There are days we feel
Just as who left or died
We stopped suddenly
Or it's the world that has grown...
We want to make our voices heard
Our own destiny dictate
But there comes the living wheel
And takes our destiny away
Spin the world, spin the giant1
Spin the windmill, spin the top
Time has spinned2 in a flash
Inside the rounds of my heart
We go against the tide
'Till we can't resist
At the boat's return we feel
How much was left undone
For so long we have grown
The most beautiful rosebush there is
But there comes the living wheel
And takes the rosebush away...
Spin the world, spin the giant
Spin the windmill, spin the top
Time has spinned in a flash
Inside the rounds of my heart
Mulata's skirt hemline
Won't spin no longer sir
I can't play serenades
The samba's round3 is no more
We take the initiative,
Viola sings on the way
But there comes the living wheel
And takes the viola away...
Spin the world, spin the giant
Spin the windmill, spin the top
Time has spinned in a flash
Inside the rounds of my heart
The samba, the viola, the rosebush
Which once the fire have burned
Were all fleeting illusions
That the first breeze carried away
In the chest nostalgia enthralled
Strives for time to stop
But there comes the living wheel
And takes the nostalgia away
Spin the world, spin the giant
Spin the windmill, spin the top
Time has spinned in a flash
Inside the rounds of my heart... (4x)
1. "roda gigante" can both mean "to spin a giant" as "Ferris wheel"; to keep the "spin" repetition, akin to the "roda" repetition in the original, I decided to go for the literal translation, but keep in mind that "Ferris wheel" is the much more accepted meaning for this among Brazilians.2. here, "rodou" means "has changed", but I decided to keep the "spin" repetition3. a "roda de samba" is a gathering of people, usually in a circle, to play and dance to samba; I decided to translate "roda" in this case as "round" to keep the song's idea of circles, movement and change