All of My Heart (Adoração)

Update 1/15/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

I’ve mentioned previously that I’ve taken it upon myself to introduce the Brazilian writing duo of Rubem Amorese and Toninho Zemuner. They write beautiful, singable, meaningful songs. In Portuguese. But with a resolute will and the help of Google translate, I forge on, transcribing and translating some of their songs.

The latest is a simple song called “Adoração.” Because the song is so simple, the translation was very difficult. Every word had to be just right. As a matter of fact, I’d like a little feedback. Here’s the first verse in Portuguese:

Te adorarei, te adorarei
Com todo o meu coração;
Com toda a sede do meu viver,
Com todo o meu ser.

Te adorarei, te adorarei
Com todo o meu coração;
Com toda a minha razão e amor,
Com todo o meu viver.

As you can see, the first two lines of each half verse are identical. Normally, the fourth line would rhyme with the second line, but in this song they’ve bound the two half verses by rhyming the last line in each half verse. This creates an unusually long wait for the rhyme completion for a simple song. I respected the integrity of the original and followed their pattern. At first it didn’t sound right to my ear, but after I spent some time recording it, it began to feel more natural. Yak, yak, yak. See for yourself.

Listen to their original: MP3

Look at the translation: PDF

Listen to my demo at the link above.

Look at the leadsheet at the link above.

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7 Responses to All of My Heart (Adoração)

  1. Amy Scheer says:

    My initial reaction is to remove the “of”s. As in, “All my heart… All my strength…” But I understand you’re matching syllables with notes.

  2. Greg Scheer says:

    Interesting idea. It probably wouldn’t mess too much with the syllabification. Do you suggest it because it sounds smoother than “all of my heart”?

  3. Toninho Zemuner says:

    Greg, I write this, without Rubem knowledge. As hope he agrees with me later on. Please, don’t remove the “of”. It is just great the way it is. For me, removing the “of”, will force the “all” be alongated in time, which, IMO, It might look like the composer couldn’t find a proper word to fill that part of the line. Do you know what I mean? Other than that, I think you are going in the right direction. Congrats, again!

  4. Greg Scheer says:

    Thanks for the feedback, Toninho. I’ll keep the “of” in there, and hope that my wife is okay with it!

  5. Hi, Greg. I agree with Toninho. keep the “of” in there e get something to share (just to ryme). 🙂

  6. Hi, Greg. My name is Mariano. I’m Rubem’s friend. He’s just sent me your demo. I listened to it three times and I really like it! Also, congratulations on your partnership with Rubem and Toninho!
    That’s great!

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