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.
Tudo vira bosta
Rita Lee Lyrics
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A buchada e o cabrito
O cinzento e o colorido
A ditadura e o oprimido
O prometido e não cumprido
E o programa do partido
Tudo vira bosta
O herói e o dedo-duro
O grafite lá no muro
Seu cartão e seu seguro
Quem cobrou ou pagou juro
Meu passado e meu futuro
Tudo vira bosta
Um dia depois
Não me vire as costas
Salvemos nós dois
Tudo vira bosta
Filé minhão, champinhão, Don Perrinhão
Salsichão, arroz, feijão
Mulçumano e cristão
A Mercedes e o Fuscão
A patroa do patrão
Meu salário e meu tesão
Tudo vira bosta
O pão-de-ló, brevidade da vovó
O fondue, o mocotó
Pavaroti, Xororó
Minha eguinha pocotó
Ninguém vai escapar do pó
Sua boca e seu loló
Tudo vira bosta
Um dia depois
Não me vire as costas
Salvemos nós dois
Tudo vira bosta
A rabada, o tutu, o frango assado
O jiló e o quiabo
Prostituta e deputado
A virtude e o pecado
Esse governo e o passado
Vai você que eu 'tô cansado
Tudo vira bosta
Um dia depois
Não me vire as costas
Salvemos nós dois
Tudo vira bosta
Tudo vira bosta
Tudo vira bosta
Tudo vira bosta
Tudo vira bosta
Tudo vira bosta
The song "Tudo vira bosta" by Rita Lee is a witty and satirical take on the fleeting nature of life and the inevitability of entropy. The lyrics highlight the transience of even the most seemingly permanent things in life - from food and drinks to concepts like religion and politics - and how they ultimately end up turning into garbage. The first verse of the song talks about a range of things from fried eggs and caviar to dictatorship and oppressed people, all of which ultimately become nothing but trash. The second verse continues listing mundane things like white wine or insurance policies that are doomed to lose their value and turn to waste.
The chorus of the song reminds us that even though things may seem important today, tomorrow they could all crumble and lose their significance. The songjuxtaposesthe themes of failure and decay with the idea of saving something. In other words, even though everything eventually turns to garbage, there's still a chance to salvage something worth saving in the moment.
Overall, "Tudo vira bosta" offers a playful critique on the futility of attachment to material things and how our fixation on them detracts from the more important things in life.
Line by Line Meaning
O ovo frito, o caviar e o cozido
Whether it's fried eggs, caviar or a stew
A buchada e o cabrito
Or a traditional Brazilian dish with goat meat
O cinzento e o colorido
Whether it's all gray or full of colors
A ditadura e o oprimido
Whether it's a dictatorship or the oppressed
O prometido e não cumprido
If it's a promise made, but broken and not fulfilled
E o programa do partido
Even the programs of political parties
Tudo vira bosta
Everything turns to crap
O vinho branco, a cachaça, o chope escuro
Whether it's white wine, cachaça or dark beer
O herói e o dedo-duro
Whether it's a hero or a snitch
O grafite lá no muro
Even the graffiti on the walls
Seu cartão e seu seguro
Your credit card and insurance
Quem cobrou ou pagou juro
Whether you paid or received interest rates
Meu passado e meu futuro
Your past and your future
Tudo vira bosta
Everything turns to crap
Um dia depois
One day later
Não me vire as costas
Don't turn your back on me
Salvemos nós dois
Let's save ourselves
Filé minhão, champinhão, Don Perrinhão
Whether it's filet mignon, champignon mushrooms or Don Perrinhão (a slang term for a big sausage)
Salsichão, arroz, feijão
Even big sausages, rice and beans
Mulçumano e cristão
Whether you're Muslim or Christian
A Mercedes e o Fuscão
Whether it's a Mercedes or an old Volkswagen Beetle
A patroa do patrão
Even your boss's wife
Meu salário e meu tesão
Your salary and your desire
Tudo vira bosta
Everything turns to crap
O pão-de-ló, brevidade da vovó
Even a sponge cake or a treat made by grandma
O fondue, o mocotó
Whether it's fondue or a soup with cow's hoof
Pavaroti, Xororó
Whether it's Pavarotti or the Brazilian singer Xororó
Minha eguinha pocotó
Even your little horse named Pocotó
Ninguém vai escapar do pó
No one can escape the dust
Sua boca e seu loló
Your mouth and your body
Tudo vira bosta
Everything turns to crap
Um dia depois
One day later
Não me vire as costas
Don't turn your back on me
Salvemos nós dois
Let's save ourselves
A rabada, o tutu, o frango assado
Whether it's a stew with cow's tail, a dish with beans or roasted chicken
O jiló e o quiabo
Even the unpopular vegetables like jiló or okra
Prostituta e deputado
Whether it's a prostitute or a congressman
A virtude e o pecado
Even virtues or sins
Esse governo e o passado
Even the current government or the past
Vai você que eu 'tô cansado
You deal with it, I'm tired
Tudo vira bosta
Everything turns to crap
Tudo vira bosta
Everything turns to crap
Tudo vira bosta
Everything turns to crap
Tudo vira bosta
Everything turns to crap
Tudo vira bosta
Everything turns to crap
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind