At times when the historical conjuncture presented an impasse to Brazilian democracy, the song was there. In the 20th century, songwriters raised as the expression of the sensitivity of the population, wanting to be consensus in a country marked by heterogeneity.
The acronym MPB, which today has a trivial meaning, housed, in the 1960s, an ideological project to confront the dictatorship. He amodified the arts and offered new horizons to his own left.
For all this, the participation of, and in a protest against the PEC of Armage and Amnesty to the scammers of January 8, 2023, can be a milestone in the political conjuncture. The demonstration, which takes place this Sunday (21), at Copacabana Beach, in Rio de Janeiro, also includes a musical act. Protests with the same content will happen in other capitals.
It is possible to understand some aspects of the union of Chico, Caetano and Gil, among other artists. The first of these is the symbolic dimension of an event whose agenda is able to mobilize the three most important composers in the country. It is not just popularity, but social and intellectual prestige.
The protest may not even change the course of centrão negotiations, but it is unlikely that parliamentarians do not confront the unpopular nature of matter. The text stipulates that a parliamentarian may only be the target of proceedings with authorization from the legislature. In this case, there would also be a secret vote for authorization.
The theme was able to bring Chico back to the spotlight. Although his political engagement has never faded, the author of “God Pay You” has retreated in the recent decades in his elegant discretion. In this respect, the last time he performed in a rally was in 2018, when he sang “Chalice”, alongside Gil, to protest, of whom he is a friend and first -hour supporter. This Sunday’s demonstration, now surrounded by the National Congress.
It is also symptomatic that the left manifestation, with greater repercussion on social networks, is starred by these artists. In an interview with Sheetespecially the challenge of calling militancy to the streets.
In contrast, Bolsonarism continues to occupy the main avenues of the country. In this scenario, it is evident the absence of new leaders of the left and, above all, the inability to mobilize the masses. The last resort, in this sense, is to hide in aesthetic sensitization, especially the one made by artists who reconciled artistic ambitions with the mass industry.
It was up to Caetano, through the organization 342, to summon the population and the artistic class itself. Finally, the protest now rescues the political meaning of Brazilian popular music. For scholars of the theme, it is quite evident that the work with the song form in Brazil was never restricted to musical composition.
Already in the 1930s, the song emerged as the artistic form that reflected the main issues of Brazilian sociability, such as social ills (Noel Rosa) or (Ary Barroso). In the 1960s, Gil, Chico and Caetano faced the military regime, marching together at.
They also reinforced the sense of intervention of the song form: “I organize the movement,” said Caetano in a famous verse of “Tropicália”. After the brute force, Chico once again combined with Francis Hime’s piano to create the hymn of redemocratization, “will pass”.
To the left, the scenario promises to be worse: younger artists should not have the same political dimension. For the 1960 generation, going to the streets to talk about amnesty is still a great déjà-vu.
