O Mundo É Um Moinho is a Brazilian song written and originally performed by Cartola. It was released in 1976 on the album Cartola II, and its style sits within samba and MPB. The lyrics warn a young lover that the world is a windmill that will grind your dreams to dust and leave you with cynicism, potentially near the abyss you dig with your feet. There is a popular, though unconfirmed, story that Cartola wrote the song for his adoptive daughter Creuza. The song has been covered by artists such as Cazuza, Ney Matogrosso, and Beth Carvalho, and it has been used in Brazilian media like the novela Lado a Lado. Cartola, born Angenor de Oliveira in Rio de Janeiro in 1908, is widely regarded as one of Brazil's greatest samba composers.
