Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, “Righteous Life”
from Stillness 1970
“I rode on your highways
Played cards with some of your guards
Kicked along the stone at sunset
Watched the ways you smile and nod
You smile and nod
It’s a righteous life we’re leading, friends
Heavy dues, pay the fee
But no one else notices destiny
Except the free
Except the free
You can tell it in a smile sometimes
Arrogant, haughty, and cool
Smiling at some stranger
Like a tarot deck card fool
It’s a righteous life we’re leading, friends
Heavy dues, pay the fee
But no one else notices destiny
Except the free
Except the free
Stories that they’re weaving now
Are part fiction, sometimes ruse
You can tell where the real part ends
And it’s time to ask for truth
To ask for truth
It’s a righteous life we’re leading, friends
Heavy dues, pay the fee
But no one else notices destiny
Except the free
Except the free”
This album swings away from the group’s bossa-nova bag into the folk-rock domain, with some heavily counterculture-influenced lyrics. This song in particular: so evocative of the early seventies. Also worth checking out: the album’s excellent covers of “Chelsea Morning” and “For What It’s Worth”.
-Charlie Blaum-