"Tropicália brought a new attitude, a new way of looking at music within the culture, a feeling of plurality and democracy." - Gilberto Gil
Probably the greatest of all Brazilian music and art movements. Tropicalismo (aka Tropicália) had its origin and reached its zenith in the politically charged province of
Bahia in the late 1960's.
It started as a vision of the reality of Brazil (as opposed to the notion presented by the state controlled media of the time) and manifested itself in the form of wildly popular and populist music and art which led a protest movement against the military government of the day.
In 1964 a group of army generals took control of Brazil under the auspices of curbing rampant inflation and bringing order to a corrupt government. The reality of this was a brutal military dictatorship that did not curb corruption while suppressing the will of the poorer people (especially in the poorer northern provinces, including Bahia).
From this brutality emerged a culture of protest through art nurtured at the universities of these poorer provinces. In 1965, taking their inspiration (in equal measures) from the famous and popular trio elétrico and the more serious Semana de Arte Moderna movement, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil took up the banner of populist music and provided the direction for what Tropicalismo was about to become. They fused styles ranging from Samba to the Beatles and Chuck Berry to create the music that they believed represented the real Brazil - passionate,
energetic, unpredictable, ironic.
Along with these two leading figures the scene emerged as poet-lyricists Torquato Neto and José Carlos Capinam, songwriter Tom Zé, vocalists Gal Costa and Nara Leão and psychedelic rock trio Os Mutantes.
Their goal was to radically politicize Brazilian music while retaining the simple joy and energy present in Bahia's Samba music. In short, the goal was to make music for Brazilians as they were, not as the government wanted them to be.
A seminal group album entitled Tropicália ou Panis et Circensis (Tropicalismo of Bread and Circuses) was the result. This statement of intent (both in political and esthetic terms) launched the movement in the hearts and minds of everyday Brazilians. The title is derived from the poet Juvenal who satirized Brazilian society by likening it to Roman citizens who asked for nothing more than food and entertainment. Several tracks on the Tropicália album address the state of society in Brazil at the time, but rather than denouncing injustices or the plight of the rural poor, the collective pokes fun at the country's developmental furor and focuses on personal alienation in Brazilian society.
In the following years Gil and Veloso would continue to outrage conservative audiences with their deadly satirical stabs and impromptu discourses chastising the old order. In 1968, the military government instituted a law that ended democracy in Brazil and led to gross violation of human rights in the country. It was the time of the Disappeared as people deemed to have a de-stabilizing effect on society were jailed without trial. Several members of the tropicalismo movement (including Gil and his wife) were arrested and questioned by the military police. Gil and Veloso were forced to go into exile in London where they remained until 1972. Another singer, Gal Costa, who remained in Brazil recorded and released their songs while they were in exile and in this way their influence was felt even though they were not present themselves.
The movement played an undeniable role in the awakening of peoples' consciousness to the injustices around them and introduced new standards for indigenous music which remains to this day. Many of their songs are, to this day, being re-recorded by new Brazilian bands wanting to pay homage to the greatest time in the musical development of their country.
Discography
Gilberto Gil
Louvação
1967
Tropicália: Ou Panis Et Circensis
Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso,
Rogério Duprat, Os Mutantes and others.
1968
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
1968
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
1968
Mutantes
Os Mutantes
1968
Tom Zé
Tom Zé
1968
Probably the most important song of the movement was Panis et Circensis which really deserves a node of its own, but I'm including the English translation of the lyrics here as they are of great importance to the intent of the Tropicalismo movement
Bread and Circuses
Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso
I wanted to sing
My song illuminated by the sun
I released the sails on the mast in the air
I released the lions and tigers in the backyards
But people in the dining room
Are worried about birth and death
I had a dagger made of pure, luminous steel
To kill my love, and I killed it
At seven o'clock on Central Avenue
But people in the dining room
Are worried about birth and death
I planted leaves of dreams in the garden of my manor
The leaves know how to look for the sun
And the roots look for, look for
But people in the dining room
Those people in the dining room
Are the people in the dining room
But people in the dining room
Are worried about birth and death
Those people in the dining room
Those people in the dining room
Those people . . .
see also: Tropicalia - Beck was havily influenced by Os Mutantes in the making of his Mutations album.
References:
http://www.brazzil.com/cvrdec97.htm
http://www30.brinkster.com/tropicalismo/
A fascinating interview with Gilberto Gil is available from Wired at: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,10428,00.html