Roda Viva [English translation]

There are days that we feel

Just as someone that has left or died

Maybe, we have stopped in time

Or either the world is the one who has evolved

We want to make our voices heard

and be the owners of our own destiny

But there comes the wheel of life

and takes our destiny far away

The world turns, big wheel,

The windmill turns, the trompo turns

Time has twirled in a flash

Among the turnarounds of my heart

We go ahead against the tide

until we can no longer resist

It's only at the ship's homecoming that we notice

how much we had left undone

For so long we have grown

the most beautiful rose that exists

But there comes the wheel of life

and takes the rose far away

The world turns, big wheel

The windmill turns, the trompo turns

Time has twirled in a flash

Among the turnarounds of my heart

Her long hemline skirt,

the mulata doesn't want to swirl it anymore

I don't play serenades anymore*

The circle/party of samba is over

We take the iniciative,

putting our violas out in the streets to sing

But there comes the wheel of life

and takes the violas far away

The world turns, big wheel

The windmill turns, the trompo turns

Time twirled in a instant

Among the turnarounds of my heart

The samba, the violas, the rose

which one day, the fire has burned

All were only brief illusions,

which the early breeze has carried away

In our hearts, the nostalgia grows

It tries hard to stop time

But there comes the wheel of life

and takes the nostalgia far away

The world turns, big wheel

The windmill turns, the trompo turns

Time twirled in a instant

Among the turnarounds of my heart

• Artist:Chico Buarque
• Album:Chico Buarque de Hollanda - Vol. 3 (1968)