B-side A-side
- Artist: O Rappa
- Song: Lado B Lado A
- Translation: Portuguese → English
- Submitted by
algebra on Thu, 30/09/2010 - 13:35
Lado B Lado A
Se eles são Exu
Eu sou Yemanjá
Se eles matam bicho
Eu tomo banho de mar
Com corpo fechado
Ninguém vai me pegar
LadoA LadoB
LadoB LadoA
No bê-a-bá da chapa quente
Eu sou mais o Jorge Bem
Tocando bem alto no meu walkman
Esperando o carnaval do ano que vem
Não sei se o ano vai ser do mal
Ou se vai ser do bem
O que te guarda, a lei dos homens
O que me guarda, é a lei de Deus
Não abro mão da mitologia negra
Pra dizer eu não pareço com você
Há um despacho na esquina do futuro
Com oferendas carimbadas todo dia
Eu vou chegar, pedir agradecer
Pois a vitória de um homem
Às vezes se esconde
Num gesto forte que só ele pode ver
Eu sou guerreiro, sou trabalhador
E todo dia vou encarar
Com fé em Deus e na batalha
Espero estar bem longe
Quando o rodo passar
B-side A-side
They are Exu
I am Iemanjá
They sacrifice living creatures
I bath in the sea
My body is bullet-proof
No one is gonna get me
A-side B-side
B-side A-side
When the shit hits the fan
I'd rather have Jorge Ben
Singing at top volume on my Walkman
Waiting for the next year's Carnival
I don't know whether this is gonna be a mean
or a peaceful year
What shields you is the man's law
My shield is God's law
I stick up for my identity
Just to tell you this: "We are not alike"
There's a witchcraft work in the corner of the future's alley
with those well-known offerings every day
I'm gonna come near it, ask for my wish to come true, and thank the divinities
Sometimes the victory of a man
Is hidden in an act of bravery of his
Which no one but him can see
I am a tireless, hard working man
I will face each one of my days
With the faith in God, fighting hard for my living
I hope not to be here
When the troubled times break out
Exu and Yemanja are divinities of Afro-american religions in Brazil
People make their offerings to them for a good or bad wish.
A well known procedure of this kind- which is done for even those who don't believe it - happens on the annual year shift when, at midnight, one is supposed to go to the beach and throw flowers in the sea, an offering for Iemanja, asking for good luck next year.
Depending on who the god is, these works can involve offering meals, beverages, sacrifice of animals, etc.
So I suppose some of these works in name of Exu are provided with sacrifice. Now, Yemanja is the goddess of the seas, so the dicothomy in the first verse ( they do the dirt work while I have a nice time) is notable.
Corpo fechado = spell-proof, protected against spell or bad luck. One is supposed to do some procedure to get into this status.
Mitologia Negra = the Black Mythology, Afro-american deities. I think that with saying "I don't deny the Black mythology" the song writer mean "I don't deny my beliefs or who I am", in the sense that he won't deny being black.
Line 19 and 20 are used metaphorically. Despacho is a witchcraft work or offering that people of Afro-American religions do. So these phrases would translate better as "There is again a handful of promises for the future, telling us those same old illusions ever"
"Quando o rodo passar" can translate also as "When the cops pop out and run everyone in"
I use some American slangs to improve the gangsta-like density and rhythm of the text as it is in Portuguese
Please ask, comment, correct, suggest 
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