Rita helped to incorporate the rock revolution into the creative explosion of tropicalismo, formed the most celebrated Brazilian rock band in the world, Os Mutantes, and created solo songs with enormous popular appeal without losing her freedom and irreverence.
Former member of the group Os Mutantes (1966 — 1972) and leader of the band Tutti Frutti (1973 — 1978), Lee participated in important revolutions in the world of music and society, such as the Tropicália movement during the Brazilian dictatorship, which led her to be the artist with the most censored songs in Brazil during that period. Her songs, usually watered with an acid irony or with a claim for female independence and sexual topics, became ubiquitous in the charts. The album, Fruto Proibido (1975), released together with the band Tutti Frutti, is commonly seen as a fundamental milestone in the history of Brazilian rock, considered by some as her masterpiece.
In 1976, Lee began a romantic relationship with guitarist Roberto de Carvalho and since then he has been the partner on most of her songs and accompanied her in all her live performances. They had three children, including Beto Lee, also a guitarist, who accompanies his parents in concerts. With a career that has reached 50 years, Rita Lee has gone from the musical innovation of the late 1960s and 1970s to the highly successful romantic ballads of the 1980s. In October 2008, Rolling Stone magazine promoted the List of the 100 Greatest Artists in Brazilian Music, where Rita Lee ranks 15th.
In 2001, Rita Lee won the Latin Grammy for Best Portuguese Language Rock Album with "3001". She would receive five more nominations for the award and in 2022, she was awarded the Musical Excellence award for her body of work. In 2012, she announced that she would retire from performing live due to physical frailty. "I retire from shows, but never from music," she wrote on Twitter.
She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021 and had been undergoing treatment for the disease. She passed away in her hometown of São Paulo at the age of 75 on May 8, 2023.
10. Prisioneira do amor
Rita Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cafona tus presentes, tu amor
E para afastar-te da lembrança
Eu vou assitir mais televisão
Cafona fui eu por escravizar-me
E a todos teus caprichos me render
Cafona permaneço mais que nunca
El abat-jour
Los discos de bolero son tan tristes
Na natureza morta que me destes
O abacaxi parece que tem vida
Mi corazón
Sangrando de tristeza e de saudade
Se tu não voltares me suicido
Pois sem ti não há felicidade
The song "Prisioneira Do Amor" by Rita Lee talks about a woman who feels trapped in love. The first verse talks about how the love that she received from her partner was tacky and unpleasant. This made her want to forget about him and distract herself by watching more television. The second verse talks about how she feels that she herself was tacky for surrendering to her partner's every whim and desire. Despite feeling this way, she cannot stop herself from loving him.
The chorus of the song includes the image of an abat-jour (lampshade) and bolero records, which represent the sad and lonely atmosphere of the woman's life. She is surrounded by emptiness and the only thing that seems to have a life to it is the pineapple in the still life painting in her room. The bridge talks about how her heart is bleeding with sadness and longing for her partner, to the point that she contemplates suicide without him in her life, as she feels that there can be no happiness without him.
Line by Line Meaning
Cafonas fueron los besos que me distes
The kisses you gave me were tacky
Cafona tus presentes, tu amor
Your gifts, your love, were all tacky
E para afastar-te da lembrança
And to distance you from my memories
Eu vou assitir mais televisão
I will watch more television
Cafona fui eu por escravizar-me
I was tacky for enslaving myself
E a todos teus caprichos me render
And surrendering to all your whims
Cafona permaneço mais que nunca
I remain tacky more than ever before
Pois continuo doida a te querer
Because I'm still crazy for you
El abat-jour
The lampshade
Los discos de bolero son tan tristes
The bolero records are so sad
Na natureza morta que me destes
In the still life you gave me
O abacaxi parece que tem vida
The pineapple seems to have life
Mi corazón
My heart
Sangrando de tristeza e de saudade
Bleeding with sadness and longing
Se tu não voltares me suicido
If you don't come back, I'll kill myself
Pois sem ti não há felicidade
Because there is no happiness without you
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind