“Imunização Racional (Que Beleza)” (Tim Maia, 1975)
Source: SONIA D'ALMEIDA, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
This morning, the fantastic Brazilian music podcast Brazuca Sounds released a bonus episode about this song from Tim Maia’s album “Racional (Vol. 1)” (“Rational (Vol. 1)”). It’s a pretty simple song lyrically and linguistically. In fact, the trickiest part of translating this song is perhaps in the title itself, which refers back to a school of thought (a quasi-cult springing from a book) having to do with the word “Racional” that Brazuca Sounds explains in more depth. This song, as Leandro points out, was played at the inauguration of the Bandeirantes Theater in São Paulo, which, ironically, has now been replaced by a Kingdom of God Temple.
“Imunizição Racional (Que Beleza)”
Que beleza é sentir a natureza
Ter certeza pra onde vai e de onde vem
Que beleza é lhe dá pureza
E sem medo distinguir o mal e o bem
Uh uh uh que beleza
Uh uh uh que beleza
Que beleza é saber seu nome
Sua origem, seu passado e seu futuro
Que beleza é conhecer o desencanto
Viver tudo bem mais claro no escuro
Uh uh uh que beleza
Uh uh uh que beleza
Abra a porta e vá entrando
Felicidade vai brilhar no mundo
Que beleza
Que beleza
Que beleza
Que beleza
“Rational Immunization (How Beautiful)”
How beautiful it is to feel nature
To be certain where you’re going and where you’re from
How beautiful it is to give you purity
And to fearlessly distinguish between good and evil
Oh oh oh how beautiful
Oh oh oh how beautiful
How beautiful it is to know your name
Your origin, your past, and your future
How beautiful it is to know disenchantment
Living everything much more clearly in the dark
Oh oh oh que beleza
Oh oh oh que beleza
Open the door and go on in
Happiness will shine in the world
How beautiful
How beautiful
How beautiful
How beautiful