MPB refused the ‘chalice’ of the dictatorship and produced songs of resistance against the military coup launched 60 years ago

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Vigorous, the songs of the time remain strong in the memory of those who lived in the leaden years and recall an unfortunate page in the History of Brazil. Cover of the digital edition of the album ‘Comportamento geral’ (2014), by Marya Bravo Art by Eduardo Kurt ♪ MEMORY – Started on March 31, 60 years ago, the 1964 coup remains one of the most unfortunate pages in the History of Brazil. A page that must be forever turned, but never forgotten to avoid revival by totalitarian governments. The anniversary brings back memories of MPB, an acronym that encompasses several musical genres, even though it has itself become a genre that characterizes music produced from the second half of the 1960s onwards by university-educated composers. Generally committed composers who came together against the dictatorship, using music as a weapon, with lyrics to denounce the executioners. Yes, MPB refused to drink from the dictatorship’s cup and produced songs of resistance against authoritarianism. Interestingly, the period of the coup, in force until 1985, coincided with the golden phase of the production of Brazil’s greatest composers in the MPB segment. This engaged group included Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque (the composer most identified with the fight against the dictatorship), Gilberto Gil, Gonzaguinha (1945 – 1991), Milton Nascimento – alongside fundamental lyricist partners such as Fernando Brant (1946 – 2015) and Marcio Borges – and Ivan Lins (from 1974, in partnership with Vitor Martins). Not to mention Geraldo Vandré, Paulo César Pinheiro, João Bosco – whose work delivered sharp blows against the dictatorship in the sharp cut of the lyrics of the bard Aldir Blanc (1946 – 2020) – and Jards Macalé, partner of conscious poets such as Waly Salomão (1943 – 2003). Many of these resistance songs were amplified in recordings by performers such as Elis Regina (1945 – 1982), Gal Costa (1945 – 2022) and Maria Bethânia, singers who also deserve to be remembered and praised today and always because they literally raised their voices to denounce the suffocation of Brazil in the years of lead. All of these artists positioned themselves on the right side of History with great songs. Yes, regardless of the ideology of the lyrics, the songs were strong, hard-hitting, often intoxicating. A good sample of this production is immortalized in the album Comportamento geral – Canções da resistance (2014), released by singer Marya Bravo ten years ago, with a cover that showcased art by Eduardo Kurt and with 13 songs released between 1968 and 1978 (the darkest decade of the dictatorship), to commemorate in 2014 the fiftieth anniversary of the 1964 coup. On this album, released by the record label Joia Moderna, there are firecrackers such as Roda viva (Chico Buarque, 1968), Despite you (Chico Buarque, 1970), Comportamento geral (Gonzaguinha, 1972), Nightmare (Maurício Tapajós and Paulo César Pinheiro, 1972), Cálice (Chico Buarque and Gilberto Gil, 1973) and Fortune Teller (Ivan Lins and Vitor Martins, 1977). “The king of spades falls / The king of diamonds falls / The king of clubs falls / Falls, nothing remains”, predicted the metaphorical verses of Vitor Martins in Cartomante, amplified in 1977 in Elis’ song when it was necessary to resort to metaphors to saying between the lines what censorship prohibited, persecuting, to a greater or lesser extent, all the aforementioned composers who, if they had a verse cut, would immediately write another, yearning for the imposition of democracy. And, yes, Vitor Martins’ prediction in Cartomante was confirmed. Everything fell, nothing remained, except the memories and these songs of resistance that passed through generations and, sometimes, became dangerously current again, as in recent years of another unfortunate page in Brazil’s history. And it’s good that they are there, firm and strong, to remember what needs to be remembered today, tomorrow and every day: never again dictatorship!

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