Humanos - A Vida em Variações (2006) - full transcript

Once upon a time, there was a
box of precious cassette tapes,

forgotten in a shelf somewhere.

Variações wrote before he
died... and never recorded.

And I will go on looking for
my shape and for my place

'Cause this far I have only:

Want who I have never seen

I only look for who
I've never met

It was then that 7 people from
different musical universes

got together to bring
them to life.

Such a treasure could
not remain hidden.

Camané?
Where's Camané?



I'm unable to control

This anxiety I live in

This need to get there fast

So I won't get there late

Got no idea what I'm running from

Maybe it's my solitude

But why do I refuse to accept

The hand that people give to me

And I will go on looking for
The person that I'm waiting for

'Cause until now I only:

Want who I have never seen

I only look for who I've never met

I only look for who I've never seen

I only look for who I've never met



I only look for

Who I've never seen

Humanos – Life with Variações

The first time I saw
António Variações on TV,

if I'm not mistaken,
he was dressed as a pill.

Singing something
about the pill,

take your pill or
something like that.

At the time, I was a kid,
and it caught my eye,

more because of his exuberance
than because of the song.

I did doubt whether he
was really that talented,

or if he had simply been different.

Because so many times difference
is mistaken for talent, I think.

When I heard the demos,

I was absolutely sure that
he was not only different,

but also an extremely talented man.

Because they showed the
songs in the purest state.

Nobody does demos
this way nowadays.

I'd never heard demos like these,

just sung into a recorder,
and sounding this good.

I will live

Just for how long
I do not know

I Want To Live (original demo)

What does it matter what I'll become

I just want to live

We were given a series
of songs by António

and we decided to create
a band to do the work.

We created an identity of our own.

Because after working
together for a while

we felt that these were no longer
António's songs but ours.

It had to be that way for us
to be able to create something.

We tried to pick up
popular instruments,

ukuleles, campaniça
guitars, kick drums...

But to play them in our own way

because of our pop background.

That's where we come from and
we wanted to bring both together.

Maria Albertina (original demo)

Maria Albertina please allow me to say

I know your name doesn't
Really sound like much...

It is with great pleasure
and huge satisfaction

that I award you the Triple Platinum
for sales of the Humanos album.

Thanks, man.

We don't deserve it.

It was very surprising,
at least for me,

how the record caught on
with people so quickly.

And the fact that it sold a lot,

especially when you think
how much is a lot right now.

We were recording an album
in unusual conditions.

In a country house,

in a studio with daylight.

We were really having lots of fun,

living together, like
a holiday camp,

building up friendships.

And I think that
shows in the record.

Goodbye for I am now leaving...

We really enjoyed
working together a lot.

It was a very interesting discovery.

This is kind of a big
band, a super group.

You think so?

None of us feels like a super artist.

We're not that popular to
make up a super group.

We don't feel like that, and none
of us has that kind of profile.

Although originally this
was a commission,

if we hadn't fallen in love
with what we heard,

if we hadn't felt intrigued
by working together,

this would have gone nowhere.

It's the teamwork that really matters.

Being able to work week after week

to earn the trust of the
coach and of the supporters.

What matters is to
go on and to believe.

Half year after the album
release, they rehearsed

arduously for the four mythical
concerts that Summer.

I'm beginning to see
My first few wrinkles

There's a lot to rehearse
before the concerts.

We try to do our best
on the rehearsal.

The day of the gig can be completely

different from the rehearsal.

Because it's a lot about spontaneity

and the way that specific
moment connects

with the audience, with
the venue we're playing.

I start to frown

Wrinkles from crying

Wrinkles from smiling

“My first few wrinkles
are growing on me”,

was such a good idea

and made me think of an
image of António, older.

I started thinking of dancehalls,

and the entire arrangement
was made thinking of that.

Wrinkles from crying

Wrinkles from smiling

Wrinkles from singing

I start to frown

Wrinkles from crying

Wrinkles from smiling

Wrinkles from singing

Wrinkles from feeling

Initially we had thought
of Camané to sing this.

But when we were trying
out the arrangement,

Camané wasn't around
and we had to try it out.

We tried to sing ourselves,
but we're such lousy singers

that we called for Manuela.
- Who was cooking.

Would you mind leaving
the stove for a while

and cook up the song a bit with us?

A few days later Camané
came to try it out

so we ended up with two
very good recordings.

Camané's voice fit the song
great and so did Manuela's.

Have you noticed we're living
in a kind of “Big Brother”?

The camera is always on.

There's somebody here
filming I don't know why.

Everything we say or do.

It's for a documentary.

I know, I got it.

Who's leaving?

Let's nominate João Cardoso
'cos he's always barefoot.

His feet stink.

I will live

Just for how long I do not know

What does it matter what I'll become

I just want to live

It's very important to
live in the present

in a positive way.

A song that I sing in
a very simple way

then moves into a
rock arrangement.

I really like rock.

I like hard rock.

I really do, funny.

Just as I like hard Fado.

What we wanted to
achieve on this show

has a lot to do with what
we tried in the sound.

With what ended up working,

the entire recording of
the album resulting in a

specific music personality
that is Humanos.

Because the 12 songs
on the album would

make for a very short concert,

we had to go look for other songs,

more repertoire to
build up the concert.

That was a fun part
of putting it together.

We found very enjoyable
things, nice duets to do.

Mimi frenchy class girl

She puts lipstick all over the world

I gave her permit for her French service

She licks, she sucks, she licks

“Que rico”, she licks, she sucks

She does it, oh she does it

Oh, you got to see her on the streets

Believe me, these songs do
reach out to people very easily.

Nearly all my friends, and
I have a lot of them

and only one really
didn't get the record.

And that includes a lot of characters
and very different people.

Look at the kids,

Manuela and Hélder's daughter
Nara really likes the songs.

It's a 7-to-77 thing.

My mother wants to go,
and she's 50.

My grandmother wants to go.

It happened that we had
a lot of gigs with Clã

after the Humanos
album came out,

but we were never once asked
to do “Change Your Life”

or any other Humanos songs.

So people can distinguish
Clã from Humanos

and I'm very pleased
with that.

That only makes me more
curious to find out

what kind of an audience
will be at the concerts.

Two months later Humanos played their
first two concerts at the Lisbon Coliseu.

Sorry guys but now I'm
going to strip completely.

Even more?

I'll be in here stark naked.

You can come now.

Go on, go on.

I don't believe this. A mother
of children doing this!

Watch it, we're being
filmed. Don't say that.

Call Camané so he
can sing a fado.

Now more people with records.

More gold records for us!

Gold teeth? We're getting
gold teeth today.

Your name António

Only here is understood

Abroad you have never been António

Abroad you're always someone else

Your name António

Is only true over here

Why don't you stay here António

Over there you're always a foreigner

It's probably the one
song we worked on most,

we recorded the most takes
and we spent more time on.

We may have spent as
many hours on it

as in all the other songs combined.

But we ended up leaving
it off the album

because it didn't sound right.

I remember us trying to avoid
it sounding like a lament.

Like somebody pissed off
at something, lamenting it.

Because António never sounded
like that in his songs.

He's never nobody's conscience.

I remember having
that cloud over us

and being unable to shrug it off.

I think that's why we never
really liked the arrangement.

We never managed to lose
that darker, heavier side.

I don't want to be another you

Don't ask for a story like yours

I don't want to be another you

When we got the idea for
this new arrangement,

it's very simple, based
around the voice.

But it has a strong intensity
and it's very airy

it's got a very strong light,
it's very luminous.

That's what we failed to
find when doing the album

and now finally got.

Your name António

António (original demo)

Only here is understood

Abroad you have never been António

Abroad you're always someone else

No, the Sun is not to blame

If my body gets sunburned

Please blame it on my want

To hold you in my arms

What song on the
album do you guys

think symbolizes Humanos best?

In a radio interview Camané and
Rafael said at the same time

“Blame It On My Want”.

It does have that side,

that thing of talking about
the need to do things.

We should blame all we do in life
and all our choices on our own will.

Our will to do things, to take risks,

to make mistakes, to learn.

That's a mark of the
song and a good way

to symbolise what this
project was about as well.

The want that lives inside myself

The want that dies only when my end

Is brought on by my age

Please blame it on my want

The third Humanos concert took
place in the Oporto Coliseu,

one week later.

You got to get me two
more invites for today,

two.

If not invites then find me
a way for these guys

to find a seat somewhere.

And I'll nag everybody
until showtime

so I can get two invites for friends.

A couple of friends from up North.

Don't even think you
won't get me the invites.

The Web (original demo)

This is another one of the
demos with António

on his own clapping
and singing.

My first thought
was to do it very fast,

in a rockabilly way,
something like that.

But then Rafael came up
with a much better idea

that changed it around.

It was incredible, a
great arrangement.

And when we heard
it all together

it sounded incredibly fresh
right from the get go.

I have a way to persuade you

I have the means to hook you up

I have a way to persuade you

Besides playing the keyboards,

João Cardoso plays
ukulele on it as well.

Something he'd never
even picked up

and now he's playing it
like a virtuoso.

Take a good look at me

You can't escape

You can't escape

You won't be able to

You won't resist

Start smiling

You're trapped inside my web

I asked for some tickets.

There's someone here...
And I might just go hoarse,

and lose my voice
with all the times

I've asked for invites
for my friends.

To give and to receive.

I've been asking for two hours,
and no, this isn't pointless.

Maria Albertina please allow me to say

Maria Albertina please allow me to say

This is António with the drum machine

that helped him write the
songs, the faster ones.

It was all very confusing because

drum machines work
with quaternary patterns

and he wrote the songs
in binary patterns,

like folk music.
So it all got mixed up

and that made it hard
for us to arrange them

and realise what was
it he was after.

Maria Albertina please allow me to say

Nobody wanted us to do “Maria
Albertina”, not even the label.

So I made an effort.

Defended the song with their help

'cause I wouldn't be able
to do it on my own,

but it was the arrangement
that pulled it off.

Maria Albertina
How could you have thought

Of giving your child the name Vanessa?

Rafael got excited too

and did this incredible
arrangement.

Then he just showed up,
“look, I've tried this out,

no big deal, don't
mind the bass...”

Then we heard it and it was
an unbelievable arrangement,

with an unbelievable bass line.

So hard to play I took a
good week to record it.

I know your name doesn't
Really sound like much

But it's homegrown
And full of charm

Maria Albertina
How could you have thought

I'm the husband of Maria
Albertina and Vanessa's father.

The song that António Variações wrote
was a tribute to my wife and daughter.

So as a tribute I got this T-shirt
and came over to the show.

If you'd care to see, this was
my wife and my daughter.

The glasses of one of the
bouncers were the director's.

This was also a
wonderful magazine.

This was Pipi.

He was amazing.

Camané made one of my
favourite gestures,

this headshake, just now.

Cocky sod!

This was so good.

So out there.

Twenty minutes like
a Benfica game.

Manuela and David's
fast movements.

The scissors, the hairdo.

This here was very
good, oh look, look...

So many friends, so many actors,

so many movie people you know.

You could get a ticket for someone,

two for me, for a couple of my friends.

With “Guardian Angel” I was
very, very happy about

the arrangement Hélder
and everybody else

got together back at the house.

Because I like the song a lot

but not so much the original
version in António's album.

And this simpler setting,
almost like a lullaby,

really brings the song out.

I really like singing it

and I found out it's also
an excellent song

to sing children to sleep.

He uses a light

To light up my life

May I have the privilege
of complimenting you?

You know who I am?
I'm António Variações's sister.

You are? You do look like him.
- I just wanted to meet you.

I have no words to thank you.

I'm very happy.

God bless you all.

And if I needed to see the
show from the audience

because I'm not always
onstage singing?

I could need to and nobody
gets me an invite.

I'll tell Salgado (manager).

Fado singer Camané sang for
the first time in a summer

outdoor festival, Sudoeste.
It was Humanos' last concert.

I know your name doesn't
Really sound like much

But it's homegrown and full of charm

Maria Albertina
How could you have thought

Of giving your child the name Vanessa?

If you'd like to remember me

That's up to you

If you'd like to repeat me

To pair up or even to split

I'll be in the well

I won't be repressed

That's quite dangerous

I'll be by myself

“In The Mud”,

was the first song I was
attracted to on this project.

When I knew I could do it,
I went for it immediately.

I remember singing it with a guitar,

I hadn't even met them in the studio

and was already doing it on my own.

Because it has that edge, that strength,

that desire for something euphoric.

I'll be in that place

Of ill repute

And I'll feel queer

You never filmed
the Queen Mother?

I filmed the Pope.

Which one?

John Paul.

The one before?
- Yes.

That's life.

And Eusébio, have
you filmed Eusébio?

Not yet.

Not yet? You should
make an effort.

Are these earthlings waiting
for Humanos then?

Have you filmed the new
Luz stadium, the Cathedral?

You have that ambition?

I remember having my fly open

in the final concert of the Expo 98

and all I could think of was it as
going to show on the big screen.

Don´t eat me up

Don´t eat me up

“Don´t Eat Me Up",

was one of the hardest
for me to sing.

In many of António's songs

I think of the word “edge”.

Because many of them were
right there on the edge.

What I tried on that song

was to try and sing it
on the edge.

I'm not the mirror of your vanity

Nor the pill you take for comfort

No, not with me

I'm not a TV channel

How old are you?
- 34.

Then I think you may
have the chance

to at least film another three Popes.

Three Popes, with luck, maybe four.

That song inspired a lot of people,

made a lot of people
turn their lives around.

She changed her job,

changed her husband...

This is the new one...

Change your life
If you're not pleased with how you live

Change your life,
There's always time to do it

Change your life,
You shouldn't live upset

Change your life
If there's enough life throbbing in you

Change your life
If you're not pleased with how you live

Change your life,
There's always time to do it

Change your life,
You shouldn't live upset

We had to play around a
lot with the platforms

because of the
differences in height.

Funny.

I'm the only one who's
not in an overall.

You're not?

No, just in a jacket.

All they had was the standard size.

The orgasmatron.

The face masseur.

David was really impressed
by the hair scratching device.

Really, it messed me up a lot.

I had to be really still.

It really really gave me the creeps.

Didn't you get that feeling too

you're watching Joan Collins on TV?

I always felt that kind of chill.

I did. I still do.

Look at this scene.
What a lovely embrace.

Change your life,
There's always time to do it

Change your life,
You shouldn't live upset

Change your life
If there's enough life throbbing in you

Look, man, I wish you luck

on your quest

to film King Eusébio.

And other great people in our history.

Yesterday's and even tomorrow's.

Change your life
If you're not pleased with how you live

The treasure had been
discovered and the secret shared.

The seven musicians that had sung
Variações followed each his own path...

...more HUMAN than before.

This is the most beautiful song
and I'm the only one who can sing it

It is my greatest cry of life
It is your cry it is my awakening

António Variações

Because life is not and
Never should be seen

As a punishment you have to live through

Because life is not and
Never should be seen

As a punishment you have to live through

SLB, SLB.

What about my friends' invitation?

SLB.

The End.