O Tempo Não Pára Lyrics in English Cazuza

Below, I translated the lyrics of the song O Tempo Não Pára by Cazuza from Portuguese to English.
Verse 1
I shoot at the sun
I'm strong, I'm by chance
Verse 1
My machine gun full of sorrow
I'm the guy
Tired of running the opposite way
With no podium or girlfriend's kiss
I'm just another guy
But if you think
That I'm beaten
Verse 1
Know the dice are still rolling
Because time, time doesn't stop
Days yes, days no
I keep surviving without a scratch
On the charity of those who hate me
Your pool's full of rats
Your ideas don't match the facts
Time doesn't stop
I see the future replay the past
I see a museum of great novelties
Time doesn't stop
It doesn't stop, it doesn't stop
Verse 2
I don't have a date to celebrate
Sometimes my days come in pairs
Looking for a needle in a haystack
On cold nights it's better not even be born
On hot ones you choose, it's kill or die
And so we become Brazilians
They call you thief, f*ggot, pothead
They turn a whole country into a
Because that way you make more money, yeah, money
Your pool's full of rats
Your ideas don't match the facts, yeah
Time doesn't stop
I see the future replay the past
I see a museum of great novelties
But time doesn't stop
It doesn't stop, it doesn't stop
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SONG MEANING

O Tempo Não Pára is Cazuza’s fiery anthem of resistance, self-assertion, and social critique. Singing from the perspective of an artist who feels both powerful and wounded, he compares his words to a “machine gun full of sorrows,” blasting at hypocrisy all around him. The lyrics paint a portrait of someone running in the opposite direction of the crowd, with no medals or sweet rewards, yet refusing to be labeled defeated. Cazuza reminds us that time rolls on without mercy, so the dice of life are still in motion and the game is far from over.

In the second half, the song widens its scope, exposing the decay beneath society’s shiny surface. “Your pool is full of rats” and “your ideas don’t match the facts” become rallying cries against corruption, prejudice, and the commercialization of Brazil’s identity. Cazuza sees history repeating itself like “a museum of great novelties,” warning that if nothing changes, the future will mimic the past. Despite the cynicism, his voice brims with defiance: surviving day after day “without a scratch,” he challenges us to question authority, confront injustice, and live intensely while the clock refuses to stop.

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