The firstborn son of Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda, Buarque lived at several locations throughout his childhood, though mostly in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Rome. He wrote and studied literature as a child and found music through the bossa nova compositions of Tom Jobim and João Gilberto. He performed as a singer and guitarist in the 1960s as well as writing a play that was deemed dangerous by the Brazilian military dictatorship of the time. Buarque, along with several Tropicalist and MPB musicians, was threatened by the Brazilian military government and eventually left Brazil for Italy in 1969. However, he came back to Brazil in 1970, and continued to record, perform, and write, though much of his material was suppressed by government censors. He released several more albums in the 1980s and published three novels in the 1990s and 2000s.
In 2019, Buarque was awarded the Camões Prize, the most important prize for literature in the Portuguese language.
Ode Aos Ratos
Chico Buarque Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Irrequieta criatura
Tribo em frenética proliferação
Lúbrico, libidinoso transeunte
Boca de estômago
Atrás do seu quinhão
Vão aos magotes
Levando o terror
Do parking ao living
Do shopping center ao léu
Do cano de esgoto
Pro topo do arranha-céu
Rato de rua
Aborígene do lodo
Fuça gelada
Couraça de sabão
Quase risonho
Profanador de tumba
Sobrevivente
À chacina e à lei do cão
Saqueador da metrópole
Tenaz roedor
De toda esperança
Estuporador da ilusão
Ó meu semelhante
Filho de Deus, meu irmão
Rato
Rato que rói a roupa
Que rói a rapa do rei do morro
Que rói a roda do carro
Que rói o carro, que rói o ferro
Que rói o barro, rói o morro
Rato que rói o rato
Ra-rato, ra-rato
Roto que ri do roto
Que rói o farrapo
Do esfarra-rapado
Que mete a ripa, arranca rabo
Rato ruim
Rato que rói a rosa
Rói o riso da moça
E ruma rua arriba
Em sua rota de rato
Saqueador da metrópole
Tenaz roedor
De toda esperança
Estuporador da ilusão
Ó meu semelhante
Filho de Deus, meu irmão
The song Ode Aos Ratos by Chico Buarque is a satire on the rat culture that prevails in the metropolitan cities in Brazil. The lyrics describe rats as beings that are constantly moving and breeding, lusting after food and comfort, and invading every aspect of urban life from parking lots to living rooms, shopping centers to sewage pipes, and high-rise buildings. The rats are presented as grim and unrelenting creatures that laugh at death and profane tombs. They are survivors of violence, both human and natural, and their behavior is seen as a metaphor for the darker aspects of human society.
The song is an appeal to the humanity of those who live in the cities to acknowledge the reality of their lives and the lives of these creatures who coexist with them. The rats are not presented as merely vermin, but as beings that share the same desire for survival, for food, for shelter, for companionship, and for laughter as humans do. The song suggests that if we can recognize the commonality of these desires, we can also recognize the commonality of our suffering and joys, and connect with each other beyond our superficial differences.
Ode Aos Ratos is a powerful and affecting song that highlights the plight of the dispossessed in Brazilian society. It has become an anthem for those who see themselves as part of the underprivileged masses, and a challenge to those who turn a blind eye to the realities of life in the cities. The song can be interpreted as a call for solidarity between different groups that share the same struggles and aspirations, and a plea for empathy towards those who are marginalized and forgotten.
Line by Line Meaning
Rato de rua
Street rat
Irrequieta criatura
Restless creature
Tribo em frenética proliferação
Tribe in frenetic proliferation
Lúbrico, libidinoso transeunte
Lubricious, lewd passerby
Boca de estômago
Mouth of stomach
Atrás do seu quinhão
After its own share
Vão aos magotes
Go in crowds
A dar com um pau
Hit with a stick
Levando o terror
Spreading terror
Do parking ao living
From the parking lot to the living room
Do shopping center ao léu
From the shopping center to the open air
Do cano de esgoto
From the sewer pipe
Pro topo do arranha-céu
To the top of the skyscraper
Aborígene do lodo
Aborigine of the mud
Fuça gelada
Cold snout
Couraça de sabão
Soap armor
Quase risonho
Almost laughing
Profanador de tumba
Grave desecrator
Sobrevivente
Survivor
À chacina e à lei do cão
To the massacre and law of the jungle
Saqueador da metrópole
Plunderer of the metropolis
Tenaz roedor
Tenacious gnawer
De toda esperança
Of all hope
Estuporador da ilusão
Stuporator of illusion
Ó meu semelhante
Oh my fellow
Filho de Deus, meu irmão
Child of God, my brother
Rato que rói a roupa
Rat that gnaws on clothes
Que rói a rapa do rei do morro
That gnaws the leftovers of the hill king
Que rói a roda do carro
That gnaws the wheel of the car
Que rói o carro, que rói o ferro
That gnaws the car, that gnaws the iron
Que rói o barro, rói o morro
That gnaws the mud, gnaws the hill
Rato que rói o rato
Rat that gnaws another rat
Ra-rato, ra-rato
Ra-rat, ra-rat
Roto que ri do roto
Beggar who laughs at the beggar
Que rói o farrapo
That gnaws the rag
Do esfarra-rapado
Of the ragged one
Que mete a ripa, arranca rabo
That hits with a stick, pulls a tail
Rato ruim
Bad rat
Rato que rói a rosa
Rat that gnaws the rose
Rói o riso da moça
Eats away the girl's laughter
E ruma rua arriba
And goes up the street
Em sua rota de rato
In its rat route
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Cicero Civalecar
Se enquadra perfeito com o momento atual do Brasil.
Airton Soares
Se enquadra perfeitamente com os quase 600 anos de Brasil.
Veronica Rodrigues
Mais atual impossível!!! Magnífica
Gelson Netto
GÊNIO!!!!
só isso
nada mais
GÊNIO!!!!
Silvio Eugênio Nunes Gouveia
Direto do portal do José pra ouvir está ode aos ratos dos palácios de governo (e de muitos quartéis) do país.
Emory Bodhi
@Brixton Alijah instablaster ;)
Brixton Alijah
You probably dont care but does any of you know a way to get back into an instagram account..?
I stupidly forgot the password. I would appreciate any tips you can give me!
Eduardo Carvalho
"Ó meu semelhante, filho de Deus, meu irmão!"
Chico nos lembra que todos somos iguais.
O homem, rato do homem.
Wobu Wobo
tamo junto
Claubert Lopes
Somos dois.