Portuguese to English Art/Literary Other Song lyrics

My question is not related to the verb forms but rather to the word choice. "It was so" or "it was like that"?

This is part of a song titled "Nos Bailes da Vida" by Milton Nascimento and Fernando Brandt. Currently, I have these phrases translated as "It was like that" and "It used to be like that". To understand the following comment, you'll need to look at the translation at: https://masterportuguesetranslator.com/samples/literary-tran... (There you will find the full lyrics, the translation draft, and a music video.)

Comment: Not sure that the line lengths are appropriate, considering that they are shorter in PT. On the other hand, one has to consider whether the word choice will keep the line lengths proportional to one another in the translation. As is, the last line of stanza 1 is the shortest (in both translation and original), but in stanza 2 it's the shortest in the original only. To offset this, I thought of adding "[radiant]" before "sun" on line 2.

Anyway, this is how the first two stanzas go:

"Foi nos bailes da vida ou num bar
Em troca de pão
Que muita gente boa pôs o pé na profissão
De tocar um instrumento e de cantar
Não importando se quem pagou quis ouvir
Foi assim

Cantar era buscar o caminho
Que vai dar no sol
Tenho comigo as lembranças do que eu era
Para cantar nada era longe, tudo tão bom
Até a estrada de terra na boléia de caminhão
Era assim"

Stanza 3 (not quoted) reads, "Se foi assim, assim será", which was translated as "If it was so, it will be so".

Is it okay to use both forms ("so" and "like that") in the translation? (I appreciate any constructive feedback that might help me sort this out.)

Thanks in advance.

L2: EN-US
Register: poetic