, commonly known as or in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, is the title of the Portuguese version of the popular

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

song, ''

Happy Birthday to you "Happy Birthday to You", or simply "Happy Birthday", is a song traditionally sung to celebrate a person's birthday. According to the 1998 ''Guinness World Records'', it is the most recognized song in the English language, followed by "For He' ...

''. It is traditionally sung to celebrate a person's

birthday A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many religion ...

in countries where Portuguese is an official language. The lyrics were written by

Berta Celeste Berta Celeste Homem de Melo (March 21, 1902 – August 16, 1999) was a Brazilian pharmacist, writer and poet. Known for writing the Portuguese language lyrics for the birthday song '' Parabéns a Você''. Early life Berta was born on March 21 ...

, a Brazilian poet, in 1942.

History

The traditional English language song, ''Happy Birthday to you'', arrived in Brazil in the 1930s, where it would be sung, in English, at birthday parties. In 1942 the singer Almirante (Henrique Foréis Domingues), a Rádio Tupi

presenter Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a news program * Sports commentator, an announcer who presents analysis of a sporting event * Radio personality, presenter or announcer on a radio show * Television ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, launched a competition to select Portuguese lyrics to the

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

of ''Happy Birthday to you''. The winning entry took five minutes to write, and was written by Berta Celeste from Pindamonhangaba,

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Lyrics

Until her death in 1999, Berta Celeste insisted that the lyrics be sung as she wrote them. However the lyrics that are most commonly sung in Brazil are slightly different from the original, and it is also customary to add a second, unofficial verse.

Copyright

While the English language version of the song is in the public domain, the

Escritório Central de Arrecadação e Distribuição The ''Escritório Central de Arrecadação e Distribuição'' (also known as ECAD; can be translated as ''Central Bureau for Collection and Distribution'') is the national copyright collection agency in Brazil. It is made up of six partner organisa ...

still collects royalties for the Portuguese song on behalf of the descendents of Berta Celeste.

References

{{reflist 1942 songs 1942 quotations Songs about birthdays Songs about birthday parties Copyright infringement Public domain music Songs involved in royalties controversies Quotations from music

History

Lyrics

Copyright

See also

References