there's a missing letter that changes the meaning of that last verse.
although the verb would sound the same if it weren't in the infinitive form, the reasoning goes back to the verse before that one, which allows us to be sure it is:
"Como se morrer
Fosse desaguar
Derramar no céu
Se purificar
Ah, deixaR pra trás
Sais e minerais
Evaporar"
(for Portuguese speakers: "deixar pra trás sais e minerais" retoma "como se morrer fosse"; isto é: como se morrer fosse deixar pra trás sais e minerais / como se morrer fosse se purificar.)
I think I'll try and translate the whole thing without taking the structure of the verses nor the order of the sentences into consideration so the meaning comes out better for people who don't speak Portuguese. for those who do, please post your own opinions, because there's a little bit of wordplay:
we've got as much time as we give it
whatever happens
whatever it takes
we give as much time as we have it
[that's the blurry part for me, but it could mean what follows]
it takes the things that happen
whatever the things that happen cost
only now I realize that what I got from the time I lost
was learning how to give
and I still chase that time
I was able not to run from it
[I was able to] Find myself
(in order to get the meaning from this verse, I had to read it like this:
E ando ainda atrás
Desse tempo ter
Pude não correr dele
Me encontrar
but, of course, it wouldn't fit into the song if it were sung like that)
Ah, it didn't move [I think he means time stood where it was, although he tried to chase it]
Hummingbird in the air [and he compares time to a hummingbird precisely because it can fly without moving]
the river stays there
the water that ran [into the sea] gets to the tides
it [the river] becomes sea
it's as if dying was like debouching
like spilling over the sky
like a self-purification
like leaving behind salts and minerals
like evaporating.
there's a missing letter that changes the meaning of that last verse. although the verb would sound the same if it weren't in the infinitive form, the reasoning goes back to the verse before that one, which allows us to be sure it is:
"Como se morrer Fosse desaguar Derramar no céu Se purificar Ah, deixaR pra trás Sais e minerais Evaporar"
(for Portuguese speakers: "deixar pra trás sais e minerais" retoma "como se morrer fosse"; isto é: como se morrer fosse deixar pra trás sais e minerais / como se morrer fosse se purificar.)
I think I'll try and translate the whole thing without taking the structure of the verses nor the order of the sentences into consideration so the meaning comes out better for people who don't speak Portuguese. for those who do, please post your own opinions, because there's a little bit of wordplay:
we've got as much time as we give it whatever happens whatever it takes
we give as much time as we have it [that's the blurry part for me, but it could mean what follows] it takes the things that happen whatever the things that happen cost
only now I realize that what I got from the time I lost was learning how to give
and I still chase that time I was able not to run from it [I was able to] Find myself
(in order to get the meaning from this verse, I had to read it like this:
E ando ainda atrás Desse tempo ter Pude não correr dele Me encontrar
but, of course, it wouldn't fit into the song if it were sung like that)
Ah, it didn't move [I think he means time stood where it was, although he tried to chase it] Hummingbird in the air [and he compares time to a hummingbird precisely because it can fly without moving]
the river stays there the water that ran [into the sea] gets to the tides it [the river] becomes sea
it's as if dying was like debouching like spilling over the sky like a self-purification
like leaving behind salts and minerals like evaporating.