Podres poderes
Caetano VelosoOriginale | English translation / Traduzione inglese / Traduction anglaise... |
PODRES PODERES Enquanto os homens exercem seus podres poderes Motos e fuscas avançam os sinais vermelhos E perdem os verdes Nós somos uns boçais Queria querer gritar setecentas mil vezes Como são lindos, como são lindos os burgueses E os japoneses Mas tudo é muito mais Será que nunca faremos senão confirmar A incompetência da América católica Que sempre precisará de ridículos tiranos? Será, será que será que será que será Será que essa minha estúpida retórica Terá que soar, terá que se ouvir Por mais mil anos? Enquanto os homens exercem seus podres poderes Índios e padres e bichas, negros e mulheres E adolescentes fazem o carnaval Queria querer cantar afinado com eles Silenciar em respeito ao seu transe, num êxtase Ser indecente Mas tudo é muito mau Ou então cada paisano e cada capataz Com sua burrice fará jorrar sangue demais Nos pantanais, nas cidades, caatingas E nos gerais? Será que apenas os hermetismos pascoais Os tons, os mil tons, seus sons e seus dons geniais Nos salvam, nos salvarão dessas trevas E nada mais? Enquanto os homens exercem seus podres poderes Morrer e matar de fome, de raiva e de sede São tantas vezes gestos naturais Eu quero aproximar o meu cantar vagabundo Daqueles que velam pela alegria do mundo Indo mais fundo Tins e Bens e tais | ROTTEN POWERS [1] While the men exercise their powers powers Motorcycles and beetles run the red lights And miss the greens We areso loutish I wished to sing seven hundred thousand times How beautiful, how beautiful are the bourgeois And the Japanese, but everything is so much more Won't we ever do nothing but to confirm The incompetence of catholic America Which will always need ridiculous tyrants? Will, will, will, will Will this stupid rhetoric of mine Need to sound, need to be heard for a thousand years more? While the men exercise their powers powers Indians and priests and fags, blacks and women And teenagers make the carnival I wished to wish to sing in tune with them Be silent in respect to their trance, in an ecstasy Be indecent, but everything's so bad Or every civil and every foreman In their stupidity will spill too much blood In the wetlands, in the cities, caatingas and in the woods Will only the "Hermetisms Pascoals" [2] The tones, the thousand tones [3] and his genial gifts Save us, will save us from these darkness and nothing more While the men exercise their powers powers Kill and die of hunger, of anger, of thirst Are too often natural gestures I wish to approach my vagabond singing Of those who watch for the happiness of the world Going deeper, "Tims" and "Bens" [4] and such |
[1] The title is wrongly translated “Powers Powers” in the otherwise impeccable English translation made by the Lyrics Translate contributor; but it must be an oversight, of course. We have restored here the right title. The following are translator's original notes in English.
[2] By "Hermetism Pascoals" Veloso is referring to Hermeto Pascoal, a musician and performer.
[3] Here's a game of words: he says "mil tons" which literary means "a thousand tones", but could also sound as "Míltons". Veloso is referring to the singer and composer Mílton Nascimento.
[4] By "Tims" Veloso refers to the singer Tim Maia and by "Bens" to the singer Jorge Ben Jor