“Pedras que cantam” (Dominguinhos & Nilo, 1991)
Source: Asant, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
In honor of his 77th birthday today, I’ve translated a song made famous by Raimundo Fagner Cândido Lopes. Known more for treacly romantic pop, he also stayed true to his northeastern roots with songs like this one, which was written by Dominguinhos and Fausto Nilo and first sung by Fagner as the opening theme of the 1992 telenovela “Coração Alado” (“Winged Heart”).
“Pedras que cantam”
Quem é rico mora na praia
Mas quem trabalha nem tem onde morar
Quem não chora dorme com fome
Mas quem tem nome joga prata no ar
Ô tempo duro no ambiente
Ô tempo escuro na memória
O tempo é quente
E o dragão é voraz
Vamos embora de repente
Vamos embora sem demora
Vamos pra frente que pra trás não dá mais
Pra ser feliz num lugar
Pra sorrir e cantar
Tanta coisa a gente inventa
Mas no dia que a poesia se arrebenta
É que as pedras vão cantar
“Stones that sing”
If you’re rich you live on the beach
But if you work you haven’t even got a place to live
If you don’t cry you go to sleep hungry
If you have a name you throw money around
O hard times around here
O dark times of memory
The weather is hot
And the dragon voracious
Let’s go suddenly
Let’s go without delay
Let’s go forward because backwards no longer works
To be happy in a place
To smile and sing
We make up so many things
But on the day poetry bursts out
Is when the stones will sing