Ô que vaqueiro malvado! x3 (chorus)
Que vaqueiro malvado
Que entrou no meu roçado
Botou fogo na catinga
Cortou (Queimou) o capim do gado
A fazenda não era minha
Era um pasto alugado
Ô que vaqueiro malvado! x3 (chorus)
O meu pai foi bom vaqueiro
Me ensinou a vaquejar
Passou a vida na lida
Mas não pode enricar
Deus levou antes da hora
Fez o meu peito sangrar
What a cruel cowboy! x3 (chorus)
What a cruel cowboy
who entered my patch, replace ‘roçado’ with ‘cerrado‘ for a variation.
set fire to the ‘catinga‘ (dry land vegetation)
Cut (or burned) the cattle’s grass
The farm wasn’t mine
The pasture was rented
What a cruel cowboy! x3 (chorus)
My father was a good cowboy
Taught me how to look after cows
spent his life working hard
but didn’t become rich
God took him before his time
Made my heart bleed
Mestre José Antonio adapted this song, it came originally from a ‘Samba Rural‘ song. Mestre José Antonio’s father was a farmer, and Mestre himself grew up in a farm, so the song resonates with him. There’s no hidden capoeira message in this song according to Mestre.
The end verse was written by Mestre José Antonio, and added to the song, as it’s customary with adaptations, and it’s about his father, and his premature death.
