“Novo Tempo” (Ivan Lins, 1980)
Source: May S. Young from Metro NYC, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Just missing out on the wave of MPB greats turning 80 this year, this post is a happy 81st birthday wish to Ivan Lins (b. June 16, 1945). This song, from his 1980 album of the same name, is one of his most well known. Written during the military dictatorship, it is a brilliant ode to hope and resistance that also seems appropriate to our current time.
“Novo Tempo”
No novo tempo
Apesar dos castigos
Estamos crescidos
Estamos atentos
Estamos mais vivos
Pra nos socorrer
Pra nos socorrer
Pra nos socorrer
No novo tempo
Apesar dos perigos
Da força mais bruta
Da noite que assusta
Estamos na luta
Pra sobreviver
Pra sobreviver
Pra sobreviver
Pra que nossa esperança
Seja mais que vingança
Seja sempre um caminho
Que se deixa de herança
No novo tempo
Apesar dos castigos
De toda fadiga
De toda injustiça
Estamos na briga
Pra nos socorrer
Pra nos socorrer
Pra nos socorrer
No novo tempo
Apesar dos perigos
De todos pecados
De todos enganos
Estamos marcados
Pra sobreviver
Pra sobreviver
Pra sobreviver
Pra que nossa esperança
Seja mais que a vingança
Seja sempre um caminho
Que se deixa de herança
No novo tempo
Apesar dos castigos
Estamos em cena
Estamos na rua
Quebrando as algemas
Pra nos socorrer
Pra nos socorrer
Pra nos socorrer
No novo tempo
Apesar dos perigos
A gente se encontra
Cantando na praça
Fazendo pirraça
Pra sobreviver
Pra sobreviver
Pra sobreviver
“New Time”
In the new time
Despite the punishments
We are grown
We are alert
We are more alive
To rescue us
To rescue us
To rescue us
In the new time
Despite the dangers
Of more brutal force
Of the terrifying night
We’re in the struggle
To survive
To survive
To survive
So that our hope
May be more than vengeance
May always be a path
That we leave as a legacy
In the new time
Despite the punishments
All the fatigue
All the injustice
We are in the fight
To rescue us
To rescue us
To rescue us
In the new time
Despite the dangers
All the sins
All the deceit
We are marked
To survive
To survive
To survive
So that our hope
May be more than vengeance
May always be a path
That we leave as a legacy
In the new time
Despite the punishments
We’ve taken the stage
We’re in the streets
Breaking the handcuffs
To rescue us
To rescue us
To rescue us
In the new time
Despite the dangers
We will meet
Singing in the town square
Throwing a tantrum
To survive
To survive
To survive