In candomblé religious practice, a patuá is an item bringing protection to the wearer, like a talisman.
What does "a cobra vai fumar" (the snake will smoke) mean?
During World War II 25,000 Brazilian soldiers were sent to fight in Italy. It had been said that it was more likely that a snake would smoke a pipe than Brazil enter the war. The Brazilian forces (FEB) took the smoking snake as their insignia.
At the time, the phrase had been used to describe something unlikely, similar to the English "when pigs fly". However after the war it came to mean the opposite: something definitive and aggressive.
EU PISEI NA FOLHA SECA
In Portuguese and English
Eu pisei na folha seca
E ouvi fazer, chue chua
Chue chue chue chua
Ouvi fazer, chue chua
Mas quem não pode com mandinga
Não carrega patuá
Ouvi fazer, chue chua
Joga nego para cima
Deixa o nego invadiar,
Ouvi fazer chue chua
O guerreiro senzalero,
Essa cobra vai fumar
Ouvi fazer chue chua
~
I stepped on the dry leaves
And heard them go 'chue chua'
Chue chue chue chua
I heard it go chue chua
Whoever doesn't have mandinga
Doesn't carry their patua
I heard it go chue chua
He plays high up
Let the guy close in
I heard it go chue chua
The slavehouse warrior,
That snake will smoke
I heard it go chue chua
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