Kudos, Rita Lee!
Source: Marco Senche from Araçatuba, Brasil, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
At tonight’s Latin Grammys, Rita Lee will receive a lifetime achievement award. In honor of that honor, I’ve translated her song “Esse Tal De Roque Enrow” (phonetically “This Rock and Roll Thing” but contextually more like “This Roque Enrow guy”) from her 1975 album “Fruto Proibido” (“Forbidden Fruit”). This song is a great demonstration of the things that have made Rita Lee an excellent candidate for this lifetime Grammy: solid rock, cultural commentary, and wordplay. In this song she converts “rock and roll” into a name using phonetics from Portuguese. I’ve left the name in her original spelling, since “Roque” is a not-uncommon name in Brazil, but it could also be “Rock Androw” perhaps.
“This Roque Enrow guy”
She doesn’t even come home anymore, doc
She hates my dresses
My daughter’s an acute case, doc
Now she’s living with this guy
Roque Enrow!
Roque Enrow!
Roque En
She doesn’t talk to me, doc
When he’s nearby
He’s a crafty boy, doc
He wants to change the world, this guy
Roque Enrow!
Roque Enrow!
Roque En
Who is he? Who is he?
This Roque Enrow guy
A fly, a mystery
A style that’s passé
Him! Who is he?
Nobody ever told me that
She doesn’t want to be treated, doc
And she doesn’t think about the future
My daughter is single, doc
Right now she’s in the living room with this guy
Roque Enrow!
Roque Enrow!
Roque En
I try to keep up, doc
With this new generation
But my daughter doesn’t take me seriously, doc
She’s full of mystery with this guy
Roque Enrow!
Roque Enrow!
Roque En
Who is he? Who is he?
This Roque Enrow guy
A planet, a desert
A bomb that exploded
Him! Who is he?
Nobody ever told me that
She dances all day, doc
And only studies to pass
And she’s already smoking at her age, doc
I suspect there’s no more cure for that guy
Roque Enrow!
Roque Enrow!
Roque Enrow!
Roque Enrow!