The Wheel of Life

   

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Taking Inspiration from Roda Viva

Chico Buarque singing Roda Viva with the group MPB-4 at the 1967 Third Festival of Brazilian Popular Music (III Festival da Música Popular Brasileira).

For my 2019 Open Studios, I am creating a mural in my studio inspired by the song Roda Viva by Brazilian artist Chico Buarque. Recorded in 1967, the song is about how the “wheel of life” can suddenly turn and carry our world away. Roda Viva is considered one of the greatest Brazilian Popular Music songs of all time and, at the time it was recorded, was a subversive protest against the military dictatorship that came to power in Brazil in the 1960s in a coup against the democratically elected government.

The title of the song, Roda Viva, can be translated as “wheel of life” or “living wheel” but is also an expression in Portuguese meaning restless movement and turmoil. In the song, “roda-viva” is understood as a reference to the Brazilian dictatorship and the lyrics describe the impact the “wheel of life” had on the democratic destiny of Brazilians, freedom of expression and socialist ideals.

The verses contain many metaphors and Brazilian cultural references, making direct translation challenging, but below is my translation after various other translations I found on the internet

Lyrics of Roda Viva by Chico Buarque

Tem dias que a gente se sente
Como quem partiu ou morreu
A gente estancou de repente
Ou foi o mundo então que cresceu?

A gente quer ter voz ativa
No nosso destino mandar
Mas eis que chega a roda-viva
E carrega o destino pra lá

Roda mundo, roda-gigante
Rodamoinho, roda pião
O tempo rodou num instante
Nas voltas do meu coração

A gente vai contra a corrente
Até não poder resistir
Na volta do barco é que sente
O quanto deixou de cumprir

Faz tempo que a gente cultiva
A mais linda roseira que há
Mas eis que chega a roda-viva
E carrega a roseira pra lá

Roda mundo, roda-gigante
Rodamoinho, roda pião
O tempo rodou num instante
Nas voltas do meu coração

A roda da saia, a mulata
Não quer mais rodar, não senhor
Não posso fazer serenata
A roda de samba acabou

A gente toma a iniciativa
Viola na rua, a cantar
Mas eis que chega a roda-viva
E carrega a viola pra lá

Roda mundo, roda-gigante
Rodamoinho, roda pião
O tempo rodou num instante
Nas voltas do meu coração

O samba, a viola, a roseira
Um dia a fogueira queimou
Foi tudo ilusão passageira
Que a brisa primeira levou

No peito a saudade cativa
Faz força pro tempo parar
Mas eis que chega a roda-viva
E carrega a saudade pra lá

Roda mundo, roda-gigante
Rodamoinho, roda pião
O tempo rodou num instante
Nas voltas do meu coração
There are days that we feel
Like those who went away or died
Did we suddenly stop
Or was it the world that grew?

We want to have a say
Make our own destiny
But then arrives the wheel of life
And carries destiny away

Spinning world, ferris wheel
Whirlwind, spinning top
Time turned in an instant
In the turns of my heart

We go against the tide
Until we cannot resist
In the turn of the boat, we feel
How much we have left to do

For such a long time we cultivate
The most beautiful rose bush there is
But then arrives the wheel of life
And carries the rosebush away

Spinning world, ferris wheel
Whirlwind, spinning top
Time turned in an instant
In the turns of my heart

The turn of the skirt, the mulata
Doesn’t want to turn any more, no sir
I am not able to serenade
The samba circle has ended

We take the initiative
Guitar in the street, singing
But then arrives the wheel of life
And carries the guitar away

Spinning world, ferris wheel
Whirlwind, spinning top
Time turned in an instant
In the turns of my heart

The samba, the guitar, the rosebush
One day the fire burned
It was all a passing illusion
That the first breeze carried away

In our hearts our longing is captured
Pushing hard to stop time
But then arrives the wheel of life
And carries the longing away

Spinning world, ferris wheel
Whirlwind, spinning top
Time turned in an instant
In the turns of my heart

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