Peão Lyrics in English Eduardo Costa

Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Peão by Eduardo Costa from Portuguese to English.
Diga você me conhece
Tell me, you know me
Eu já fui boiadeiro
I used to be a cowboy
Conheço essas trilhas
I know these trails
Quilômetro, milhas
Kilometers, miles
Que vem e que vão
That come and go
Pelo alto sertão
Through the high backlands
Que agora se chama
That is now called
Não mais de sertão
No longer backlands
Mas de terra vendida
But sold land
Civilização
Civilization
Ventos que arrombam janelas
Winds that break windows
E arrancam porteiras
And rip out gates
Espora de prata riscando as fronteiras
Silver spur marking the borders
Selei meu cavalo
I saddled my horse
Matula no fardo
Provisions in the pack
Andando ligeiro
Moving quickly
Um abraço apertado
A tight hug
E um suspiro dobrado
And a repeated sigh
Não tem mais sertão
There's no more backlands
Os caminhos mudam com o tempo
The paths change with time
Só o tempo muda um coração
Only time changes a heart
Segue seu destino boiadeiro
Follow your destiny, cowboy
Que a boiada foi no caminhão
For the cattle went by truck
A fogueira, a noite
The bonfire, the night
Redes no galpão
Hammocks in the shed
O paiero, a moda
The hand-rolled cigarette, the country song
O mate, a prosa
The mate, the chat
A saga, a sina
The saga, the fate
O causo e onça
The tale and the jaguar
Tem mais não
It's no more
Ô peão
Oh, cowboy
Tempos e vidas cumpridas
Times and lives lived
Pó, poeira, estrada
Dust, dirt, road
História contida
Story held
Nas encruzilhadas
At the crossroads
Em noite perdida
On a lost night
No meio do mundo
In the middle of the world
Mundão cabeludo
Wild big world
Onde tudo é floresta
Where everything is forest
E campina silvestre
And wild grassland
Mundão 'caba não
This big world doesn't end
Sabe, 'prum bom viajante
You know, for a good traveler
Nada é distante
Nothing is distant
'Prum bom companheiro
For a good companion
Não conto dinheiro
I don't count money
Existe uma vida
There's a life
Uma vida vivida
A life lived
Sofrida e sentida
Suffered and felt
De vez por inteiro
Completely and entirely
E esse é o preço por eu ser brasileiro
And that's the price for me being Brazilian
Os caminhos mudam com o tempo
The paths change with time
Só o tempo muda um coração
Only time changes a heart
Segue seu destino boiadeiro
Follow your destiny, cowboy
Que a boiada foi no caminhão
For the cattle went by truck
A fogueira, a noite
The bonfire, the night
Redes no galpão
Hammocks in the shed
O paiero, a moda
The hand-rolled cigarette, the country song
O mate, a prosa
The mate, the chat
A saga, a sina
The saga, the fate
O causo e onça
The tale and the jaguar
Tem mais não
It's no more
Ô peão
Oh, cowboy
Lyrics and Translations Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Renato Teixeira De Oliveira, Almir Eduardo Melke Sater
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peão — cowboy / farmhand

Peão is a rich and culturally significant word in Brazil, especially in the context of rural life and sertanejo music. While it can literally mean 'pawn' in chess, in this song and Brazilian Portuguese, it refers to a 'cowboy' or 'farmhand'.

It evokes images of the Brazilian countryside, cattle drives, and a traditional way of life that is rapidly changing. The song laments the loss of the old 'sertão' (backlands) to 'civilização' (civilization), making 'peão' a central figure representing this vanishing world. It's a word that carries a lot of emotional weight and cultural identity.

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