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Roda

Gilberto Gil
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OriginalI have spent some time creating an English translation of this...
RODACIRCLE [1]
  
Meu povo, preste atençãoMy people, pay attention
Na roda que eu te fizIn the circle that I’ve made of you
Quero mostrar a quem vemI want to show whoever comes
Aquilo que o povo dizWhat the people have to say
Posso falar, pois eu seiI can speak because I know
Eu tiro os outros por mimI'll draw the people around me
Quando almoço, não jantoWhen I have lunch, I don’t eat
E quando canto é assimAnd when I sing here’s how:
  
Agora vou divertirNow I'm going to have some fun
Agora vou começarNow I'm going to get started
Quero ver quem vai sairI want to see who will leave
Quero ver quem vai ficarI want to see who will stay
Não é obrigado a me ouvirYou don’t have to hear me
Quem não quiser escutarIf you don’t want to listen
  
Quem tem dinheiro no mundoWhoever has money in the world
Quanto mais tem, quer ganharThe more you have, the more you want
E a gente que não tem nadaAnd for people who have nothing
Fica pior do que estáIt only ever gets worse
Seu moço, tenha vergonhaMy man [2], be ashamed
Acabe a descaraçãoStop your disgrace [3]
Deixe o dinheiro do pobreLeave the poor their money
E roube outro ladrãoAnd rob another thief
  
Agora vou divertirNow I'm going to have some fun
Agora vou prosseguirNow I’m going to continue
Quero ver quem vai ficarI want to see who will stay
Quero ver quem vai sairI want to see who will leave
Não é obrigado a escutarYou don’t have to listen
Quem não quiser me ouvirIf you don’t want to hear me
  
Se morre o rico e o pobreIf a rich man and a poor man die
Enterre o rico e euBury the rich man and me
Quero ver quem que separaI want to see who can separate
O pó do rico do meuThe dust of the rich man from mine
Se lá embaixo há igualdadeIf there is equality down there
Aqui em cima há de haverThen there must be up here
Quem quer ser mais do que éWhoever wants to be more than they are
Um dia há de sofrerWill suffer at the end of the day [4]
  
Agora vou divertirNow I'm going to have some fun
Agora vou prosseguirNow I’m going to continue
Quero ver quem vai ficarI want to see who will stay
Quero ver quem vai sairI want to see who will leave
Não é obrigado a escutarYou don’t have to listen
Quem não quiser me ouvirIf you don’t want to hear me
  
Seu moço, tenha cuidadoMy man, be careful
Com sua exploraçãoWith your exploitation
Se não lhe dou de presenteIf not, I will put you
A sua cova no chãoIn your grave
Quero ver quem vai dizerI want to see who will speak
Quero ver quem vai mentirI want to see who will lie
Quero ver quem vai negarI want to see who will deny
Aquilo que eu disse aquiWhat I said here
  
Agora vou divertirNow I'm going to have some fun
Agora vou terminarNow I’m going to finish
Quero ver quem vai sairI want to see who will leave
Quero ver quem vai ficarI want to see who will stay
Não é obrigado a me ouvirYou don’t have to hear me
Quem não quiser escutarIf you don’t want to listen
  
Agora vou terminarNow I’m going to finish
Agora vou discorrerNow I'm going to elaborate
Quem sabe tudo e diz logoWhoever knows everything had better say it now
Fica sem nada a dizerOr just sit there and be quiet
Quero ver quem vai voltarI want to see who will come back
Quero ver quem vai fugirI want to see who will run away
Quero ver quem vai ficarI want to see who will stay
Quero ver quem vai trairI want to see who will betray
  
Por isso eu fecho essa rodaWith that I close this circle
A roda que eu te fizThe circle that I made of you
A roda que é do povoThe circle that is of the people
Onde se diz o que dizWhere they say what they say
[1] The title of the song, “Roda,” is a word normally translated into English as “Wheel,” but saying “a wheel of people” doesn’t really make sense in English the way it does in Portuguese. Therefore, I feel “Circle” is a more appropriate translation here.

[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.


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