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.
De Pés No Chão
Rita Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
E gosto muito muito de sê-lo
Porque faço coleção
De lacinhos cor-de-rosa
E também de sapatão
Mas o que eu quero mesmo
É por os meus pés no chão
Lacinhos cor-de-rosa ficam bem
Num sapatão, uh yeah?
Eu nasci descalça
Pra que tanta pergunta?
In the song De Pés No Chão, Rita Lee talks about being herself, embracing who she is and how she enjoys collecting all types of shoes, from cute pink bow-tied shoes to more masculine ones. She emphasizes that there is really no harm in liking what you like or being who you are, even if it doesn't conform to stereotypical gender norms. While society might be confused or have questions about who you are as a person or what you like, it's really not anyone else's business. As long as it makes you happy and feels true to who you are, that's all that matters.
Line by Line Meaning
Sim, eu sou um deles
Yes, I am one of them
E gosto muito muito de sê-lo
And I really really like to be one of them
Porque faço coleção
Because I collect
De lacinhos cor-de-rosa
Pink ribbons
E também de sapatão
And also of boots
Mas o que eu quero mesmo
But what I really want
É por os meus pés no chão
Is to put my feet on the ground
É só questão de gosto
It's just a matter of taste
Lacinhos cor-de-rosa ficam bem
Pink ribbons look good
Num sapatão, uh yeah?
On boots, uh yeah?
Eu nasci descalça
I was born barefoot
Pra que tanta pergunta?
Why so many questions?
Contributed by Jake V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.