Legião Urbana

The International Man of Mystery (Mr. IMo?) has the travel bug again, and at the end of the week will be headed out again for a while to a bunch of different places I can't keep straight. He is accumulating a rather impressive list of appointments, but is mostly itching to get inked in for a trip to Brazil in the spring (which will be fall there, and I am hoping to cash in on a promise to go with). A week or so ago he re-tested for Portuguese for his work, aced the test of course and now is itching to get back to one of his favorite spots.

One of the main ways he preps for the tests is putting on his tunes.

When he was living in Brazil back in the day, Legião Urbana was the big thing. They are the equivalent of R.E.M. with smart poetical (sometimes political) lyrics and a general hipness based heavily on the lead singer, Renato Russo, who died of AIDS while Mr. IMo? was living in Brazil.

I don't speak Portuguese but Legião Urbana makes me want to. After over a decade I can almost sing along with some of the of songs, though I bet I have lousy pronunciation. I particularly favor this tune.

SONG OF THE DAY:

"Pais e filhos (Parents and Children" - Legião Urbana

i found a translation of the lyrics. from what Mr. IMo? and others have told me his poetry is extremely intricate and complex, even arcane in word usage, formation and general sentence manipulation, but it can give you at least a general idea what the song is about.

Portuguese

Pais e Filhos

Estátuas e cofres E paredes pintadas Ninguém sabe O que aconteceu...

Ela se jogou da janela Do quinto andar Nada é fácil de entender...

Dorme agora

Uuummhum!

É só o vento Lá fora...

Quero colo! Vou fugir de casa Posso dormir aqui Com vocês

Estou com medo Tive um pesadelo Só vou voltar Depois das três...

Meu filho vai ter Nome de santo

Uummhum!

Quero o nome Mais bonito...

É preciso amar haahaa as pessoas Como se não houvesse amanhã Por que se você parar prá pensar Na verdade não há...

Me diz, por que que o céu é azul Explica a grande fúria do mundo

São meus filhos Que tomam conta de mim...

Eu moro com a minha mãe Mas meu pai vem me visitar Eu moro na rua Não tenho ninguém Eu moro em qualquer lugar...

Já morei em tanta casa Que nem me lembro mais

Eu moro com os meus pais

Huhuhuhu!...ouh! ouh!...

É preciso amar haahaa as pessoas Como se não houvesse amanhã Por que se você parar prá pensar Na verdade não há...

Sou uma gota d'água Sou um grão de areia Você me diz que seus pais Não entendem Mas você não entende seus pais...

Você culpa seus pais por tudo Isso é absurdo São crianças como você

O que você vai ser Quando você crescer?

English

Parents and Children

statues and safes and painted walls no-one knows what happened...

she *played in the (jumped from the?) window of the fifth floor nothing is easy to understand...sleep now

mmmmmm

it's just the wind, outside

I want colour! I'm going to run away from home Can I stay here With you guys?

I'm scared I had a bad dream I'm going to go home After 3 o'clock

My son is going to have The name of a saint

mmmmmm

I want (him to have**) The one most beautiful

We need to love people As if there were no tomorrow Because if you stop and think about it Really, there isn't one...

Tell me why the sky is blue Explain to me the great fury of the world

It's my children That hold me to account...

I live with my mother But my father comes to visit me I live in the streets I have no-one I live in some place...

I've already lived in so many places That I don't remember who I am anymore...

I live with my parents...

Huhu, etc

We need to love people As if there were no tomorrow Because if you stop and think about it Really, there isn't one...

I am a drop of water I am a grain of sand You tell me that your parents Don't understand you But you don't understand them...

You blame them for everything This is absurd They are children, just like you

What will you know When you grow up?