Comedor de Gilete (Pau-de-arara)

One day tired of the hunger I had
I had nothing but hunger
Such a damn drought in my Ceará
I gathered what little
Things I had
Two old pants and a little guitar
And on a perch on a stick, I played away
And at night I stayed on Copacabana beach
Strolling on Copacabana beach
Singing xaxado for the girls to watch
Holy virgin! The hunger was so much
I couldn't even speak
My God, so many girls, the hunger I had
Strolling on the beach back and forth

That's when I decided to eat razor blades
I had a buddy from Quixeramubim
Who made a fortune eating razor blades on Copacabana beach
I don't know, but I think he ate so much, so much
That when I got there, all those people
Were already sick of seeing the guy eat razor blades
Once I said to a guy passing by
Hey, decent man, let me eat a little razor blade for you to see?
Don't you get it, you perch on a stick?
Just one, I haven't eaten anything today
You're full, huh?
That made me so upset
That if it weren't for the love I had for my guitar
I would have smashed it on that son of a mare's head!

Geez, there was no worse life than mine
Such a damn life, the hunger I had
More hunger than I had in my Ceará
When I saw all those people eating non-stop
I swear I missed the hunger
The hunger I had in my Ceará
So I sang and danced xaxado
And could only do it because in xaxado
We can only drag ourselves
Holy virgin! The hunger was so much that it seemed
That even dancing xaxado, my body rose
As if wanting to fly

Sometimes the hunger was so much that every now and then
We would start a fight to see if we could get some food from the jail
Oh, nice warmth in the stomach!
Excuse my language, we would throw it all up later
Because the food was already spoiled
But while it stayed quiet inside, what happiness!
No, but things are getting better now
There's a lady over in Leblon who really likes to see me eat glass shards
With that, I've already saved up some cash
When I save a little more, I'll leave, go back to my Ceará!

I'm going back to my Ceará
Because there I have a name
Here I'm nothing, just a hungry Joe
Just a perch on a stick, don't even know how to sing anymore
I'll pack up my mule
I'll leave before everything falls apart
Because I feel like the weather's getting hot
It can't get any worse than it is now!