Quando o Sorriso Morre

Man, smile
while life runs
because an African dies
when his smile dies.

Colonialism is over
Independence
The Portuguese are gone bro
The land is ours.

See how the land becomes more beautiful
dressed in black
Without those pale tones
discordant in our fields.

See how the children
now run aimlessly
See how the people
now don't hold back smiles.

There are no more jobs
doctors or teachers
No trained professionals
We have no doctors. (nothing)

There is no commerce, no services
There is nothing
The Portuguese left
They left everyone condemned.

Unemployed...

Colonialism is over
So there is no bad luck
The Portuguese got rid
Of the Caetanos and Salazares

Past history
They are our friends now
Emigrate to Portugal
And start a new life

That's Europe
Everyone lives well there
Get out of this misery
Go and try to be someone

Work, save money
Make it a rule
And then return to the land rich
To live like a king

Colonialism is over...
Colonialism is over...

The world is yours
Don't be a hostage

This is Lisbon
Not sunny every day
Lots of cement
Flora only in photographs

You have compatriots building
villages they call ghettos
Go live near them
They have your troubles

Portuguese say
That you can't have another outcome
Besides precarious jobs
Because you only have fourth grade

But most Portuguese
Also only have fourth grade
Tell them that during colonial times
They didn't want you to study

Tell them they only wanted blacks
For slave labor
The kids dreamed of being doctors
But the system discouraged it

Don't stress
Go work in construction
And make sure you don't stay up late
Because you have to wake up early

You start at 7 am
You leave when the sun sets
You go to the daily torment
That every African faces

To carry hundreds of bricks
And buckets of mortar
Lift beams man
How does your body endure?

Endure..
because you can't have another job
The bosses know that
And when they feel like it, they don't even pay wages

Colonialism is over...

When the light
When the dream
When everything goes
When the flame
When the strength
When everything falls
All you have left
Is the smile
You and no one else
Believe
The world is yours
Don't be a hostage

Not everything is bad
See how the Portuguese adore you
They whisper that you're robust
Just by looking at you they devour you

Go and try to conquer
That trip to the grocery store
She gets awkward
Every time you say good morning

You asked her out
She said 'Never'
You wondered why?
You're black, don't dream too high

Get lost
Stay there with your compatriot
Marry her, have children
And make sure you follow your path

You're black man
Get lost...

Thirty years have passed
And you're as poor as you were in the land
Unemployed because working in construction
Is no longer what it used to be

The Brazilians came
The Eastern Europeans came
Cheap labor
With much more education than you had

You're screwed
Defeated and beaten
You drown in alcohol
Until you lose sense

Look at your ghetto
A thousand more like you
Look at another ghetto
A thousand more like you

You have four children
Three are in prison
The other is twelve and already boasts
Of being screwed like his brothers

It wasn't like this
That you dreamed
You lost everything in this first world
That you never found

But man smile
while life runs
because an African dies
when his smile dies

When the light
When the dream
When everything goes
When the flame
When the strength
When everything falls
All you have left
Is the smile
You and no one else
Believe
The world is yours
Don't be a hostage

Don't be a hostage...