Originale | I have spent some time creating an English translation of this... |
RODA | CIRCLE [1] |
| |
Meu povo, preste atenção | My people, pay attention |
Na roda que eu te fiz | In the circle that I’ve made of you |
Quero mostrar a quem vem | I want to show whoever comes |
Aquilo que o povo diz | What the people have to say |
Posso falar, pois eu sei | I can speak because I know |
Eu tiro os outros por mim | I'll draw the people around me |
Quando almoço, não janto | When I have lunch, I don’t eat |
E quando canto é assim | And when I sing here’s how: |
| |
Agora vou divertir | Now I'm going to have some fun |
Agora vou começar | Now I'm going to get started |
Quero ver quem vai sair | I want to see who will leave |
Quero ver quem vai ficar | I want to see who will stay |
Não é obrigado a me ouvir | You don’t have to hear me |
Quem não quiser escutar | If you don’t want to listen |
| |
Quem tem dinheiro no mundo | Whoever has money in the world |
Quanto mais tem, quer ganhar | The more you have, the more you want |
E a gente que não tem nada | And for people who have nothing |
Fica pior do que está | It only ever gets worse |
Seu moço, tenha vergonha | My man [2], be ashamed |
Acabe a descaração | Stop your disgrace [3] |
Deixe o dinheiro do pobre | Leave the poor their money |
E roube outro ladrão | And rob another thief |
| |
Agora vou divertir | Now I'm going to have some fun |
Agora vou prosseguir | Now I’m going to continue |
Quero ver quem vai ficar | I want to see who will stay |
Quero ver quem vai sair | I want to see who will leave |
Não é obrigado a escutar | You don’t have to listen |
Quem não quiser me ouvir | If you don’t want to hear me |
| |
Se morre o rico e o pobre | If a rich man and a poor man die |
Enterre o rico e eu | Bury the rich man and me |
Quero ver quem que separa | I want to see who can separate |
O pó do rico do meu | The dust of the rich man from mine |
Se lá embaixo há igualdade | If there is equality down there |
Aqui em cima há de haver | Then there must be up here |
Quem quer ser mais do que é | Whoever wants to be more than they are |
Um dia há de sofrer | Will suffer at the end of the day [4] |
| |
Agora vou divertir | Now I'm going to have some fun |
Agora vou prosseguir | Now I’m going to continue |
Quero ver quem vai ficar | I want to see who will stay |
Quero ver quem vai sair | I want to see who will leave |
Não é obrigado a escutar | You don’t have to listen |
Quem não quiser me ouvir | If you don’t want to hear me |
| |
Seu moço, tenha cuidado | My man, be careful |
Com sua exploração | With your exploitation |
Se não lhe dou de presente | If not, I will put you |
A sua cova no chão | In your grave |
Quero ver quem vai dizer | I want to see who will speak |
Quero ver quem vai mentir | I want to see who will lie |
Quero ver quem vai negar | I want to see who will deny |
Aquilo que eu disse aqui | What I said here |
| |
Agora vou divertir | Now I'm going to have some fun |
Agora vou terminar | Now I’m going to finish |
Quero ver quem vai sair | I want to see who will leave |
Quero ver quem vai ficar | I want to see who will stay |
Não é obrigado a me ouvir | You don’t have to hear me |
Quem não quiser escutar | If you don’t want to listen |
| |
Agora vou terminar | Now I’m going to finish |
Agora vou discorrer | Now I'm going to elaborate |
Quem sabe tudo e diz logo | Whoever knows everything had better say it now |
Fica sem nada a dizer | Or just sit there and be quiet |
Quero ver quem vai voltar | I want to see who will come back |
Quero ver quem vai fugir | I want to see who will run away |
Quero ver quem vai ficar | I want to see who will stay |
Quero ver quem vai trair | I want to see who will betray |
| |
Por isso eu fecho essa roda | With that I close this circle |
A roda que eu te fiz | The circle that I made of you |
A roda que é do povo | The circle that is of the people |
Onde se diz o que diz | Where they say what they say |
| |
| |
[2] “Seu moço” is a very interesting informal phrase that has pretty much no English equivalent, and I struggled quite a bit with how to translate it. The two component words are as follows: “Seu” which is the informal version of “Sr.” meaning “Mr.” and “moço” meaning “young man.” Taken together, it is an extremely informal way to address someone in Portuguese. The problem we run into with translating this phrase to English is that there is no informal way to say “Mr.” and saying something like “Mr. young man” sounds like nonsense in English. I have seen various English translations that interpret this phrase as simply “sir” or “young man,” but I feel these are too formal-sounding. “My man” is by no means a perfect translation of “Seu moço,” but I think it is more appropriate as it preserves the informality of the address in English, which is crucial to the meaning of the lyric.
[3] “Descaração” is a bit of informal language with the literal meaning “shamelessness.” This was another tricky one as it’s a word that doesn’t show up in the dictionary. Unfortunately, I do not think it is possible to capture the informality of this word in English as I attempted to do with “seu moço.” We do have informal ways of telling people to “stop their shamelessness” in English but they are typically much more vulgar than what “Acabe a descaração” implies. Therefore, the only change I have made is swapping in the word “disgrace,” because I feel the word “shamelessness” is very clunky-sounding in English.
[4] There are a few other phrases where I have subbed in a close English equivalent rather than a direct translation. For instance, rather than translating “Um dia há de sofrer” literally as “one day will suffer,” I have instead chosen “will suffer at the end of the day,” which means basically the same thing and is far more commonly said among English speakers.