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.
Eu e mim
Rita Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Não conheço mim, mas sei quem é eu, sei sim
Eu é cara-metade, mim sou inteira
Quando mim nasceu, eu chorou, chorou
Eu e mim se dividem numa só certeza
Alguém dentro de mim é mais eu do que eu mesma
Eu amo mim
Rita Lee's song "Eu e mim" is a deep reflection on the relationship between the self and the persona. She sings about how in the mirror she doesn't see herself, but rather a version of herself that she presents to the world, her mim. This persona or mask is the image that she projects to others, which is often a filtered version of who she really is. Rita Lee suggests that she doesn't really know who mim is but she is sure of who she is, and that is her "cara-metade" or counterpart, the true self beneath the mask.
The lyrics go on to express the idea that mim is the complete version of herself, without the constraints of societal norms or expectations. She was born as a whole person, but from that moment she was conditioned to hide or present only certain aspects of herself to others. It's the realisation that she is more connected to the person she truly is, the "mim" inside of her, than to the persona she presents to society as "eu". The final lines of the song express the love between eu and mim, a beautiful way of bringing together and reconciling the two aspects of her identity.
Overall, Rita Lee's "Eu e mim" is a beautiful meditation on identity, the masks we wear, and the relationship between the self and the constructed persona we present to the world.
Line by Line Meaning
No espelho não é eu, sou mim
When I look in the mirror, what I see is not really me, but rather a reflection of myself.
Não conheço mim, mas sei quem é eu, sei sim
I may not fully understand all aspects of myself, but I do have a strong sense of who I am as a person.
Eu é cara-metade, mim sou inteira
My identity is divided into two parts - one is the part of me that is incomplete without another person (my 'cara-metade'), and the other is my whole self.
Quando mim nasceu, eu chorou, chorou
When I was born, the part of me that is complete and whole (my 'mim') came into existence, and I cried tears of joy and relief.
Eu e mim se dividem numa só certeza
Although my identity is split into two parts, there is one thing that both 'eu' and 'mim' are certain of.
Alguém dentro de mim é mais eu do que eu mesma
There is a part of me that exists within myself that is more true to who I am than even my conscious self.
Eu amo mim
I have a deep love and appreciation for the part of myself that is complete and whole.
Mim ama eu
The part of myself that is whole and complete also loves and cares for who I am as a person.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RITA CARVALHO, RITA LEE JONES CARVALHO, ROBERTO ZENOBIO AFFONSO DE CARVALHO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind