Eu

I asked my mother
Mother, where were you born?
She then replied to me
That she was born in Curitiba

But that her mother, who is my grandmother
Was the daughter of a gaucho
Who liked barbecue
And wore bombacha
And worked on a ranch
And one early morning
Went hunting behind the hill
When he heard someone shouting
Help, help!

It was a woman's voice
So my great-grandfather
A fearless gaucho
Ran galloping
Imagining the enemy
And arriving at the little ranch

He burst in suddenly
Knocking everything around
With his machete in hand
To the relief of the maiden
Who pointed in astonishment
To a sack of potatoes
Where there was a cockroach
And then he fell in love
And they set a wedding date

With barbecue and chimarrão
And they had their three children
My grandmother and her siblings
And I keep imagining
I'm really intrigued

If it weren't for a cockroach
No one would have shouted
My great-grandfather would hear nothing
And would continue the hunt
I wouldn't have a great-grandfather, great-grandmother, grandfather, grandmother, father, mother
I wouldn't have anything
I wouldn't even exist

I asked my father
Father, where were you born?
He then told me
That he was born in Recife
But his father, who is my grandfather
Was the son of a Bahian
Who traveled in the backlands
And sold things like
Clothes, pots, and soap
And one day he was hunted
By Lampião's gang
Who thought he was
From the police, a spy
And there was confusion
And they tied him to a stick
To kill him after lunch
And he was desperate
Shouting: Help

And a girl appeared
Just at the last moment
And shouted to that gang
This guy is a merchant
And with great skill
She unraveled the confusion
And he then gave her a gift
A cotton dress
And she fell in love

If that clever girl
Hadn't passed by
Or if she hadn't fallen in love
With that condemned man
I wouldn't have a great-grandfather
Nor great-grandmother nor grandfather
Nor grandmother nor father
To marry my mother
So I wouldn't tell
This family story
Because I wouldn't even exist
To be able to sing
Or play the guitar