“É preciso dar um jeito, meu amigo” (Erasmo Carlos, 1971)
Source: Will Mumu Silva, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Walter Salles’s fantastic and powerful “Ainda estou aqui” (“I’m still here”) won best foreign film at the Oscars on Sunday. Among many highlights of the movie is the incredible soundtrack, about which a Brazuca Sounds special episode dropped today. I’ve translated a pivotal song from the movie below, which joins some other songs from the movie that I’ve already translated (and will soon be joined by even more). Seriously: Go see this movie and listen to the soundtrack!
There are two notable translation items in this song’s title. First, the oh-so-Brazilian expression “dar um jeito” which literally means something between “find a way” and “make it happen.” This expression - and the related “jeitinho” or “little way” - are a cultural touchstone to Brazilians, who pride themselves on finding a way to get things done, regardless of any bureaucratic or other hurdles. The other notable phrase from the title is “é preciso” - “it’s necessary” in English, one of almost infinite expressions starting with “é”/“it’s” - which I definitely had to translate with more agency than that given this song’s call to action. Thus, I’ve expanded “it is necessary” to mean “it is necessary for you” or more in keeping with the tone of the song “you gotta.”
Where I’ve used the word “grownups” below the original uses “gente grande” (literally, “big people”). I think Erasmo purposefully doesn’t use the word “adult” but rather the word that kids would use. So I did too.
And of course “I’m still here” (the movie title) strongly echoes the sentiment of this song.
“É preciso dar um jeito, meu amigo”
Eu cheguei de muito longe
E a viagem foi tão longa
E na minha caminhada
Obstáculos na estrada
Mas enfim aqui estou
Mas estou envergonhado
Com as coisas que eu vi
Mas não vou ficar calado
No conforto, acomodado
Como tantos por aí
É preciso dar um jeito, meu amigo
É preciso dar um jeito, meu amigo
Descansar não adianta
Quando a gente se levanta
Quanta coisa aconteceu
As crianças são levadas
Pela mão de gente grande
Quem me trouxe até agora
Me deixou e foi embora
Como tantos por aí
É preciso dar um jeito, meu amigo
É preciso dar um jeito, meu amigo
Descansar não adianta
Quando a gente se levanta
Quanta coisa aconteceu
“You gotta find a way, my friend”
I came from far away
And the trip was so long
And on my walk
Obstacles in the road
But I’m finally here
But I’m ashamed
Of the things that I saw
But I’m not going to stay silent
In coziness and comfort
Like so many around here
You gotta find a way, my friend
You gotta find a way, my friend
Resting doesn’t work
When we rise up
How many things have happened
Children are taken
By the hand of grownups
The one who brought me up to now
Left me and went away
Like so many around here
You gotta find a way, my friend
You gotta find a way, my friend
Resting doesn’t work
When we rise up
How many things have happened