Samba-Enredo 1964 - Chico Rei

He lived on the African coast
A royal orderly tribe
Whose king was a symbol
Of a hardworking and hospitable land
One day, this tranquility succumbed
When the Portuguese invaded
Capturing men
To make them slaves in Brazil

In the agonizing journey
There were hallucinating screams
Laments of pain
Oh-oh-oh-oh, goodbye, Baobab
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, goodbye, my Bengo, I'm leaving
Far away Minas never heard
When the king, more confident

Swore to his people that one day he would set them free
Arriving in Rio de Janeiro
At the slave market
A rich nobleman bought them
Took them to Vila Rica
The king's idea was brilliant
To hide the gold dust in their hair
So did his people
Every night when they returned from the mines
They went to church and washed their heads
It was the gold deposited in the basin
And kept in another secure place
Until reaching the amount
To buy their freedom
They were freed one by one
And so it was that the king
Under the Sun of freedom, worked

And he bought a little land
Discovering gold, he became rich
He chose the name Francisco
Converted to Catholicism
At the highest point of the city Chico Rei
With his spirit of light
He had a church built
And named it
Santa Efigênia do Alto da Cruz!