“Admiravel Gado Novo” (Zé Ramalho, 1979)
Source: As fotos da Virada!, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
In honor of Zé Ramalho’s 76th birthday, a translation of “Admirável Gado Novo” from his 2003 album “A Peleja do Diabo com o Dono do Céu” (“The Devil’s Struggle with the Lord of Heaven”). This song, which became Ramalho’s biggest hit after it appeared in the 1996 telenovela “Rei do Gado” (“King of Cattle”), is a critique of alienation and exploitation of the masses under a dictatorship. The title plays on “Brave New World” (“Admirável Mundo Novo” in Portuguese) and the strong lyrics reference Karl Marx, the Bible, and even the Hindenburg.
The first words to the song contain a pun that I’m pretty sure Zé Ramalho didn’t intend: “boi” = “bull” which is totally in keeping with the cattle/herd metaphor throughout. But the Portuguese word sounds just like “boy” in English. Ramalho definitely did not mean “oh, boy” (it’s clear from context and how it’s sung that it’s a call to a bull, not a sigh of desperation) but I like that it works out that way (even though I didn’t put it into the translation). Capitalist oppression and gaslighting dictatorships. Oh boy.
“Admirável Gado Novo”
Oh, boi!
Vocês que fazem parte dessa massa
Que passa nos projetos do futuro
É duro tanto ter que caminhar
E dar muito mais do que receber
E ter que demonstrar sua coragem
À margem do que possa parecer
E ver que toda essa engrenagem
Já sente a ferrugem lhe comer
Eh, oh, oh, vida de gado
Povo marcado, eh!
Povo feliz!
Lá fora faz um tempo confortável
A vigilância cuida do normal
Os automóveis ouvem a notícia
Os homens a publicam no jornal
E correm através da madrugada
A única velhice que chegou
Demoram-se na beira da estrada
E passam a contar o que sobrou!
Eh, oh, oh, vida de gado
Povo marcado, eh!
Povo feliz!
Oh, boi
O povo foge da ignorância
Apesar de viver tão perto dela
E sonham com melhores tempos idos
Contemplam essa vida numa cela
Esperam nova possibilidade
De verem esse mundo se acabar
A arca de Noé, o dirigível
Não voam, nem se pode flutuar
Não voam, nem se pode flutuar
Não voam, nem se pode flutuar
Eh, oh, oh, vida de gado
Povo marcado, eh!
Povo feliz!
Eh, oh, oh, vida de gado
Povo marcado, eh!
Povo feliz!
Feliz, feliz, feliz
Oh, boi, oh, boi, eh, boi
“Brave New Cattle”
Hey, bull!
You who are all part of that mass
That passes by the projects of the future
It’s hard to have to walk so much
And to give so much more than receive
And having to demonstrate your courage
On the margins of what may seem to be
And seeing that all these gears
Already feel the rust eating them away
Eh, oh, oh, life of cattle
Marked people, eh!
Happy people!
Out there the weather is pleasant
Surveillance takes care of the usual
The automobiles hear the news
Men publish it in the paper
And they run after the dawn
The only old age that has come
They pause on the edge of the road
And start to talk about what’s left!
Eh, oh, oh, life of cattle
Marked people, eh!
Happy people!
Hey, bull
The people flee from ignorance
Despite living so close to it
And they dream about better times gone by
They contemplate that life in a cell
They await new possibilities
Of seeing that world end
Noah’s ark, the dirigible
Don’t fly, nor can they float
They don’t fly, nor can they float
They don’t fly, nor can they float
Eh, oh, oh, life of cattle
Marked people, eh!
Happy people!
Eh, oh, oh, life of cattle
Marked people, eh!
Happy people!
Happy, happy, happy
Hey, bull, hey, bull, eh, boi