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.
Entre Sem Bater
Rita Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mas você bateu na minha porta
E me encontrou meio perdida
Uma Lindoneia desaparecida
A Chiquita que não era bacana
Kátia Flávia sozinha na cama
Amélia vaidosa
Meu amor é tão urgente!
Então entre
Entre sem bater
Entre,
Entre sem bater em mim
Entre sem bater
Entre sem bater
Entre sem bater em mim
Tivesse você me rejeitado
Eu hoje seria um bagaço
Uma Jujú sem balangandã
Luz sem Fuego, Elvira Cristã
Maria Escandalosa recatada
Carolina vendo a banda parada
Marcianita sem disco voador
Nem sorriso a Rita levou
Meu amor é tão urgente!
Então entre
Entre sem bater
Entre,
Entre sem bater em mim
Entre sem bater
Entre sem bater
Entre sem bater em mim
The lyrics of Rita Lee's song "Entre Sem Bater" speak about a moment in someone's life where they felt lost and disconnected from the world. The singer describes themselves as a person with no direction or purpose, and then one day, someone special enters their life and changes everything. They use the names of several women to symbolize different facets of their personality before they met this person, and how they would have been stuck in those personalities if this person hadn't come along. The chorus insists that this person is welcome to come into their life without announcing themselves, because they are now part of their world and integral to the singer's sense of self.
Line by Line Meaning
A vida para mim estava morta
I felt lifeless and pointless before you came into my life
Mas você bateu na minha porta
You came knocking on my door and changed everything
E me encontrou meio perdida
You found me feeling lost and unsure
Uma Lindoneia desaparecida
A lost and lonely soul
A Chiquita que não era bacana
I used to be like an uncool Chiquita banana
Kátia Flávia sozinha na cama
Like Kátia Flávia, I was alone in my bed
Amélia vaidosa
I used to be vain like Amélia
Conceição rica e famosa
Or rich and famous like Conceição
Meu amor é tão urgente!
But my love for you is urgent and immediate!
Então entre
So come in
Entre sem bater
Come in without knocking
Entre,
Come in,
Entre sem bater em mim
Come in without hurting me
Tivesse você me rejeitado
If you had rejected me
Eu hoje seria um bagaço
I would be nothing but a pulp
Uma Jujú sem balangandã
A Juju without any ornaments
Luz sem Fuego, Elvira Cristã
A light without any heat, like Elvira Cristã
Maria Escandalosa recatada
I could have been a scandalous Maria, but instead I'm reserved
Carolina vendo a banda parada
Or like Carolina, watching the band pass by
Marcianita sem disco voador
Like a Martian without a flying saucer
Nem sorriso a Rita levou
But you changed that, and even Rita now smiles
Meu amor é tão urgente!
Because my love for you is urgent and immediate!
Então entre
So come in
Entre sem bater
Come in without knocking
Entre,
Come in,
Entre sem bater em mim
Come in without hurting me
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RITA CARVALHO, RITA LEE JONES CARVALHO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind