Petróleo Do Futuro Lyrics in English by Legião Urbana

Filósofos suicidas translates to "suicidal philosophers". This striking phrase immediately grabs attention due to its unusual and thought-provoking combination of words.

In the context of the song, it evokes a sense of existential despair and disillusionment, hinting at a world where even those who seek wisdom are overwhelmed by its harsh realities. It's a powerful image that encapsulates the song's critical and introspective tone.

Legião Urbana wrote this in 1985, right as Brazil was climbing out of a military dictatorship, and it reads like someone talking past another person rather than to them. It opens on a dream nobody gets to hear: “Ah, se eu soubesse lhe dizer o que eu sonhei ontem à noite” (Ah, if I could tell you what I dreamed last night), and every attempt to connect collapses into the same shrug: “E o que é que eu tenho a ver com isso” (And what do I have to do with that?)

Then the song drops the personal frame entirely for one stark image, four short lines in a row: “Filósofos suicidas, Agricultores famintos, Desaparecendo, Embaixo dos arquivos” (Suicidal philosophers, hungry farmers, disappearing, underneath the archives). Nobody here is killed, they are just buried by paperwork. By the time the singer calls himself “Sou brasileiro errado, Vivendo em separado” (I'm the wrong kind of Brazilian, living apart), “Contando os vencidos, De todos os lados” (counting the defeated, from every side), the song has stopped being about one failed conversation and become about a whole country talking past itself.