "para de ligar" tells her to stop calling, and "#chupaex" is a playful taunt aimed straight at her, written like a hashtag because that is how it spread.

Underneath the swagger it is a song about the first night after a breakup, when going out with friends feels like proof that you are fine. It never claims the singer is heartbroken, but it does keep mentioning how many times she calls.

Por Te Amar Demais (Because I Love You Too Much)
Embaixador
Eu já sei, sei que vai ligar
Querendo me encontrar
Sei que vou estar aqui
Ambassador
I know you're going to call
Wanting to meet me
I know I'm going to be here

"Por Te Amar Demais" is Gusttavo Lima singing to someone who left without warning, after he had given everything to the relationship. He tells her plainly that she'll come to regret it: she didn't value what he felt, and one day she'll remember how much he loved her.

The chorus turns the song's title into its warning. If she ever falls for someone else and gets hurt in return, she'll think back to this love and see what she gave up. By the bridge he softens, saying he forgives her and forgets what she did, because loving someone this much is simply who he is.

It's a classic sertanejo heartbreak song: hurt pride mixed with real tenderness, ending on forgiveness rather than bitterness.

Tô Torcendo (I'm Rooting)
'tá morando num novo endereço
Fez amigo no seu novo emprego
Nem lembra mais de nós
Eu aqui nessa cidadezinha
'is living in a new address
Made a friend at his new job
You don't even remember us anymore
Me here in this little town

"Tô Torcendo" is Gusttavo Lima singing to an ex who has moved on completely: a new address, a new job, new friends, and no memory left of what "we" had. He, meanwhile, is still stuck in the same small town living the same small life.

The hook is the emotional twist: instead of anger, he says he's rooting ("torcendo") for her to be happy wherever she landed. But he also leaves the door open — if it goes wrong out there, just let him know, because deep down he's still hoping she'll end up back close to his life.

It's a bittersweet kind of love song: generous on the surface, quietly hopeful underneath.

Cada Volta É Um Recomeço (Every Return Is A New Beginning)
Mais uma vez
Meu coração esquece
Tudo que você me fez
Volto pra esse amor insano
Once again
My heart forgets
Everything you've done to me
I go back to this insane love

"Cada Volta É Um Recomeço" is about getting pulled back into a love that never quite lets you go. The singer keeps returning to the same person, fully aware of how the story usually ends, and admits there is no real explanation for it beyond passion itself.

Each time he comes back he expects things to feel different, but they never do. Still, he frames every return not as repeating the same mistake but as a fresh start, choosing to let his heart lead even when it does not make sense.

Mil Vezes Cantarei (I Will Sing a Thousand Times)
Cada vez que eu penso em você
Dói lembrar tanto amor que eu te dei
Teu amor que um dia foi meu
Hoje eu não sei
Every time I think of you
It hurts to remember so much love that I gave you
Your love that was once mine
Today I don't know

"Mil Vezes Cantarei" is a song about holding onto a love that's already gone. Every morning the singer wakes up and still feels his ex-partner beside him, and the ache of missing her brings him to tears.

He clings to one hopeful idea: if he keeps singing this song, over and over, it will somehow reach her heart no matter where she's gone, and maybe convince her to come back. The title itself means "I'll sing a thousand times" - a promise to keep singing until the love that once felt so certain finds its way home again.

Chora Até Perder A Fala (Cry Until You Lose Your Voice)
E chora, chora
Chora até perder a fala
Na mesma cama que usava pra se divertir
Agora deita pra sentir falta de mim
And cry, cry
Cry until you lose your speech
In the same bed you used to have fun
Now lie down to miss me

This is a breakup song sung by the person who already walked away, and it is not trying to be kind about it.

He tells his ex to cry, and to keep crying until she cannot even speak. He points her back to the same bed they used to share for fun, where she now lies alone and misses him. He reminds her that he warned her: she took her eyes off what mattered, she regrets it now, and she is crying into the rim of a glass.

The rest of the song closes the door. He will not leave any trace for her to follow, so she will not know where to look for him. If she wants to see him, she will have to settle for her phone screen, because that is the only way she gets close to him now.

It was recorded live for the DVD "O Embaixador In Cariri", and you can hear it. Gusttavo Lima calls out to the women in the audience, and he cues the viola to cry along with the words. Sertanejo does this often: the heartbreak is real, and the whole room sings it back.

Por Um Minuto (For One Minute)
Falar de amor
Todos os amantes já adormeceram
E todas as palavras já se calaram
Já não vive o mundo em que se perderam
Talk about love
All lovers have fallen asleep
And all the words have already been silenced
You no longer live the world you've lost in

"Por Um Minuto" is a sultry love song about wanting just one more minute with someone. The singer describes a quiet night where the rest of the world has fallen asleep, but he still longs for his lover's touch.

He asks for a single minute together to change his fate, to feel her embrace, and to let their bodies meet in pure pleasure. The chorus repeats this plea, building the song's sense of urgency and desire.

In the second half, he insists there's no reason for the two of them not to be together forever, and begs her not to leave him alone even for a moment, because that little bit of longing already drives him crazy.

Fui Fiel (I Was Faithful)
Te amei, te mostrei
Que o meu amor foi o mais profundo
Me doei, me entreguei
Fui fiel, chorei, chorei
I loved you, I showed you
That my love was the deepest
I gave my all, I surrendered
I was faithful, I cried and cried

"Fui Fiel" is Gusttavo Lima looking back on a relationship that ended, insisting he gave it everything he had. He was faithful, he loved deeply, and he cried when it fell apart. There is no anger here, only a quiet, honest accounting of what he did right.

The song's real ache is in the mornings. He remembers waking up just to hear "good morning, my baby," and now he wakes up to nothing but saudade, that specifically Portuguese longing for someone who is gone. The routine tenderness he lost is what he misses most, not the big moments.

Online
Já foi a maior alegria do meu coração
Depois, virou minha maior decepção
Devia ter pensado antes
De trocar uma vida por um lance
It was once the greatest joy of my heart
Then it became my biggest disappointment
You should have thought before
To trade a life for a bid

Ever had an ex who made a huge mistake and then tried to slide back into your messages? Gusttavo Lima's song "Online" is all about that! He sings about a former love who was once his greatest joy but became his biggest disappointment. This person traded a whole life together for a brief fling and now, surprisingly, they're asking for another chance.

But the singer is not interested in going back. He delivers a powerful message for the digital age with the key question: "Is it so hard to understand that being online without a reply is a reply?" He's making it clear that his silence is the answer. Sometimes, not saying anything says everything you need to know.

Que Mal Te Fiz Eu (Diz Me) (What Wrong Did I Do To You (Tell Me))
Não entendo
Por que não me falas
E viras a cara
Cada vez que passo junto a ti
I don't understand
Why you won't speak to me
And you turn your face away
Every time I walk past you

Gusttavo Lima spends this entire song asking one question and never getting an answer. "Que mal te fiz eu?" (what wrong did I do to you?) opens every chorus, and each time he adds another piece of evidence: "Para me tratar assim como um farrapo" (to treat me like this, like a rag), "Um vagabundo, um pobre coitado" (a bum, a poor wretch). The verses that set it up are smaller and more everyday, which is what makes them sting. She turns her head when they pass in the street, "E viras a cara" (and you turn your face away), and she is telling people things about him he cannot recognise, "Todo esse veneno" (all this poison).

What lifts it above ordinary heartbreak is how far he pushes the accounting. The breakup already happened; his question is why it has to keep going. "Já não bastava ter matado o nosso amor" (wasn't killing our love enough already), then "Não te bastava a dor que teu adeus deixou?" (wasn't the pain your goodbye left enough?). By the final chorus he has reached crucifixion, "E quer me ver crucificado ainda" (and still want to see me crucified), which is a lot, and the sertanejo arrangement behind him is entirely comfortable with that. The outro just repeats the plea, "Diga que mal te fiz eu" (tell me what wrong I did to you), and the song ends with the question still open.

Tentação Cruel (Cruel Temptation)
Parei pra pensar
Pra viver chorando, implorando seu perdão
Resolvi mudar
Eu confesso que às vezes, sem explicação
I stopped to think
To live crying, begging your forgiveness
I decided to change
I confess that sometimes without explanation

Ever made a mistake you wish you could take back? Gusttavo Lima's "Tentação Cruel" captures that feeling perfectly. The song is a powerful and emotional plea for a second chance. The singer admits he made a big mistake, thinking he was the "owner of the truth" (dono da verdade). Now, he's stopped to think, realized his error, and has decided to change.

He's not just saying sorry; he's ready to do whatever it takes to win his love back. He promises to rescue their shared dreams and swears he'll do anything to see his partner happy. He describes this person as his everything: his "sun" (sol), his "sky" (céu), and a "cruel temptation" (tentação cruel). The song is a passionate promise to prove his love and a desperate request: "One more chance is not too much to ask" (Uma chance a mais não é pedir demais).

Sempre Seu Homem (Always Your Man)
Olha, o nosso amor valeu
Quando a gente fez a primeira vez
Foi lindo como aconteceu
Desejo de verdade, paixão sem maldade
Look, our love was worth it
When we first did it
It was beautiful how it happened
Desire for truth, passion without evil

"Sempre Seu Homem" ("Always Your Man") is Gusttavo Lima's promise song, about the moment falling in love stopped feeling like a risk and started feeling like home.

He walks through how it happened: the first time together, feeling caught in her spell ("preso no seu laço"), and finally letting his guard down enough to hand over his heart. There's no drama here, just plain relief that the love turned out to be worth it.

The title line repeats like a vow: he made her his woman so he could always be her man. It's less a grand declaration and more a quiet, steady commitment, the kind sertanejo does especially well.

Olha Amor (Look, Love)
Olha amor, 'tô morrendo de saudades
Coração tá com vontade
De sentir o seu pulsar
(olha amor, eu vi todos os meus planos
Look love, 'I miss you
Heart's in the mood
To feel your pulse
(look love, I've seen all my plans

Get ready for a powerful ballad about heartbreak and longing! In "Olha Amor," which translates to "Look, Love," the singer makes a desperate plea to a former partner. He confesses that he's been pretending to be over their relationship, even lying to the world that he's forgotten them. But deep down, he's suffering from an intense feeling the Brazilians call saudade—a deep, painful yearning for someone you miss.

He admits that his world has collapsed since they've been apart and that this feeling of saudade has stolen all his peace. He feels like he's "losing his head" from missing them so much. The song is a raw confession that despite trying to move on, forgetting them is impossible, and he begs them not to forget him either.

Saudade Sua (Missing You)
Morei um tempo no fundo do poço
Só deus sabe do meu sufoco
O que o eu penei pra te esquecer
Achei que tava até ficando louco
I lived a lot of time at rock bottom
God knows my suffocation
What I shaved to forget you
I thought I was even going crazy

"Saudade Sua" is Gusttavo Lima's take on a breakup where the tables have turned. The singer opens by admitting how hard the recovery really was — he "lived at rock bottom," only God knows what it cost him, and he nearly went crazy trying to forget the person who left.

By the chorus, he's the one who has moved on. Now that he's finally forgotten her, she shows up wanting to talk about how much she misses him — and he isn't interested. "You had so much time to repent," he sings, "and now that I've finally forgotten you, you come with this talk of your own saudade." He turns her old indifference back on her: it's his turn to ignore her the way she once ignored him, and no amount of longing on her part is going to bring the relationship back.

It's a classic sertanejo revenge-of-the-heartbroken theme — pain, recovery, and a pointed "too late" aimed at someone who didn't value him while she had the chance.

Parabéns Pro Nosso Amor (Congratulations to Our Love)
Sei que acabou
Aquele seu amor
Não é mais o mesmo
Esta tão diferente
I know it's over
That love of yours
It's not the same anymore
It's so different

Gusttavo Lima turns an anniversary toast into an aching plea. He opens with the loss already settled — "Sei que acabou, aquele seu amor" ("I know it's over, that love of yours") — before the title line arrives as something between a celebration and a confession: "Parabéns pra você, parabéns pra nós dois" ("Congratulations to you, congratulations to both of us"). Even as she forgets, his love keeps growing — "Continua em mim crescendo, esse seu jeito louco de te amar" ("It keeps growing in me, this crazy way of loving you"). By the final chorus he's down to one request, repeated like a wish: "Eu te quero do meu lado, pra ver o nosso amor recomeçar" ("I want you by my side, to see our love begin again").

Solidão A Três (Loneliness For Three)
Você me disse que não se lembrava mais
Que aquele antigo amor não tinha nada a ver
Que era apenas um amigo um bom rapaz
Perdidamente apaixonado por você
You told me you didn't remember anymore
That that old love had nothing to do with
Who was just a good friend a boy
Madly in love with you

Gusttavo Lima builds “Solidão A Três” around one plain refusal: someone else’s shadow is still in the room. His partner insists the old flame is nothing now, just “um amigo, um bom rapaz” [a friend, a nice guy] — but he’s noticed what changes when that guy comes looking, “vejo um brilho diferente em seu olhar” [I see a different glow in your look]. Rather than compete for a love that’s already split between two men, he chooses to walk away: “solidão a três não faz sentido” [loneliness for three doesn’t make sense], he sings, closing the song on the same blunt line twice — “ele fica, eu vou embora” [he stays, I’m leaving]. The title carries the whole argument: three people sharing one heart isn’t a relationship, and he’d rather be alone than be “o outro nessa história” [the other one in this story].

A Cor Da Esperança (The Color Of Hope)
Tudo aconteceu
Eu nem sei porque razão
Foi assim sem dar motivos
Sem me dar explicação
It all happened
I don't even know why
It was so without giving reasons
Without giving me an explanation

Gusttavo Lima sings about a love that disappeared overnight, with no warning and no explanation. He describes the house he's left in as too big for one person—“Nessa casa tão imensa” [“In this house so vast”]—and admits “A saudade dói demais” [“Missing you hurts too much”]. Every day he asks himself where she went and why she left without saying a word.

Rather than staying stuck in the loss, he turns it into something he can hold onto: “Pintei de verde / A cor da minha esperança” [“I painted it green / The color of my hope”]. The chorus keeps circling back to one plea, “Volta pra mim” [“Come back to me”], even as he admits he's still living only on memories.

Você Não Sabe Amar (You Don't Know How to Love)
Siga, o seu caminho, você tem aonde ir
Você tem outra cama, onde dormir
Não precisa ser atriz dessa maneira
Rasgo esse meu peito e jogo fora o coração
Go on, your way, you have nowhere to go
You have another bed, where to sleep
You don't have to be an actress like that
I tear my chest and throw away my heart

Get ready for a powerful and emotional breakup song! In "Você Não Sabe Amar," Gusttavo Lima sings to a partner who has been unfaithful. He tells her to leave, saying, "You have another bed to sleep in" (Você tem outra cama, onde dormir). He's tired of her pretending and acting, and he's so hurt that he dramatically declares he'll "tear open my chest and throw my heart away" (Rasgo esse meu peito e jogo fora o coração).

The song's title, which means "You Don't Know How to Love," is the singer's main accusation. He uses a beautiful metaphor to describe her, calling her a "flower without perfume" (uma flor que não tem perfume), suggesting she may look lovely on the outside but lacks the essential ability to truly love. He feels she has just been playing with his heart, even though he was ready to give her everything and let her rule over his passionate self. It's a classic tale of heartbreak, betrayal, and saying a final, painful goodbye.

Tô Por Aí (I'm Around)
'tô por aí
Por toda cidade
Curtindo saudade, 'tô
No último volume o som do carro
'I'm out there
All over town
Enjoying longing, 'I'm
At the last volume the sound of the car

Have you ever felt so heartbroken that you just started driving with no destination in mind? That's the exact feeling Gusttavo Lima captures in "Tô Por Aí." The song paints a vivid picture of someone wandering through the city late at night, trying to escape their feelings. With the car stereo on full blast, a beer in hand, and a lost look in his eyes, the narrator is consumed by a powerful sense of saudade, a deep, nostalgic longing for someone he's lost.

The city at night isn't a comfort; instead, every corner only makes his loneliness feel bigger. The core of his pain is clear in the repeated line, "Eu morro de amor por ela e ela nem aí" (I'm dying of love for her and she doesn't even care). It's a raw expression of unrequited love and the feeling of being completely lost when the person you love has moved on. The song is a classic anthem for anyone nursing a broken heart, driving through the cold night, and asking themselves, "Where do I go from here?"

We have more songs with translations on our website and mobile app. You can find the links to the website and our mobile app below. We hope you enjoy learning Portuguese with music!
Download on the App Store
Get it on Google Play
Rated 4.9 · Join 250,000+ learners
Apple and App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc.
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.