Vai Passar [English translation]

Through this avenue

A popular samba will pass

each and every stepping stone

Of the city

Will shiver and tremble

In remembrance

To the immortal sambas that here have passed

That here through our feet they bled

That here have danced our ancestors

In a time

Unfortunate event in our past

A faded page in the memory

Of our youngest generations

Here slept

Our motherland so unaware

Without noticing it was being subtracted

In nefarious transactions

Her children

Wandered blindly through the continent

Carried stones like penitents

Raising strange cathedrals

And one day, after all

They had the rights to a

Fleeting joy,

A breathtaking epidemic

Which was called carnival,

Carnival, carnival

(Will pass)

Applause to the impoverished barons block

The elegant napoleons block

And to the boulevard pygmies

Oh Lord, come and look

Come up close to see a city singing

The evolution of freedom

From dusk until dawn

Oh such good life, olerê

Oh such good life, olará

The general hospice's standard bearer will pass

Oh such good life, olerê

Oh such good life, olará

The general hospice's standard bearer will pass

• Artist:Chico Buarque
• Album:Chico Buarque (1984)