finally!

i've been looking for this information for years, and now - the answer, it is MINE!

here's the original "escrava isaura" song:

it's called "Retirantes" and the singer is Dorival Caymmi

the lyrics
Vida de nego é difícil
É difícil como quê
Eu quero morrer de noite
Na tocaia me matar
Eu quero morrer de açoite
Se tu nega me deixar
Vida de nego é difícil
É difícil como quê

Meu amor, eu vou m’embora
Nessa terra vou morrer
O dia não vou mais ver
Nunca mais eu vou te ver
Vida de nego é difícil
É difícil como quê

and now for the the "le le le le le le, unga zungandungue" part that's been looping inside my head pretty much 24/7 for the past 15 or so years:

thank you, intertubes.

though i still don't know what the "ungazungadungue" means. i wish i did!

as for the telenovela itself, i'm pretty sure the whole point of it was that isaura's fate was particularly tragic because she was a white slave, so much as it fascinated me in middle school when i first started watching it on after-'89-romanian tv, i can't say i'm a fan now. besides, i remember nothing about the plot. maybe i should read the book, an abolitionist novel from 1875 (abolitionist, but still racist). and i'm not a soap opera watcher (or a tv watcher in general), but here's a feminist perspective on soap operas. yeah.