O Trem Azul

The Blue Train
by Lô Borges & Ronaldo Bastos
from Clube da Esquina Vol. I (1972)



This is one of my all-time favorite albums, and I think this song was the first one on the album that really caught my attention. I listened to the album almost daily my junior year of college. I remember talking about it with my Portuguese professor and her saying she and her brother were hooked on it when they were in middle school or high school and would listen to it over and over on their record player, but I'm not sure how popular it was overall in Brazil at the time it was released.

I couldn't tell you what the connection is supposed to be between the verse and chorus, or what the blue train is supposed to mean, but hey, it was the 70s, things were just trippy like that. I enjoy Lô's voice a lot on this track. It sounds kind of off-key at times, but that's part of what keeps the song from feeling too cheesy to me. It just popped into my head that a lot of songs on this album seem to reference the wind. I wonder if that has to do with the part of Brazil they are from...something to look into. I have a few other translations from this album pretty much ready to go, so I'm going to post at least one more before moving on to other things.

LYRICS

Coisas que a gente se esquece de dizer
Frases que o vento vem às vezes me lembrar
Coisas que ficaram muito tempo por dizer
Na canção do vento não se cansam de voar

Things that we forget to say
Phrases that the wind sometimes brings to mind
Things that took a long time to say
In the wind's song, they never tire of flying

Você pega o trem azul
O sol na cabeça
O sol pega o trem azul
Você na cabeça
O sol na cabeça

You catch the blue train
The sun in the front
The sun catches the blue train
You in the front
The sun in the front