The artist blows his brass instrument,
alternating between the three buttons that serve as a crown,
creating a symphony in search of cash,
but instead of receiving bills of two or five,
he receives two people,
who sleep under the stars
on streets where no lights shine
apart from the city’s lamp posts.
They come dancing, singing,
they come with ecstasy – it’s amazing to be alive,
it’s amazing to be able to sing and dance;
that I have no bed is no excuse to be miserable.
That artist, in search of money,
provided happiness and joy,
the streets of Rio de Janeiro are always joyful
where in this city,
everything serves as a reason
to look beyond the bad,
because life is truly beautiful,
life deserves to be celebrated – just because.
Rio de Janeiro, eternal carnival,
a city that understood there’s no mystery
in the art of being happy,
we have built so many structures around it
with this tale of civilization
that it seems like something that must be conquered,
something that must be worked for
like tilling the land to bear fruit,
and it turns out that on the contrary,
on the streets of Rio,
being happy is as easy as breathing
because breathing is more than enough
to have thousands of reasons
to sing, dance, and celebrate.