"Sentado à beira do caminho" ("Sitting by the Side of the Road") is a Brazilian song composed by

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

and

Erasmo Carlos Erasmo Carlos (born Erasmo Esteves; 5 June 1941 – 22 November 2022) was a Brazilian singer and songwriter, most closely associated with his friend and longtime collaborator Roberto Carlos (no relation). Together, they created many chart hits ...

and released as a single in May 1969 by Erasmo Carlos.

Background

The song was created in 1969. After working on the lyrics for two months, the duo still hadn't come up with the chorus. Just before the deadline, they were working on it in Roberto's house in

Morumbi, São Paulo Morumbi () is one of the richest neighborhoods in São Paulo and is a district of the city of São Paulo belonging to the subprefecture of Butantã, in the southwestern part of the city. A common folk etymology attributes its name to the mixed ...

, and he decided to take a nap. When Erasmo woke him up, Roberto mumbled: "Preciso acabar logo com isso. Preciso lembrar que existo" ("I need to get this done soon, I need to remember I exist"), which eventually became the chorus. The song was inspired by a 1968 hit song, Bobby Goldsboro's " Honey (I miss you)", and it describes the despair and hopelessness of a lover waiting for his beloved. the songs of Bobby Goldsboro (Honey) and Erasmo Carlos / Roberto Carlos are two completely different songs. The hits "L'appuntamento" ("The Date"), "Sentado à beira do caminho" and "Nuestro encuentro" ("Our Encounter") have the same music and similar lyrics in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish language. There is an important difference when translated from Portuguese to the Italian language, the idea of "mixing tears with raindrops" was replaced with "wait for your love no matter the bad weather", which was an important loss of the initial message and a poetry theme switch). A Spanish-language version of the song was also released titled "Sentado a la vera del camino" and was recorded by Erasmo Carlos. The Spanish version has been covered by Los Vikings and . In 1988, American singer

Eydie Gormé Eydie Gormé ( ; born Edith Gormezano; August 16, 1928 – August 10, 2013) was an American singer who achieved notable success in pop, Latin, and jazz genres. She sang solo and in the duo Steve and Eydie with her husband, Steve Lawrence, on a ...

recorded the Spanish-language version ("Sentado a la vera del camino") with Roberto Carlos for her album ''De corazón a corazón''. The song peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs. Their version led to the duo receiving a nomination for Pop Group or Duo of the Year at the inaugural Lo Nuestro Awards in 1989. In 1970 the song was adapted into the Italian language by

Bruno Lauzi Bruno Lauzi (; 8 August 1937 – 24 October 2006) was an Italian singer-songwriter, poet and writer. Biography Bruno Lauzi was born in Asmara, then part of the Italian East Africa, to a Catholic father, Francesco Lauzi and a Jewish mother, ...

and recorded by

Ornella Vanoni Ornella Vanoni (; born 22 September 1934) is an Italian singer. She is one of the longest-standing Italian artists, having started performing in 1956. She has released about 112 works between LP, EPs and greatest hits albums, and is considered ...

with the title "L'appuntamento". This version, chosen as the closing song of the radio show ''Gran Varietà'', became an immediate hit, ranking #2 on the Italian hit parade. The song was also covered by several artists, including Mina,

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

Fernanda Porto Fernanda Porto, or Maria Fernanda Dutra Clemente ( Serra Negra, Brazil, December 31, 1965), is a Brazilian drum 'n' bossa singer. Drum 'n' bossa is a combination of electronic music, bossa nova and drum 'n' bass. Along with DJ Patife, her song ...

and (in a Greek version)

Dimitra Galani Dimitra Galani () is a Greek singer and songwriter. Galani was born 1952 in Athens and began her musical career at the age of 16 providing vocals on several tracks of Dimos Moutsis and Nikos Gatsos on the album "A Smile": (). She subsequently ...

(, "Encounter"). Vanoni's version was included in the musical score of the film ''

Ocean's Twelve ''Ocean's Twelve'' is a 2004 heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by George Nolfi. Serving as the second installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy, it is a direct sequel to ''Ocean's Eleven'' (2001). The film feature ...

''.

Track listing

Original version

; 7" single – RGE 70.363 # "Sentado à Beira do Caminho" (Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos) # "Johnny Furacão" (Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos)

L'appuntamento

; 7" single – CBS 3654 # "L'appuntamento" (Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos, Bruno Lauzi) # "Uomo, uomo" (

Luciano Beretta Luciano Beretta (1 January 1928 – 11 January 1994) was an Italian lyricist, best known for his long collaboration with Adriano Celentano. Life and career Born in Milan, Beretta was the son of a driver and a tailor, and had a degree in accou ...

, Donata Giachini, Nicola Aprile)

Sentado a la Vera del Camino

; 7" single – CBS 653054 7 # "Sentado a la Vera del Camino" (Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos)

Charts

Ornella Vanoni version Eydie Gormé and Roberto Carlos version

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sentado à Beira do Caminho 1969 singles 1969 songs Roberto Carlos (singer) songs 1970 singles 1988 singles Eydie Gormé songs Songs in Portuguese Ornella Vanoni songs