Campeão do Pialo

When we are children we learn what we see
My father was a cowboy, I wanted to be one too
At seven years old, I started to learn
Lassoing some calves when it was time to gather
Full of satisfaction, I heard my father say
This boy on horseback will be the champion of the pialo
The day he grows up

One day my mother got jealous
My son, don't work with your father and the cowboys, find something else
If you become a doctor, you'll have a great position
No cowboy will be left abandoned in the fields and by the batumes
I'll punish you if you don't behave
If one day I see you abandoned, your parents will be to blame
For not changing your ways

One night I left home, riding into the backcountry
I teamed up with a cowboy named João Nascimento
We went to gather a herd towards Livramento
The cowboy said I had talent
I'm not boasting or trying to impress
I lassoed in the dark, noticed the marruá was secure
By the creaking of the leather

After I left home, ten years or more passed
I went to get a herd in the backcountry of Goiás
When I arrived at the Rio Grande, the flood was too much
There was a herd with ten cowboys and a foreman
When the river receded and the raft docked
The herd jumped into the water and the cowboy at that bitter moment
Threw his horse behind

The horse was tired and couldn't handle the current
The cowboy shouted for help, I skillfully came to his aid
I made three loops in the lasso, threw it with certainty
I lassoed around the body, I don't know if it was by skill
When I brought him out, I was greatly surprised
The cowboy shouted, surprised, 'Hug me, dear son,
You were my defense.'