É Lampião Maria Bonita
Teve histórias no sertão
Coro: É Lampião Maria Bonita Teve histórias no sertão
É Lampião Maria Bonita
Teve histórias no sertão
Coro: É Lampião Maria Bonita Teve histórias no sertão
Oi cangaceiro oi bão de briga
É lampião desordeiro do sertão
Coro: É Lampião Maria Bonita Teve histórias no sertão
Oi era bravo na espingarda
Tiro certeiro quando ele disparava
Coro: É Lampião Maria Bonita Teve histórias no sertão
Dai o apelido de lampião
Vários disparos e a fama de valentão
Coro: É Lampião Maria Bonita Teve histórias no sertão
Noite de chuva Veio traição
Numa emboscada acabou-se lampião
Coro: É Lampião Maria Bonita Teve histórias no sertão
É Lampião Maria Bonita
Teve histórias no sertão
Coro: É Lampião Maria Bonita Teve histórias no sertão
It's Lampião Maria Bonita
There were stories in the sertão
Chorus: It's Lampião Maria Bonita There were stories in the sertão
It's Lampião Maria Bonita
There were stories in the sertão
Chorus: It's Lampião Maria Bonita There were stories in the sertão
Oi cangaceiro oi bão of fight
It’s the riotous hinterland lamp
Chorus: It's Lampião Maria Bonita There were stories in the sertão
Oi, I was mad at the shotgun
A direct hit when he fired
Chorus: É Lampião Maria Bonita There were stories in the sertão
Given the nickname of lantern
Multiple shots and famed as a bully
Chorus: It's Lampião Maria Bonita There were stories in the sertão
On a rainy night Betrayal came
An ambush ended with the lantern
Chorus: It's Lampião Maria Bonita There were stories in the sertão
It's Lampião Maria Bonita
There were stories in the sertão
Chorus: It's Lampião Maria Bonita There were stories in the sertão
This song refers to Lampião who was the leader of a famous ruthless bandit group called Cangaço in the Northeast of Brazil, by his side he had his lover, Maria Bonita. Lampião and his band were betrayed by one of his supporters and were ambushed by the police in one of his hideouts. Despite his history of brutal acts and savagery, there was enough in his undoubted courage, his many fights against heavy odds, his occasional acts of mercy and charity, his conventional piety and calculated courting of publicity to ensure that Lampião entered Brazilian folk-history as a hero.
Sertão refers to the semi-arid region comprising parts of the states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará and Piauí.