Os Números [English translation]

My friends, last night I had a hallucination

I dreamed of a bunch of numbers invading my hinterlands1

It was so much of a coincidence that then I made this song

Let's talk about one

Talking about one doesn't require much study

You marry once only and it was one God who made everything

You only live once, you only wear one overcoat

Now twelve

As soon as twelve comes to mind I nearly give up

Twelve are the months of the year, twelve apostles of Christ

Twelve o'clock is noon, some have said it, some have seen it2

Now seven

Seven days of the week, seven musical notes

Seven colors of the rainbow in the divine regions

If there's that much trouble3, I can't take it anymore

Two

In two, men fight for different things

Good and evil, love and war, black and white, animals and people

Rich and poor, light and dark, night and day, body and mind

Now four

Four is important, four cardinal points

Four seasons of the year, an animal has four feet

A table has four legs, carnival has four days

To finish off

I've spoken of so many numbers, maybe I've forgotten a few

But the things I talked about aren't that common

If you know tell me another4, or be left without a single one

1. Sertão: A region in Northeastern Brazil. The word is often used to refer more generally to grasslands away from the shore.2. I'm actually unsure of what this means, it's not any idiom that I know. "Haja vista que" means "because", but I don't think that's it here.3. Pintar o sete: lit. "paint the seven" means making a mess or having fun, often excessively.4. "Contar" is used both for "telling" (a tale) or "counting" (amounts).

• Artist:Raul Seixas
• Album:Há 10 Mil Anos Atrás