Tim, The Beatles and all of Brazil

Anamaria Sayre (0:00)

Okay, so after you say what you're going to know that you need to say, you're going to say, let the chisme begin, okay?

Tim Bernardes (0:06)

Let the what begin?

Anamaria Sayre (0:09)

This is going to go great.

Tim Bernardes (0:10)

Okay.

Anamaria Sayre (0:10)

Okay, ready? From NPR Music, this is Alt.Latino. I'm Tim Bernard.

Tim Bernardes (0:16)

And I'm Ana, is that it?

Anamaria Sayre (0:23)

Let the chisme begin.

Tim Bernardes (0:25)

Let the chisme begin, the cheese?

Anamaria Sayre (0:28)

The cheese, it's Spanish. You speak Portuguese, that's the problem. It's not a problem. It's a great problem to have. Chisme, it means like gossip. What is that word in Portuguese?

Tim Bernardes (0:37)

Chisme, fofoca.

Anamaria Sayre (0:38)

Fofoca, now you're animated. The music of Tim Bernard is a song that is a song that is a song that is a song that is a song.

Tim Bernardes fits as easily in the poetry of the Cosmos as it does in the songwriting canon of his country. Brazil has a legacy of some of the greatest, most intricate, emotional songwriting there is. And if you ask me, I'd argue Tim fits. that is right in. So obviously, I invited him to play a tiny desk for our annual Alt.Tiny takeover.

And of course, I took the opportunity to pull him in after the show. I absolutely needed to know what he's been listening to. So here we are again, playing my latest and greatest new game. Let's call this episode a musical tapestry, painted by one of the greatest Brazilian singer songwriters of this era. So you have some of my favorite music. It's true, I'm not even just saying that. Really, I love your music. And I would imagine some of my favorite music taste. I think sometimes you listen to artists and you just know that they have excellent music taste.

Tim Bernardes (2:24)

Let's see.

Anamaria Sayre (2:25)

So I was like, well, obviously, if I'm going to have Tim here, I want to play with him my game.

Tim Bernardes (2:29)

Okay, what's your game?

Anamaria Sayre (2:30)

So my game is we have these types of shows, they're called guest DJ shows, where we bring in an artist and they bring us some songs. And my coworker, Felix, who co-hosts this show, he likes to give people a chance to come in prepared.

I don't like to do that. Because I think it's more fun when you don't know it's coming.

Tim Bernardes (2:49)

So like when I'm going back home and I feel like, oh, I should have said that song.

Anamaria Sayre (2:52)

You're like, ah, no, if I'd only known in advance, Anamaria told me. Exactly. So that's what we're going to do today. So I'm going to ask you some questions, and then you're going to tell me the song that you think works for that question.

Tim Bernardes (3:02)

Okay, all right.

Anamaria Sayre (3:03)

Okay, first question. What is the first song you ever remember hearing?

Tim Bernardes (3:09)

Something from that red collection of the Beatles, like the early days Beatles. So something like I want to hold your hand, some song from that era.

Anamaria Sayre (3:21)

Nice. Those harmonies, man.

Tim Bernardes (4:03)

Yes.

Anamaria Sayre (4:03)

What were they doing?

Tim Bernardes (4:04)

This is so good, right? You know it's good, but if you play it and listen, it's always surprisingly better.

Anamaria Sayre (4:12)

It's always surprisingly better, right? I don't want to say that we forget about the Beatles, but we a little bit forget about the Beatles.

Tim Bernardes (4:18)

Because a memory of a song is not a song that is currently playing, you know what I mean?

Anamaria Sayre (4:24)

Oh, I really need to think about that.

Tim Bernardes (4:27)

Think about this song, I want to hold your hand, but it's different if we play it again right now, the feeling of a song that is currently playing, the present.

Anamaria Sayre (4:34)

You remembering that a song exists isn't going to give you the feeling the song gives you.

Tim Bernardes (4:38)

Yeah, yeah. That's it.

Many bands I feel like this, like if someone say like, let's listen to Led Zeppelin, I feel like, oh, I don't want to listen. But if they play it, I feel like, oh my God, this is incredible.

Anamaria Sayre (4:48)

Because you're like, you get the feeling of like, oh, I've heard this a million times, but then it still hits on the millionth time, which is why they're, quote, timeless. How often do you think about the Beatles?

Tim Bernardes (4:58)

Oh, every day, many times.

Anamaria Sayre (5:09)