The band is considered one of the main groups in Brazilian rock. Like most groups from the 1960s, Os Mutantes were heavily influenced by The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Sly & the Family Stone. However, Brazilian musicians were also immersed in their local culture, exercising their own creativity in the use of feedback, distortion and studio tricks of all kinds, just as was done by the Liverpool quartet and the group The Beach Boys. In this sense, Mutantes were pioneers in mixing rock and roll with Brazilian musical and thematic elements. Another characteristic of the group was irreverence. Like Os Mutantes, there began to be a kind of mixture of foreign and Brazilian music and the addition of new ideas, with doses of experimentalism, thus opening the way for musical hybridism.
Os Mutantes began their activities in 1966, as a trio, when they performed on the program O Pequeno Mundo de Ronnie Von on TV Record. On the eve of the program's premiere, the trio had the name "Os Bruxos", but neither Rita Lee nor the Dias Baptista brothers (Arnaldo and Sérgio) were satisfied with that name and wanted to change it. According to Carlos Calado,[2] the idea for the name "Os Mutantes" came from an ironic joke between Alberto Helena Júnior, the program's producer, and Ronnie Von, who, at the time, was reading O Império dos Mutantes, by Stefan Wul, and did not talk about any other subject. "Are you guys still looking for a name for the boys ensemble? Why not The Mutants?" Ronnie Von liked Alberto Helena's idea and took it to the group, who approved it immediately.
The group soon became one of the main exponents of the new MPB, influenced by Tropicália, until it dissolved in 1978. Over these twelve years, nine albums were recorded, two of which - O A e o Z and Tecnicolor - were only released on 1990s, when the group began to be recognized, on the national and international rock scene, as one of the most creative, dynamic, radical and talented of the psychedelic era and the history of world rock. In 2006, the band reunited, without Rita Lee or Liminha, but with the presence of Arnaldo Baptista and Zélia Duncan on vocals. The following year, Arnaldo and Zélia left the band, which was recomposed with other musicians and continues to perform under the leadership of Sérgio Dias, the only remaining member of the original lineup.
Trem fantasma
Os Mutantes Lyrics
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Velhos compram com medo
Das mãos do bilheteiro
As entradas do trem fantasma
Ele e a namorada
Ele não pensa em nada
Ela fica assustada
Quatrocentos cruzeiros
O rapaz e a moça para
O lugar em cinema scope brilhante
A montanha gigante de generais verdejantes
Aparece distante
E o trem no espelho brilhante
Desde o primeiro beijo
Arrebenta o espelho
Quatrocentos cruzeiros
Quatrocentos morcegos de força
O beijo, o rapaz e a moça
O trem dentro d'água
A piscina parada
Ela não pensa em nada
Ele pensa e não diz
Onde tem muita água tudo é feliz
O primeiro beijo
Quatrocentos cruzeiros
Zé quarenta HP's de emoção
O Zé do Caixão
Traz os bichos da criação
Até o portão e
Terminou a sessão
Quatrocentos cruzeiros
Velhos compram com medo
Ele e a namorada
Ela não pensa em nada
Ele pensa em segredo
Ele pensa em segredo
Ele pensa em segredo
Ele pensa em segredo
Ele pensa em segredo
Ele pensa em segredo
The lyrics of "Trem fantasma" by Os Mutantes depict a surreal experience of a young couple who purchase tickets for the "Trem fantasma" or ghost train, which takes them on a strange journey that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. The couple pays with "quatrocentos cruzeiros" or four hundred cruzeiros, an old Brazilian currency, and are led by the ticket vendor to the entrance of the haunted ride. The boy seems excited and carefree, while the girl appears scared and uneasy.
As the train progresses, they see a "gigantic mountain of green generals" that appears in the distance and grows closer. The train is reflected in a "brilliant cinema scope," and the couple shares their first kiss, which shatters the reflection. The train continues its journey through water, a stopped swimming pool, and finally to the end of the ride when the ticket vendor announces that "quatrocentos cruzeiros" have bought them a session with the famous film director, "Zé do Caixão," who brings with him the "creatures of creation." The song ends with the young man keeping his thoughts a secret while the girl continues to think of nothing.
The song is widely interpreted as an allegory for the counterculture movement of the 1960s, which was gaining popularity in Brazil during that time. The lyrics reflect the rebellious and trippy nature of the youth at the time, who were rejecting the traditional values and structures of society in favor of a more free-spirited and surreal lifestyle.
Line by Line Meaning
Quatrocentos cruzeiros
They pay four hundred cruzeiros
Velhos compram com medo
Old people buy with fear
Das mãos do bilheteiro
From the hands of the ticket seller
As entradas do trem fantasma
The tickets for the ghost train
Ele e a namorada
He and his girlfriend
Ele não pensa em nada
He doesn't think about anything
Ela fica assustada
She gets scared
De força arrastam
They are dragged by a powerful force
O rapaz e a moça para
The boy and the girl stop
O lugar em cinema scope brilhante
A place in a bright widescreen
A montanha gigante de generais verdejantes
The giant mountain of green generals
Aparece distante
Appears in the distance
E o trem no espelho brilhante
And the train in the shiny mirror
Desde o primeiro beijo
Since the first kiss
Arrebenta o espelho
It breaks the mirror
Quatrocentos cruzeiros
They pay four hundred cruzeiros
Quatrocentos morcegos de força
Four hundred bats of force
O beijo, o rapaz e a moça
The kiss, the boy and the girl
O trem dentro d'água
The train inside water
A piscina parada
The still pool
Ela não pensa em nada
She doesn't think about anything
Ele pensa e não diz
He thinks but doesn't say
Onde tem muita água tudo é feliz
Where there's a lot of water, everything is happy
O primeiro beijo
The first kiss
Zé quarenta HP's de emoção
Zé, forty horsepower of emotion
O Zé do Caixão
The Coffin Joe
Traz os bichos da criação
Brings the creatures of creation
Até o portão e
Until the gate and
Terminou a sessão
The session is over
Ele pensa em segredo
He thinks in secret
Ele pensa em segredo
He thinks in secret
Ele pensa em segredo
He thinks in secret
Ele pensa em segredo
He thinks in secret
Ele pensa em segredo
He thinks in secret
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ARNALDO BAPTISTA, ARNALDO DIAS BAPTISTA, CAETANO EMMANUEL VIANA TELES VELOSO, RONALDO POLISELI LEME, SERGIO DIAS BAPTISTA
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