Learn Portuguese With Gusttavo Lima with these 20 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 20 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
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Até A Garrafa Chora (Even The Bottle Cries)
A desgramada me deixou na rua feito um cão sem dono
Eu fui encontrado no bar em total abandono
Cheirando a cachaça, sozinho na manguaça
Amando ela agora só em pensamento
The desgramada left me on the street like a dog with no owner
I was found in the bar in total abandonment
Smelling of cachaça, alone in manguaça
Loving her now only in thought

"Até A Garrafa Chora" is a heartbreak song in the Brazilian sertanejo style. The singer has just been left by a woman who walked out on him, and he compares himself to an abandoned dog on the street.

He ends up alone in a bar, hungover and drowning his sorrows in cachaça (a Brazilian sugarcane spirit). The chorus leans into that self-pity: even the bottle seems to cry along with him when it sees how much he's suffering.

It's a classic sad-song-with-a-drink theme, sung big and dramatic the way sertanejo ballads usually are, ending with him saying he can't take another heartbreak like this one.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Carreira Solo (Solo Career)
O meu coração
'tá cansado de apanhar
Atende errado por quem não quis me amar
'tá compensado mesmo, é beber sozinho
My heart
'are tired of getting beat up
Meets wrong by those who did not want to love me
'it's even compensated, it's drinking alone

"Carreira Solo" is Gusttavo Lima's tongue-in-cheek anthem about bouncing back from heartbreak. The title plays on the phrase "going solo," as if being single again were a fresh career move rather than a loss.

The singer's heart is tired of getting hurt by someone who never really wanted to love him back. Instead of moping, he decides he is better off alone with a cold beer and no curfew for coming home from the bar. Whenever anyone assumes he must be suffering, he shrugs it off: he already turned the page.

The song leans into its live, party atmosphere, with playful ad-libs, a joking "ambassador of love" cameo, and calls out to the crowd in Cariri to make noise. It is less a sad breakup song and more a celebration of moving on and having a good time doing it.

Mundo De Ilusões (World Of Illusions)
Ei, porque 'tá me ligando em plena madrugada
Se entre nós dois não existe mais nada
Que fazer com ele o que fez comigo
Ei, será que você não consegue ser fiel
Hey, 'cause you're calling me in the middle of the night
If there's nothing between the two of us
What to do with him what you did to me
Hey, can't you be faithful

Imagine getting a call from your ex in the middle of the night. In Gusttavo Lima's "Mundo De Ilusões" (World of Illusions), that's exactly what happens, but with a surprising twist! The singer's ex-girlfriend, who cheated on him, is now calling him from a motel room. And guess what? She wants to cheat on her new boyfriend... with him! It's a classic case of "what goes around, comes around."

The song is a powerful rejection of this toxic cycle. The singer isn't falling for her games this time. He calls her out for her unfaithfulness, telling her she lives in a "world of illusions" and plays with people's hearts. He predicts that just as she lost him, she's about to lose her new partner too. It's a strong message about self-respect and recognizing when a person's love is not real.

Por Um Gole A Mais (For One More Drink)
Paguei, eu assumo, eu adimito que foi ilusão, errei
Um descuido um deslize do meu coração, te magoei
Fiz exatamente o que devia pra te ver chorar
E me ver chorar
I'm paying for it, I assume, I admit it was an illusion, I made a mistake
A carelessness, a slip of my heart, I hurt you
I did exactly what I shouldn't have to see you cry
And see myself cry

Have you ever done something you instantly regretted? In "Por Um Gole A Mais," Gusttavo Lima sings about a moment of deep remorse. The narrator admits he made a terrible mistake, a "crazy error" that he blames on having "one more drink" (por um gole a mais). He confesses that he hurt someone deeply, making them cry, and now he's left wondering if he should beg for forgiveness on his knees or just let them go.

This song tells the story of that painful moment. The narrator remembers sitting there "like a fool" as the person he hurt told him his actions were cowardly. Then, they walked away, taking his "peace and smile" with them. Now, feeling lost and not like himself anymore, he desperately hopes for a chance to make things right, pleading, "If there's a way, forgive me, for the love of God."

Canudinho (Little Straw)
Canudinho é o nome dela
Você 'tá me dando umas olhadas
E deixando minha cabeça a mil
Que pariu
Canudinho is her name
You're giving me those looks
And driving my head a mile a minute
d*mn

“Canudinho” is a playful, heat-of-the-moment flirt set in the middle of a party scene. Gusttavo Lima spots a girl sipping gin through a canudinho (Portuguese for “little straw”) and instantly feels his head spin. Every look she throws at him seems loaded with mischief, making it impossible for him to stay still. The straw becomes the perfect symbol of his attraction: he wishes he could be that tiny tube circling her lips, quenching her thirst “bem devagarinho” (nice and slowly) while feeling her tongue glide by.

Behind the cheeky metaphor lies a classic sertanejo love chase, boosted by Ana Castela’s lively cameo. Together they turn a simple bar moment into a humorous fantasy about shared drinks and irresistible chemistry. The song celebrates spontaneous desire, teasing the idea that sometimes all it takes is a sip, a straw, and a daring glance to ignite a memorable connection.

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!
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