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MUSIC
São Paulo not only inspired many famous
Brazilian artists and musicians. In the city some musical styles were
created,
changed and developed through the years. Here are some of the most
popular
songs and singers inspired by the city:
ADONIRAN BARBOSA – “SAMBA
DO ARNESTO”
Adoniran´s
true name was João Rubinato, 7th son to a poor
Italian immigrant
family born in 1910
in
Valinhos, a São
Paulo State
countryside town. A
simple uneducated man, in 1932 he decided to move to São Paulo
and live in the Bixiga area, a
district where Italian immigrants used to settle down
the city. Though
described as shy and
insecure, determined to become an artist Adoniran began performing at
amateur
radio contests. Proudly assuming the ordinary but incorrect way the
poor paulistanos
used to speak Portuguese, he conquered audiences and became a popular
radio
comedian in the 1940´s.
Adoniran
also revealed an unexpected talent for music. A self-taught composer,
he
enjoyed singing the paulista samba style called samba-canção
(a
melodic style of samba, with a more enfatic use of flute and string
instruments
than percussion – the expression also means “boxers underwear” in
Portuguese).
He gained enormous popularity writing funny songs describing aspects of
São Paulo´s
simple people daily life with a hint of poetry. In the 1970’s Brazilian
military dictatorial government censored Adoniran’s musics considering
his
lyrics “unproper due writing mistakes” – words like “tauba” instead of tábua
(wood board) and “revorve” instead of revólver (gun) on
his records’
covers received marks and censorship stamps. Adoniran died in 1982.
Despite
fame he didn’t become rich and always kept a humble lifestyle.
The
song
“SAMBA DO ARNESTO” (Arnesto’s Samba), became a hit in 1955 and was
written as a
joke among friends. It describes a day when Adoniran and some pals went
to
their friend Arnesto’s with great expectations to have a pleasant day
playing
samba at his house in Brás district, but Arnesto wasn´t
there and they came
back home completely frustrated. Arnesto, whose true name is Ernesto
Paulelli,
despite the curious fame caused by Adoniran’s song, spent his entire
life
explaining that differently of what the music says he never invited his
friends
to play music at his house, but damage is now irreversible and “SAMBA
DO
ARNESTO” became part of popular mythology.
Hear Adoniran Barbosa´s “SAMBA DO ARNESTO” in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plOezZ6936Y
DEMÔNIOS DA GAROA –
“TREM DAS ONZE”
Brazil´s
oldest samba group still in activity, DEMONIOS DA GAROA (“drizzle
devils”,
indicating the group’s irreverent spirit and paulista
background, as São
Paulo city is known in Brazil as “the drizzle land” for its typical
unstable
weather) began in 1943, playing on radio amateur shows and became
specially
famous for recording many of composer and comedian Adoniran
Barbosa´s songs.
Although the group’s 7 original members have already deceased, 5 new
members –
one of them DEMONIO’s founder’s grandson – continue their musical
legacy. After
24 records and more than 10 million copies sold in a 6- decade career,
DEMONIOS
DA GAROA still make regular appearances at Bar Brahma, a traditional
pub in old
downtown São Paulo cherished by nightlife lovers.
In
1965 the
group released their biggest hit: Adoniran´s “TREM DAS ONZE” (11
PM Train), a
samba depicticing a fellow explaining to his girlfriend that he has to
take the
last night train home because he worries about his mother. In 2000
“TREM DAS
ONZE” was chosen as São
Paulo
city’s theme song through a local TV news research.
Hear Demonios da Garoa’s “TREM DAS ONZE” in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoUtxWU8lW8
PREMEDITANDO O BREQUE –
“SÃO PAULO, SÃO PAULO”
In
1976
three buddies who studied at prestigious ECA-USP (University of São
Paulo´s Communications School) plus a
friend music
student at the also prestigious Mozarteum Institute decided to create a
band.
Their goal was a simple one: writing and playing music just for fun.
The group
was named PREMEDITANDO O BREQUE (“premeditating the brake” – a pun joke
with
samba musical expressions and the idea of stopping a car). Mixing
refined
popular compositions and well-humored lyrics, the group got audiences
and good
reviews during the 1980 season at Lira Paulistana Theater – then a
notorious
place for independent shows criticizing Brazil’s military
dictatorial
government.
Released
in
1983 the song “SÃO PAULO, SÃO PAULO” is a joke inspired on “New York, New York”, and
became the group’s biggest hit because of a government’s little
distraction. In
times when censorship was severe and musics were prohibited even for
the most
irrelevant reasons, “SÃO PAULO, SÃO PAULO”’s
lyrics got the censors’ approval
although the expression ratos na rota – a pun that either means
“mice in
the route” or “rats in the police”.
Popularily
considered São Paulo´s “unofficial anthem” for capturing
the city´s mood and
spirit better than any other song, “SÃO PAULO,
SÃO PAULO” became a
younger generation’s beloved tune. Although PREMÊ’s last album
was released in
1994, the band is still in activity.
Premeditando o Breque’s
“SÃO PAULO, SÃO PAULO” lyrics
É sempre lindo
andar na cidade de São Paulo
It´s
always
beautiful to walk in the city of São Paulo
O clima engana, a vida
é grana em
São Paulo
The
topsy-turvy weather, life is money in São Paulo
A japonesa loura, a
nordestina moura de São Paulo
The
blond-japanese gal, the mixed girls of São Paulo
Gatinhas punks, um jeito
yankee de São Paulo
Punk
chicks, the yankee mood of São
Paulo
Na grande cidade me
realizar
Self-achievement
in the big city
Morando
num BNH
Living
in a
model tenement unit
Na periferia a
fábrica escurece o dia
In
the
suburbs the factory darkens the day
Não vá se
incomodar com a fauna urbana de São Paulo
Don’t
bother with the urban animal life in São Paulo
Pardais, baratas, ratos na
rota de São Paulo
Sparrows,
roaches, mice in the route of São
Paulo
E pra você
criança muita diversão e “pauluição”
And
for you
kid, a lot of fun and “paullution”
Tomar um banho no
Tietê ou ver TV
Take
a bath
in the Tiete river or watch TV
Na grande cidade me
realizar
Self-achievement
in the big city
Morando
num BNH
Living
in a
model tenement unit
Na periferia a
fábrica escurece o dia
In
the
suburbs the factory darkens the day
Chora Menino, Freguesia do
Ó, Carandiru, Mandaqui, aquí
(here)
Vila Sônia, Vila
Ema, Vila Alpina, Vila Carrão, Morumbi,
Pari
Butantã, Utinga,
Embu, Imirim, Brás, Brás, Belém
Bom Retiro, Barra Funda,
Ermelino Matarazzo
Mooca, Penha, Lapa,
Sé, Jabaquara, Pirituba, Tucuruvi,
Tatuapé
(several São Paulo’s districts names)
Pra quebrar a rotina num
fim de semana em
São Paulo
To
break
the routine on a weekend in São
Paulo
Lavar um carro comendo um
churro é bom pra burro
Washing
the
car eating a churro (long-shaped doughnut) is dawn good
Um ponto de partida pra
subir na vida em
São Paulo
A
starting
point to ascend in life in São
Paulo
Terraço
Itália, Jaraguá, Viaduto do Chá
(touristic
sites located in higher grounds)
Na grande cidade me
realizar
Self-achievement
in the big city
Morando
num BNH
Living
in a
model tenement unit
Na periferia a
fábrica escurece o dia
In
the
suburbs the factory darkens the day
Na periferia a
fábrica escurece o dia
In
the
suburbs the factory darkens the day
Hear Premeditando o Breque´s “SÃO PAULO, SÃO PAULO”
in
http://www.mpbnet.com.br/musicos/preme/letras/sao_paulo_sao_paulo.htm - click icon
CAETANO VELOSO – “SAMPA”
CAETANO
VELOSO (born August 7, 1942) is a musician, writer, and political
activist. He
has been considered to be “Brazil’s
Bob Dylan” and is most known for his participation in the Brazilian
musical
movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and
music in the
1960s.
Veloso
was
born in Bahia, a state in Brazil’s
northeastern area, moved to Rio
de Janeiro as a college student in the mid-1960s
and
became one of the founders of Tropicalismo with a group of
several other
musicians and artists. The Brazilian government at the time understood
Veloso's
music and political action as threatening, and he with fellow musician
Gilberto
Gil were arrested in 1969. After this incident both decided to live
exiled in London.
In 1972 Veloso
came back to Brazil
and began recording and performing again, becoming an internationally
known
artist in the 1990s. He won five Latin Grammy Awards and recorded his
first
all-English album, “A Foreign Sound”, in 2004.
Between
1965 and 1969 São Paulo-based TV networks promoted annual music
contest shows
named “Brazilian Popular Music Festivals”. Originally conceived as
music
contests like Italy’s
San Remo Festival, these events also gained political relevance. In the
mid-1960’s Brazil’s military dictatorial goverment (a period known as
“the dark
years”, from 1964 to 1985) was just beginning, and the Music Festivals
became
an opportunity for students to protest against the increasingly violent
repression and cancellation of civil rights. For that reason São Paulo’s
Music Festivals attracted many
political engaged young artists, including Veloso.
Caetano’s
experiences in São Paulo
inspired him to write
“SAMPA” in 1978 – a song describing his memories and amazement
impressions on
the city as a young composer from Bahia’s
countryside. A tribute to the city, “SAMPA” is one of Veloso’s most
famous
musics, cherished by many Brazilians for whom São Paulo is the first
metropolis they know,
or adopt as hometown.
Hear Caetano Veloso’s “SAMPA” in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4VamL9m1WM
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