“Viva a banda-da-da //
Long Live the Band”:
Long Live the Band”: Tropicália and the Cannibalistic Counterculture of the Global 1960s
Bella Harmath de Lemos
Senior Thesis | 2025
“Viva a banda-da-da // Long Live the Band”: Tropicália and the Cannibalistic Counterculture of the Global 1960s
Bella Harmath de Lemos
Senior Thesis
Mr. Seth March 3, 2025
7494 words (not including bibliography)
The 1960s marked a period of profound transformation across the globe, with cultural, social, and political upheavals reshaping societies in ways that still resonate today. While the counterculture movements of the United States, epitomized by events like Woodstock, have been celebrated as defining moments of this era, it is crucial to recognize parallel and often preexisting movements that occurred around the world. One such movement was Tropicália in Brazil, a cultural and musical revolution that emerged during this same transformative decade. By examining Tropicália alongside Woodstock, we will not only gain a more comprehensive understanding of the global 1960s, but also explore the dynamics of U.S.-Brazil relations during this time and how that affected the now of both countries. This paper aims to use key songs in the Tropicália movement–Tropicália, Miserere Nobis, Coração Materno, Panis Et Circenses, Três Caravelas–as vehicles to approach globalization and revolution, eventually drawing connections to the mythos surrounding the Woodstock festival of 1969.
To understand these movements, we must first understand the 1960s, in both Brazil and the U.S. Woodstock, held in 1969, symbolized the pinnacle of the American counterculture movement, celebrating ideals of peace, love, and freedom amid the Vietnam War and civil rights struggles. Although it was a single point in time, it is often used to refer to the countercultural movement in the U.S. as a whole. Meanwhile, in Brazil, Tropicália emerged as a cultural force blending traditional Brazilian sounds with international influences such as rock and psychedelia. Tropicália was not an isolated point in time, but the culmination of music festivals, TV appearances, and albums created over the
course of a few years. Artists like Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Os Mutantes used music to critique the authoritarian regime and address social injustices, challenging traditional notions of Brazilian identity.
Despite these parallels, Brazil is most often overlooked in discussions of the 1960s’ global uprisings. This neglect reflects a broader tendency to focus on the Western world while sidelining the rich histories of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Highlighting Tropicália alongside Woodstock brings Brazil into the conversation, showcasing its unique experiences of cultural resistance and musical innovation.
The relationship between Tropicália and Woodstock also underscores the complex interplay between Brazil and the United States during the 20th century. World War II further intertwined the two nations, as Brazil allied with the U.S.–providing resources and strategic naval support in exchange for developmental aid. However, this partnership also developed patterns of cultural and economic dependency. The “Good Neighbor Policy” was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his inaugural address, where he stated, “In the field of world policy I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others.”1 The policy aimed to improve U.S. relations with Latin America, with a focus on Brazil as the
1 U.S. State Department, “Good Neighbor Policy,” accessed March 5, 2025, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/goodneighbor#:~:text=President%20Franklin%20Delano%20Roosevelt%20took,mai ntain%20stability%20in%20the%20hemisphere.
economic and political center of South America. It emphasized cooperation between nations, rather than military occupation.
Historically, Brazil and the U.S. have shared a relationship shaped by cultural exchange and geopolitical interests. Media has played a large part in this exchange. Perhaps the one of the most evident examples of this is the creation of Zé Carioca–a character created by Walt Disney during World War II to represent Brazil and enforce the “Good Neighbor Policy” between the U.S. and Brazil. He is always in a good mood, friendly, and a malandro–a rascal.2 His last name, “Carioca,” is even the term used to refer to Brazillians from Rio de Janeiro. Zé Carioca's friendship with Donald Duck worked as a symbol of the longstanding friendship between Brazil and the U.S. Zé Carioca is still largely looked upon by Brazillians as a silly, positive representation of Cariocas in Brazil. However, he is largely forgotten in the U.S.
In the 1960s, for the first time, wars were witnessed in living rooms, and dictatorships were seen on TV. The Vietnam War earned the nickname “the living room war” because it marked the first time a major conflict was broadcast directly into people’s homes. With the rise of television, images and footage from the battlefield were delivered with unprecedented immediacy, allowing viewers across the globe to witness the war’s brutality. Unlike previous conflicts, where information was heavily filtered and
2 “José Carioca,” Disney Wiki, accessed March 5, 2025, https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Carioca.
delayed, this war was brought to life by journalists who reported directly from the frontlines. War correspondents captured raw and often disturbing scenes: villages burned, soldiers wounded or killed, and the suffering of Vietnamese civilians. This unfiltered portrayal shattered the sanitized narratives of war that many Americans had grown accustomed to. Unlike World War II, where there was a clear enemy and a strong sense of moral purpose, the Vietnam War was murkier in its justification, leading to widespread doubt and dissent.3
For many Americans, the televised images of the war were deeply unsettling. Families who had cheered for their sons, brothers, and husbands heading off to fight returned home after dinner to watch the grim reality on their screens. The casualties, the chaos, and the sheer destruction made the conflict feel closer and more personal, even though it was being fought thousands of miles away in a country many Americans had never heard of. Questions began to arise: Why were their loved ones dying in a foreign land? What purpose did this war serve? While the U.S. government justified its involvement as part of the larger Cold War strategy to contain communism, many citizens found these explanations unconvincing. The loss of American lives and resources felt disproportionate to the strategic goals, especially when pressing social and economic issues loomed at home.
The 1960s and 1970s were already a period of significant social upheaval in the United States, with the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, and widespread protests
3 Brett Abigaña, “Woodstock” (Woodstock, Boston University Academy, September 14, 2024).
against inequality and systemic injustice gaining momentum. Against this backdrop, the war seemed to highlight a glaring contradiction: the U.S. government claimed to fight for freedom abroad while failing to address inequality, racism, and poverty at home. Many Americans, especially young people, began to question not only the rationale for the war but also the broader intentions and ethics of their leaders. The draft intensified these feelings, as it disproportionately affected working-class and minority communities, forcing those who were already marginalized to bear the greatest burden of a war they did not choose.
4
Television coverage also exposed atrocities committed by American forces, such as the My Lai Massacre, where hundreds of Vietnamese civilians were killed. These incidents eroded public trust in the government and military, sparking outrage and fueling the growing anti-war movement.5 The contrast between the optimistic assurances of political leaders and the realities shown on screen created a gap, further alienating the public from the war effort.
Brazil was not exempt from the instability and terror of the 1960s. In 1964, democracy in Brazil was traded out for Military rule through a coup. The coup concentrated power into the hands of the Brazilian Armed forces, and elected Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco as its de facto leader, overthrowing President João
4 Brett Abigaña, “Woodstock” (Woodstock, Boston University Academy, September 21, 2024).
5 Christopher Dunn, “Desbunde and Its Discontents: Counterculture and Authoritarian Modernization in Brazil, 1968-1974,” The Americas, vol. 70, no. ?
Goulart. Almost immediately, Institutional Act n.1 was declared–stripping away the rights of everyday people and government officials. A violent nationalism took over the country, with the new government implementing nationalist policies and putting Brazil into an isolationist state. Influence from the U.S. was almost completely prohibited, even though the U.S. and Brazil had previously been on good terms due to the “Good Neighbor Policy” of the 1940s. Even so, the U.S. aided the military coup by providing increased arms and money, mainly because of the military's vehement persecution of communism that aligned with that of the United States’. The U.S. launched an operation entitled ‘Brother Sam,’ which sent logistical forces to Brazil to support the pro-American and anti-communism military usurpers; forces from the American navy were sent and stationed along Brazil's coast.6 Nearing the 70s, as the Brazilian government's violent actions towards their own people began to take center stage, Brazilian and U.S. relations began to erode.7
During the dictatorship, at least 434 people were killed or “disappeared,” and many more were detained or tortured by the government. More than this, the government imposed strict censors onto all Brazilian exported media, and any imported media. Only
6 Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. Forces Stood Ready to Aid ‘64 Brazil Coup, declassified document, accessed March 5, 2025, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP91-00901R0007000601250.pdf.
7 Library of Congress, Brazil-U.S. Relations: Military Dictatorship, n.d., https://guides.loc.gov/brazil-us-relations/military-dictatorship.
recently, after 5 decades, were any convictions made against the perpetrators of these horrors due to an amnesty law from 1979.8
Tropicália and Woodstock were more than just music festivals or movements. They represented broader cultural revolutions that extended into art, literature, and philosophy. In the U.S., the counterculture inspired works of literature by authors like Allen Ginsberg and the visual art of psychedelic posters. Tropicália similarly embraced multidisciplinary outlets, with artists such as Hélio Oiticica creating avant-garde installations that challenged authoritarian norms. Movies, poetry, art, and so much more were all revolutionized under these counter cultural movements.
In fact, the movement originally took its name from an interactive art installation by brazilian artist Helio Oiticica in Bahia, Brazil.
8 Human Rights Watch, “First Conviction for Dictatorship Crimes in Brazil,” June 22, 2021, https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/06/22/first-convictiondictatorship-crimes-brazil.
1. Hélio Oiticica. Tropicália, 1967, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte.
The installation features a beach-like tropical setting with sheds that resemble the architecture of the Brazilian favelas, or slums. The installation is interactive, inviting the spectators to place themselves within it. In this way, it is fitting that the movement would acquire its name from Oiticica's art piece.9
Tropicália defined itself during the Brazilian Popular Musical Festival of 1967. The notable artists included Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes, and many more. It was during this festival that songs like Domingo no Parque songs that protested against the dictatorship and the nationalist conservatism
9 Museo Reina Sofía, Tropicália Exhibition Overview, n.d., https://www.museoreinasofia.es/sites/default/files/salas/informacion/tropicalia_e ng_.pdf.
that dominated the arts were premiered for the first time. These popular music festivals began to take place once a year, and were all televised. The movement emerged as a cultural response to the effects of globalization on Brazilian national identity in the postwar era. Rooted in Brazil's repressive elite-driven society, Tropicália sought to redefine the nation's place in a newly global world. Tropicália’s emergence also coincided–through no coincidence–with the broader development of neoliberal economies and global institutions like the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which pressured Brazil and other Latin American countries to adopt free-market policies. As an exporter of primary goods and an importer of manufactured goods, Brazil’s economic dependence highlighted the inequalities of globalization. In this context, Tropicália was meant to illustrate how Brazil could hold itself on the global stage. This defiance of marginality of being relegated to the periphery as a “third world” country was a hallmark of Tropicália.10
However, to understand the development of this movement, we must start with the father of Bossa Nova, João Gilberto. Bossa nova, meaning “New wave,” was a uniquely Brazilian music genre, formed through the fusion of jazz and samba. It was born in the Copacabana neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, out of a middle class that had newly acquired never before seen buying power within the country. It was an era of optimism, of cultural expansion. Yet, similar to Tropicália, it was a music form that was
10 Ryan Schleeter, “Fifty Years of Cultural Cannibalism: Contemporary Attitudes Towards Globalization in Ceará,” The Geographical Bulletin 54, n.d.
heavily criticized for its American qualities.11 Born in 1931, João Gilberto's career and music circa the 1950s marked the beginning of qualitative jump in popular music. This was not isolated from other forms of Brazilian art, as we can see through the beginning of the Cinema Novo movement with filmmaker Glauber Rocha, which revolutionized Brazilian film. Like Bossa Nova, Cinema Novo was a “New cinema.”All of this came with a period of unprecedented economic growth, democracy, and industrialization. This “modernization” undermined the idea that a third word country could only create “third world art.”12
In the years following the “Bossa Boom,” debates began surfacing about Bossa Nova's a-politicalness. In a country now suffering from economic fallout due to large scale construction projects, people began questioning the lack of class consciousness within Bossa Nova music. Out of this want for a more left-leaning way of expression, rose Tropicália.
Tropicália, by Caetano Veloso
The year 1968, often referred to as "the year that never ended" and a "divider of the waters," marked a pivotal moment in Brazilian cultural and political history, particularly for the Tropicália movement. In 1967, the III MPB Festival introduced Tropicália to the Brazilian public through Caetano Veloso’s Alegria, Alegria and Gilberto Gil’s Domingo no Parque, which
11 “Bossa Nova,” Five Centuries of Change, Brown University Library, accessed March 5, 2025, https://library.brown.edu/create/fivecenturiesofchange/chapters/chapter-6/bossanov/.
12 Lucia Santaella, O Hibridismo Semiótico da Tropicália, n.d.
were met with cautious acceptance.13 By March of 1968, Veloso and Gil had released their individual LPs, followed shortly after by Os Mutantes’ debut album. In June of that year, the seminal album Tropicália ou Panis et Circenses was released, serving as the manifesto of the movement and encapsulating its revolutionary ethos.
The cultural violence inherent in Tropicália’s creative process reflected its commitment to interrogating Brazil’s identity. Its embrace of contradictions a fusion of the old and new, the traditional and modern, the local and global challenged the naivety of defensive nationalism and the complacency of cultural isolation. Tropicália parodied cultural symbols like Carmen Miranda, reframing her once-dismissed image as a grotesque caricature of Brazilian identity into a nuanced critique of BrazilU.S. cultural relations. Veloso’s infamous performance of his song "É Proibido Proibir" at the 1968 Festival Internacional da Canção, met with hostility as the audience turned their backs on him, epitomized the cultural tensions Tropicália sought to address; it catered to a specific, academic group, yet was largely marginalized by the public.14 The movement’s incorporation of rock ‘n’ roll influences, such as those from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, alongside Brazilian traditions, symbolized its rejection of
13 Rodrigo Marconi, “Tradição e Vanguarda Na Obra ‘Acrilírico’ de Caetano Veloso e Rogério Duprat,” Revista Brasileira de Música 25, no. 1 (January 2012): 79–102, EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=b5a0b1c3-3eb8-3362-ba625bdf033f4d4f.
14 Caetano Veloso and Christopher Dunn, “The Tropicalista Rebellion,” Transition, no. 70 (1996): 116–38, JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2935353.
marginality and its determination to create art that was both Brazilian and internationally resonant.
Born in Bahia, Brazil, Caetano Veloso was an avid consumer of Bossa Nova, and other Brazilian artists. Yet, the stagnant second phase of Bossa Nova--the Bossa Nova of traditionality, of Brasilia and modernity, of industrialization--was a source of disappointment to him.15 This is partly what encouraged him to create his song “Tropicália,” which would become a manifesto for the musical movement.
“Sobre a cabeça os aviões // Over my head airplanes
Sob os meus pés os caminhões// Under my feet trucks
Aponta contra os chapadões // Pointing out against the plains
Meu nariz // My nose
Eu organizo o movimento // I organize the movement
Eu oriento o carnaval // I direct the Carnival
Eu inauguro o monumento no planalto central // I inaugurate the monument in the Central Plateau
Do país // Of the country
Viva a bossa-sa-sa // Long live bossa-sa-sa
15 Caetano Veloso and Christopher Dunn, “The Tropicalista Rebellion”
Viva a palhoça-ça-ça-ça-ça // Viva straw huts-uts-uts-utsuts
Viva a bossa-sa-sa // Viva bossa-sa-sa
Viva a palhoça-ça-ça-ça-ça // Viva straw huts-uts-uts-utsuts…
Viva a banda-da-da// Viva “A Banda”-da-da-da
Carmem Miranda-da-da-da-da// Carmen Miranda-da-da-dada
Viva a banda-da-da// Viva “A Banda”-da-da-da
Carmem Miranda-da-da-da-da// Carmen Miranda-da-da-dada”16
In this song-turned-manifesto, Veloso focuses on the contradictions within Brazilian culture; from the “monument in the central plateau,” or the creation of the capital of Brasilia, to Bossa Nova. By creating this stark image of Brazil, Veloso hoped to create or develop a new popular national identity.17 He references other songs and styles, like Chico Buarque's “A Banda,” pointing to the notion of “cultural cannibalism” that encompassed Tropicália as a movement.
16 Caetano Veloso, Tropicália, on Caetano Veloso, Universal Music Ltda, 1968, streaming audio, accessed March 5, 2025, [platform, e.g., Spotify, Apple Music].
17 “Caetano Veloso,” Beyond Carnival, Brown University Library, accessed March 5, 2025, https://library.brown.edu/create/beyondcarnival/wpcontent/uploads/sites/40/2014/05/caetano-veloso-article.pdf.
Although this song certainly served as a manifesto for the movement, it was not by Veloso's work alone that the movement took on a life of its own.
Coração Materno, by
Caetano Veloso
“Disse o campônio a sua amada // Said the peasant to his wife
Minha idolatrada diga o que qués? // My worshipped one, tell me what you want
Por ti vou matar, vou roubar // For you I’d kill, I’d steal
Embora tristezas me causes mulher // Even if you make me miserable
Provar quero eu que te quero // I want to show you how much I want you
Venero teus olhos teu porte, teu ser // I praise your eyes, your ways, your way
Mas diga tua ordem espero // Only give me an order, I’ll wait
Por ti não importa matar ou morrer // For you it doesn’t matter if I kill or if I die
E ela disse ao compônio a brincar // And then she said playing with the peasant
Se é verdade tua louca paixão // If your crazy passion for me is real
Partes já e pra mim vá buscar // Leave me now and bring to me
De tua mãe inteiro o coração // Your mother’s very heart
E a correr o campônio partiu // So the peasant went away
Como um raio na estrada sumiu // Like a lightning he stroke the road
E sua amada qual louca ficou // But his loved one went mad
A chorar na estrada tombou // She fell by the side of the road crying
Chega à choupana o campônio // The peasant returned home
Encontra a mãezinha ajoelhada a rezar // He found his mother praying on her knees
Rasga-lhe o peito o demônio // The devil rips her chest open
Tombando a velhinha aos pés do altar // The old woman falls by the altar
Tira do peito sangrando da velha mãezinha // He takes out her bleeding heart
O pobre coração e volta a correr proclamando // And quickly goes back screaming
Vitória, vitória tem minha paixão // Vitória, Vitória has my heart
Mais em meio da estrada caiu // But then on the middle of the road he fell,
E na queda uma perna partiu // And at the landing he broke his leg,
E a distância saltou-lhe da mão // And his poor mother’s heart flew away
Sobre a terra o pobre coração // Under the earth the poor heart
Nesse instante uma voz ecoou // At this instance a voice echoes
Magoou-se pobre filho meu // My poor son is sad
Vem buscar-me filho, aqui estou // Come rescue me, son
Vem buscar-me que ainda sou teu! // Come rescue me because I’m still yours”18
18 “Caetano Veloso – Coração Materno,” Brazil 70 Translation Project, January 25, 2014, accessed March 5, 2025,
Cultural cannibalism is a concept introduced by Brazilian poet and intellectual Oswald de Andrade in his 1928 "Cannibalist Manifesto" (or Manifesto Antropófago). In this manifesto, Andrade suggested that Brazil should metaphorically “devour” the cultural influences of Europe, particularly European colonialism, in order to create a distinct and modern Brazilian identity. This song has taken elements of this idea, transforming a “violent,” nearly cannibalistic obsession into an allegory for love and devotion. “Coração Materno,” is a country song at its core, yet it keeps the style of psychedelia. It also cannibalizes the psychedelic style which was popularized with albums like The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and applies it to a Northern Brazilian lyrical context.“Absorption of the sacred enemy. To transform him into a totem,” was the goal. With the U.S. dominating both culturally and economically, the metaphor of cannibalism was used to express the idea of appropriation and transformation rather than passive assimilation. Just as the indigenous people of Brazil practiced ritualistic cannibalism, he argued that Brazil could consume foreign ideas and cultural forms, reworking them to fit its own context and needs.19 This ethos was partially grounded in Brazil’s historical identity as a product of miscegenation, emphasizing the nation's inherently hybrid culture: Tropicália was not about imitation but about innovation, offering a reimagined https://brazil70translationproject.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/23-caetano-velosocoracao-materno/. Some translations have been modified as seen fit 19 Oswald de Andrade, Manifesto Antropófago [The Cannibalist Manifesto], Revista de Antropofagia, May 1928. Translated by Leslie Bary in Latin American Literary Review 19, no. 38 (1991): 38–47.
relationship with globalization that challenged traditional notions of identity.
Andrade’s manifesto challenged the dominant European cultural ideas and celebrated Brazil's unique mixture of indigenous, African, and European influences. He--and Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil--saw cultural cannibalism as a way to break free from the Eurocentric models of art and thought that had previously dominated Latin America. This was a reaction to the hypernationalist culture that had taken hold in much of Brazil.20 In fact, Andrade states that the one thing that unites the global world, is the process of this cannibalization. The Tropicália movement challenged both the conservative regime and the leftist intellectual opposition both groups feared the destruction of Brazilian culture because of foreign influences. The left, in particular, adopted a defensive nationalism rooted in cultural insecurity, positioning itself decidedly against globalization. By contrast, Tropicália (and the Cannibalist Manifesto) encouraged Brazilians to actively claim and redefine their national identity, rejecting the isolationist and prescriptive brasilidade imposed by the elite.
Miserere Nobis, by Gilberto Gil
“Miserere nobis // Miserere nobis
Ora, ora pro nobis // Ora, ora pro nobis
É no sempre será, ô, iaiá // It's how it will always be, ô, iaiá
20 Caetano Veloso and Christopher Dunn, “The Tropicalista Rebellion”
É no sempre, sempre serão // It's how it will always, they will ever be
Já não somos como na chegada // We are not how we were at first
Calados e magros, esperando o jantar // Thin and quiet, waiting for dinner
Na borda do prato se limita a janta // Dinner is limited by the plates borders
As espinhas do peixe de volta pro mar // Fish spines back to the ocean
Miserere nobis // Miserere nobis
Ora, ora pro nobis // Ora, ora pro nobis
É no sempre será, ô, iaiá // It's how it will always be, ô, iaiá
É no sempre, sempre serão // It's how it will always, they will ever be
Tomara que um dia de um dia seja // Let's hope one day a day will have
Para todos e sempre a mesma cerveja // For all and always the same beer
Tomara que um dia de um dia não // Let's hope one day a day won't have
Para todos e sempre metade do pão // For all and always only a slice of bread
Tomara que um dia de um dia seja // Let's hope one day a day will have
Que seja de linho a toalha da mesa // Linen towels covering the table
Tomara que um dia de um dia não // Let's hope one day a day won't have
Na mesa da gente tem banana e feijão // At our table there's bananas and beans
Miserere nobis // Miserere nobis
Ora, ora pro nobis // Ora, ora pro nobis
É no sempre será, ô, iaiá // It's how it will always be, ô, iaiá
É no sempre, sempre serão // It's how it will always, they will ever be
Já não somos como na chegada // We are not how we were at first
O sol já é claro nas águas quietas do mangue // The sun already shines on the mangue's quiet water
Derramemos vinho no linho da mesa // Let's spill wine on the table linen
Molhada de vinho e manchada de sangue // Wet with wine and stained with blood
Miserere nobis // Miserere nobis
Ora, ora pro nobis // Ora, ora pro nobis
É no sempre será, ô, iaiá // It's how it will always be, ô, iaiá
É no sempre, sempre serão // It's how it will always, they will ever be
Bê, rê, a – Bra
Zê, i, lê – zil
Fê, u – fu
Zê, i, lê – zil // Not translated, but Bra-zil-fu-zil translates to Rifle Brazil
Ora pro nobis”21
Gilberto Gil, along with Caetano Veloso, was one of the front runners in the Tropicália movement. Gil was born in Salvador, Bahia, in June of 1942. As a child, Gil was always fascinated with Northeastern Brazilian music, and learned the guitar from famous Brazilian sertanejo–a style of brazilian country music–singer Luiz Gonzaga. His musical interests grew from
21 “Gilberto Gil – Miserere Nobis (1968),” Brazil 70 Translation Project, January 24, 2014, accessed March 5, 2025, https://brazil70translationproject.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/22-gilberto-gilmiserere-nobis-1968/.
there–he took in Bossa Nova, psychedelic rock, samba, and much more and cannibalized them to create his own esoteric style of music. Gil had always been concerned with issues of identity and justice in his home state of Bahia--something that is evident even in his pre-tropicália songs like “Retirante.”22 From there, he met Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Maria Bethânia, Os Mutantes, Rogério Duprat, who all contributed to the movement in their own unique ways.23
The song above–the first in the defining album, “Tropicália ou Panis et Circenses”–starts with the Latin phrase, “Lord have mercy on us, pray for us.” Yet, the upbeat instrumentation of the song does not imply anything remotely distressing. Purposefully, the songs of the Tropicália movement often feature this contrast between the lyrics and instrumentation as a way to bypass the media censorship of the dictatorship. Still, the instrumentation features sounds such as a church organ and background choir, and what sounds seemingly like explosions towards the end of the song. With this song, and more generally the album from which it originates, there is an underlying sense of violence--both from an artistic perspective, and from a physical one.
In an interview with Robert Meyers, Gil reflects on his own definition of the movement and how it was seen by the brazilian public:
22 Afolabi, Niyi. Afro-Brazilians: Cultural Production in a Racial Democracy. Vol. 39. Boydell & Brewer, 2009. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt81stb. 23 “Gilberto Gil,” Transatlantic Cultures, accessed March 5, 2025, https://transatlantic-cultures.org/en/catalog/gilberto-gil.
“Everyone thought our position was very much that of rebels and iconoclasts. We were vocalizing, let’s say, a violent new instinct, the tempestuous instinct of postmodernism from Brazil. It was no longer modernism. Whereas bossa nova wrapped up modernism into something comfortable, tropicalismo was already the discomfort of post-modernism, a fragmented explosion of post-modernism, that only now has come to be understood as post-modernism, even though it was already a fact during that time. So, I heard a lot of rejection in the artistic community, from the consumer, from the institutional powers in the society, from dominant stratas [sic], from powerful sectors of the government.”24
Tropicália caused a sort of discomfort, or cultural violence, amongst the Brazilian public in its entirety. More than anyone, he and Veloso ruffled the feathers of the Brazilian military government–leading to their arrest and subsequent exile to London in 1968.
Panis Et Circenses, by Os Mutantes
“Eu quis cantar // I wanted to sing
Minha canção iluminada de sol // My sunlit song
Soltei os panos sobre os mastros no ar // I set sails upon the masts in the air
24 Gilberto Gil, as quoted in Christopher Dunn, Brutality Garden: Tropicália and the Emergence of a Brazilian Counterculture (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001), 304.
Soltei os tigres e os leões nos quintais // I let the tigers and lions free in the backyards
Mas as pessoas na sala de jantar // But the people in the dining rooms
São ocupadas em nascer e morrer // Are too busy being born and dying
Mandei fazer // I ordered
De puro aço luminoso um punhal // Of pure luminous steel a dagger
Para matar o meu amor e matei // To kill my love and I did it
Às cinco horas na avenida central // At 5 o’clock on central avenue
Mas as pessoas na sala de jantar // But the people in the dining rooms
São ocupadas em nascer e morrer // Are too busy being born and dying
Mandei plantar // I ordered to be planted
Folhas de sonho no jardim do solar // Dream leaves in the manor's garden
As folhas sabem procurar pelo sol // The leaves know where to look for sun
E as raízes procurar, procurar // And the roots know how to search
Mas as pessoas na sala de jantar // But the people in the dining room
Essas pessoas na sala de jantar // Those people in the dining rooms
São as pessoas da sala de jantar // Are the people in the dining rooms
Mas as pessoas na sala de jantar // But the people in the dining rooms
São ocupadas em nascer e morrer // Are too busy being born and dying”25
The title of the song, “Bread and Circuses,” states its intention loudly; it is calling out the diet of entertainment with which populations are fed in order to keep them subservient and docile. The singer describes his disappointment in “The people in the dining rooms,” or the common people. Even though he has let loose the “lions” of truth right into their backyards, they are all too willing to give up their rights in return for docility and “comfort.” Os Mutantes, along with Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, were a pioneering band in the Tropiçalia movement that formed in 1966. Unlike Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, they Originated from São Paulo, a heavily industrialized city. This reflected in their music, which was famous for its technological innovations. Tropicalia is
25 “Mutantes,” Brazil 70 Translation Project, accessed March 5, 2025, https://brazil70translationproject.wordpress.com/category/mutantes/.
celebrated for its manner of blending musical traditions and influences--both Brazilian and international--and Os Mutantes are a large reason as to the unique, psychedelic and technological sound of the Tropicália movement. A symbol of this new sound was the electric guitar, whose adoption by tropicalists was seen as an affront to Brazilian culture. For traditional MPB artists, the electric guitar represented western industrial imperialism, threatening the acoustic traditions associated with Brazilian values–but for the tropicalists, it symbolized progress, modernization, and a break from outdated cultural constraints.26
Although the electric guitar had previously been used by musicians in Brazil, Tropicália made it integral to the movement, reframing it as a marker of technological advancement and cultural innovation. The guitar became the most visible symbol of a changing relationship between technology and popular music, echoing philosopher Marshall McLuhan’s assertion that “the medium had become the message.” The guitar, along with emerging music technologies like the four-track tape machine that revolutionized global music production, was no longer an invisible tool--it was actively used to shape the sound, style, and expression of music.
Though Veloso later downplayed the role of Os Mutantes in the movement, their innovations facilitated Tropicália's vision.27 Brazil’s limited access to advanced musical technology
26 Frederick Moehn, “In the Tropical Studio: MPB Production in Transition,” Studies in Latin American Popular Culture 19 (January 2000): 57.
27 Frederick Moehn, “In the Tropical Studio: MPB Production in Transition,” Studies in Latin American Popular Culture 19 (January 2000): 57.
necessitated creative improvisation, resulting in unique innovations like Claudio César’s “Super Wah Wah Regulus,” which incorporated the sound of technology directly into the music.
Drawing heavily from The Beatles iconic album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The integration of tech into live performances emphasized Tropicália’s satirical, creatively tacky aesthetic, reflecting its playful critique of modernization and industrial culture.
Três Caravelas, by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil
“Un navegante atrevido // A daring explorer
Salió de Palos un día // Left one day
Iba con tres carabelas // He sailed three ships
La Pinta, la Niña y la Santa María // Called Pinta, Niña, and Saint Maria
Hacia la tierra cubana // Towards the Cuban sea
Con toda sua valentía // With all his braveness
Fue con las tres carabelas // He went with the three ships
La Pinta, la Niña y la Santa María // Called Pinta, Niña, and Saint Maria
Muita coisa sucedeu // A lot has happened
Daquele tempo pra cá // Since that time
O Brasil aconteceu // Brazil happened
É o maior // It's the biggest
Que que há?! // there is?!
Un navegante atrevido // A daring explorer
Salió de Palos un día // Left one day
Iba con tres carabelas // He sailed three ships
La Pinta, la Niña y la Santa María // Called Pinta, Niña, and Saint Maria
Em terras americanas // In American lands
Saltou feliz certo dia // He landed happily one day
Vinha com três caravelas // He came with three ships
A Pinta, a Nina e a Santa Maria // Called Pinta, Niña, and Saint Maria
Mira, tu, que cosas pasan // Look, thou, what is happening
Que algunos años después // Some years later
En esta tierra cubana // On this Cuban soil
Yo encontré a mí querer // I found who wanted me
Viva el señor don Cristóbal // Long live Sir Chris
Que viva la patria mía // Long live my country
Vivan las tres carabelas // Long live the three ships
La Pinta, la Niña y la Santa María // Pinta, Niña, and Santa Maria
Viva Cristóvão Colombo // Long live Chris Columbus
Que para nossa alegria // Who, to our happiness
Veio com três caravelas // Came with three ships
A Pinta, a Nina e a Santa Maria // Pinta, Ninã, and Saint Maria
(La Pinta, la Niña y la Santa María) // The Pinta, the Niña, and the Saint Maria”28
From these turbulent times, emerged the two main figures within the movement: Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. They met in university–both in attendance at Universidade Federal da Bahia (Federal University of Bahia)–studying philosophy. From there, Veloso and Gil would come to be the main ringleaders of the vanguard of the movement. They defined Tropicália as a push and pull, old and new, by combining both classical techniques and orchestrations, with new sounds and raw recordings.29
They mixed popular music with erudite music, which had for the longest time been debated in terms of production. The former produced music with consumption in mind, and the latter produced music strictly to produce music. The tropicálista music served as a mediator between the two sides; it was music to inspire other musicians, but when it was introduced to the market it
28 “Gilberto Gil & Caetano Veloso – Três Caravelas (1968),” Brazil 70 Translation Project, February 25, 2014, accessed March 5, 2025, https://brazil70translationproject.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/30-gilberto-gilcaetano-veloso-tres-caravelas-1968/comment-page-1/.
29 Ryan Schleeter, “Fifty Years of Cultural Cannibalism: Contemporary Attitudes Towards Globalization in Ceará,” The Geographical Bulletin 54, n.d.
expanded the boundaries of popular music and introduced new foreign sounds to the Brazilian public.30
The song itself is in fact a cover of a cover of a song originally written in 1956 by Augusto Alugueró, a Catalunian composer. Gil and Veloso's take on the song is ironic, as the song is about the so-called “discovery” of the Americas.31
Domingo no Parque, by gilberto Gil
“O rei da brincadeira (ê, José) // The king of play hey, José
O rei da confusão (ê, João) // The king of trouble hey, João
Um trabalhava na feira (ê, José) // One worked at the market hey José
Outro na construção (ê, João) // The other in construction hey, João
A semana passada, no fim da semana // Last week, on the weekend
João resolveu não brigar // João decided not to fight
30 Lucia Santaella, O Hibridismo Semiótico da Tropicália, n.d.
31 “Três Caravelas,” SecondHandSongs, accessed March 5, 2025, https://secondhandsongs.com/work/201954/all.
No domingo de tarde saiu apressado // On Sunday afternoon, he went out in a hurry
E não foi pra a ribeira pra jogar capoeira // And he didn’t go to Ribeira to play
Capoeira
Não foi pra lá, pra Ribeira // He didn’t go over there, to Ribeira
Foi namorar // He went to court [a girl]
O José como sempre na fim da semana // José as always on the weekend
Guardou a barraca e sumiu // Took down his stall and vanished
Foi fazer no domingo um passeio no parque // He went to take, on Sunday, a stroll in the park
Lá perto da Boca do Rio // Over there, near Boca do Rio
Foi no parque que ele avistou // In the park was where he first caught sight of
Juliana // Juliana
Foi que ele viu // There he saw
Foi que ele viu Juliana na roda com João // Juliana on the wheel with João
Uma rosa e um sorvete na mão // A rose and an ice cream in her hand
Juliana seu sonho, uma ilusão // Juliana, his dream, an illusion
Juliana e o amigo João // Juliana and the friend João
O espinho da rosa feriu Zé // The thorn on the rose wounded Zé [José]
E o sorvete gelou seu coração // And the ice cream froze his heart
O sorvete e a rosa (ô, José) // The ice cream and the rose oh, José
A rosa e o sorvete (ô, José) // The rose and the ice cream oh, José
Foi dançando no peito (ô, José) // Went dancing on the chest oh, José
Do José brincalhão (ô, José) // Of the playful José oh, José
O sorvete e a rosa (ô, José) // The ice cream and the rose oh, José
A rosa e o sorvete (ô, José) // The rose and the ice cream oh, José
Oi, girando na mente // Hey, turning over in the mind oh, José
Do José brincalhão (ô, José) // Of the playful José oh, José
Juliana girando (oi, girando) // Juliana turning –hey, turning
Oi, na roda gigante (oi girando) // Hey, on the ferris wheel hey, turning (x2)
O amigo João ( João) // The friend João João
O sorvete é morango (é vermelho) // The ice cream is strawberry it’s red
Oi girando e a rosa (é vermelho) // Hey, turning, and the rose it’s red
Oi girando, girando (é vermelha) // Hey, turning, turning it’s red
Oi girando, girando (Olha a faca! Olha a faca!)// Hey, turning, turning look at the knife!
Olha o sangue na mão (ê José) // Look at the blood on his hand hey, José
Juliana no chão (ê José) // Juliana on the ground hey, José
Outro corpo caído (ê José) // Another body down hey, José
Seu amigo João (ê José) // His friend João hey, José
Amanhã não tem feira (ê José) // Tomorrow there’s no market hey, José
Não tem mais construção (ê João) // There’s no more construction hey, João
Não tem mais brincadeira (ê José) // There’s no more playing hey, José
Não tem mais construção (ê João) // There’s no more trouble hey, João”32
This song represents the beginning stages of what would come to be known as “tropicalist” music, so it's only fitting that we end with it. “Domingo no Parque,” along with Caetano Veloso's “Alegria, Alegria,” were both premiered during the III Popular Music Festival in Brazil. Although “Domingo no Parque” came in second place at the festival, it was booed on stage by the largely young audience. The emergence of youth culture in the mid-20th century reflected the growing divide between privileged white teenagers and the socially imbalanced societies in which they lived.
33 This youth culture, heavily rooted in the abundance of the post-World War II West, transformed into a countercultural movement–a romantic social movement that challenged conformity, and materialism. Despite unprecedented prosperity, systemic inequalities and the looming threat of nuclear war led many to question the values of modern industrial society. With
32 Gilberto Gil, Domingo no Parque, on Gilberto Gil (1967), Philips, 1967, streaming audio, accessed March 5, 2025, Spotify.
33 Russell Duncan, “The Summer of Love and Protest: Transatlantic Counterculture in the 1960s,” in The Transatlantic Sixties: Europe and the United States in the Counterculture Decade, ed. Grzegorz Kosc, Clara Juncker, Sharon Monteith, and Britta Waldschmidt-Nelson (Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2013), 144–73, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wxt2b.9.
slogans like “Don’t trust anyone over 30!” in the U.S. –popularized by activist Jack Weinberg–the counterculture rejected the older generations and their histories of war, in favor of peace, love, and spiritual exploration. By the late 1960s, "youth" was not just a measure of age, but a metaphor for rebellion and renewal.
While the military regime in Brazil invested heavily in higher education to fuel capitalist consumption, an alternative movement of desbundados emerged individuals who, like hippies, "dropped out" of societal expectations and embraced unconventional lifestyles.34 The sexual revolution, spurred by the advent of birth control, further underscored this sense of personal liberation and defiance in both the U.S. and Brazil.
Historian Timothy Miller described the counterculture as “the Disloyal Opposition,” a movement of peace and love that simultaneously embodied confrontation and conflict. Just like within the Tropicália movement, cultural change was not possible without cultural violence. While many hippies sought spiritual liberation and pleasure, their peers in the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) pursued systemic change through rational activism--mimicking the divide between the Tropicalists and the Brazilian left. Hippies viewed the SDS as trapped in the old world, while they embraced a "drop-out" philosophy rejecting nationalism and consumerism in favor of painting peace signs and creating a childlike aesthetic.
35
34 Christopher Dunn, “Desbunde and Its Discontents: Counterculture and Authoritarian Modernization in Brazil, 1968-1974,” The Americas, vol. 70, no. ?
35 Russell Duncan, “The Summer of Love and Protest: Transatlantic Counterculture in the 1960s”
Before Woodstock, there was the Summer of Love, or the summer of 1967. While hippies called themselves the "people of Zero" a blank slate for creating a new world many minority and working-class youth resented their privilege, recognizing that hippies could play at rebellion and return to comfort while others could not.
Novelist Theodore Roszak described the counterculture as both a symptom and a response to the alienation produced by affluence and conformity. In Brazil, desbundados and hippies occupied a middle ground between political extremes of the left and right, engaging in the cultural discourse without adhering strictly to an ideological or activist framework. Even though Tropicália is normally defined to have ended in 1968, after the passing of Institutional Act No. 5 which suspended certain liberties like freedom of speech and protest the movement of desbundados really gained momentum in the 1970s, particularly after the cultural void created by AI-5. While some critiqued the substance of what constituted "cultural activity" in this period, this counterculture filled the vacuum, flourishing as an alternative space for creativity and resistance.
Rio de Janeiro became the epicenter of Brazil's counterculture, despite government paranoia that hippie ideals were subversive creations of Moscow and communism. The counterculture’s roots in affluence was paradoxical, as the movement critiqued the very systems of abundance that enabled its existence.36 Nevertheless, its influence extended far beyond the
36 Russell Duncan, “The Summer of Love and Protest: Transatlantic Counterculture in the 1960s”
1970s–diffusing into Brazilian culture and leaving a lasting imprint on the country’s artistic and social landscape.
Post-Tropicália Brazil
Tropicamp, a theory introduced by Hélio Oiticica in 1971, symbolized resistance against the growing commercialization of queer aesthetics and the encroachment of consumerism into avantgarde art.37 This critique reflected broader anxieties about the commodification of subversive cultural expressions, as Brazil moved deeper into the military dictatorship. After Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil were exiled, the Brazilian government systematically sanitized popular music, erasing its critical and subversive elements in favor of state-approved, diluted expressions of culture the nightmare that Tropicamp predicted, came to be.
38
Oiticica described this phenomenon as “Brasil diarreia (Brazil Diarrhea)”–the dilution of critical art into meaningless "brown muck." This process, he argued, symbolized the broader collapse of Brazil's once-vibrant avant-garde culture into a homogenized product for mass consumption. For artists like Oiticica, the rise of deregulated liberal markets and the absorption of marginal cultures into the mainstream posed a greater threat than the overt repression of the military regime. The deregulation transformed avant-garde art into a commodity, constraining its
37 Hélio Oiticica, “MARIO MONTEZ, TROPICAMP,” Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, no. 28 (2011): 16–21, https://doi.org/10.1086/662967.
38 Max Jorge Hinderer Cruz, “TROPICAMP: PRE- and POST-TROPICÁLIA at Once: Some Contextual Notes on Hélio Oiticica’s 1971 Text,” Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, no. 28 (2011): 4–15, https://doi.org/10.1086/662966.
potential and binding it within the needs of consumerism. This critique underscores the dichotomies faced by Post-Tropicália Brazil: while the movement initially sought to challenge cultural and political norms, its legacy risked being used by the very systems it wanted to subvert Woodstock, 1969
Although the festival is named Woodstock, the festival itself took place in Bethel, New York, between August 15th and 17th in 1969. It was the product of one Woodstock Ventures Inc., a company founded by 4 young men: Michael Lang, John Roberts, Artie Kornfeld, and Joel Rosenman. The company was for “young men with unlimited capital,” as Roberts was the son of the heir to Block Drug Company fortune.39 With the company founded, they had the idea to organize a large-scale music festival. However, there would be many controversies involved in planning the festival itself.
Although it is referred to as the Woodstock festival, the festival did not take place in Woodstock, New York. The town's long history of art, as well as the growing number of folk festivals, coffee houses, and general beauty, was bringing hippies from all over. Residents were unhappy with what they called “unsavory types,” and therefore the festival was forced out of the town. They moved to the neighboring town of Wallkill, and began construction and preparations. However, the residents were equally unhappy
39 Ronald Helfrich, “‘What Can a Hippie Contribute to Our Community?’ Culture Wars, Moral Panics, and The Woodstock Festival,” New York History 91, no. 3 (2010): 221–44, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41965647.
and concerned about the presence of hippie culture in their town–the iconic “sex, drugs, and rock and roll.” Zoning changes and noise level laws forced the festival, yet again, out of the town. Finally, Woodstock was approved to take place in Bethel, New York. They had planned it all out; health clinics, traffic patterns, security, sanitation, water, catering. They were ready for 150,000 young hippies to show up, yet more than 500,000 did.40 During those 3 days in August of 1969, everything could have gone wrong, but it did not. There were no bathrooms left, traffic was so bad that bands were delayed by days just to get into the venue, and of course there was pervasive use of drugs during the festival itself. However, “nothing happened.” When everything could have gone horribly and seriously wrong, it didn't.41 The festival changed the attitude of many of the townspeoples towards the so-called “unsavory types,” with anecdotes about the well-natured hippies spreading through local newspapers. Still, there were those who criticized Woodstock as hypocritical and commercialized, reflecting the growing tensions within the movement.42
By the early 1970s, the counterculture’s idealism faltered under the weight of materialism, violence, and nihilism. The era’s death is set around 1972, as its utopian dreams gave way to
40 Brett Abigaña, “Woodstock” (Woodstock, Boston University Academy, September 14, 2024).
41 Brett Abigaña, “Woodstock” (Woodstock, Boston University Academy, September 14, 2024).
42 “Why The Who’s Pete Townshend Hated Woodstock,” Far Out Magazine, accessed March 5, 2025, https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/why-the-whos-petetownshend-hated-woodstock/.
disillusionment, leaving behind a legacy of both profound cultural change, and contradictions.
The Whole World is Watching
Technological advances, like the invention of the portable transistor radio in 1954, enabled the spread of countercultural ideas among a youthful global audience; Tropicália recognized the power of media and technology to shape culture. Television became an integral platform for the movement, with the program Divino Maravilhoso serving as a vehicle for its ideas. Here, the medium became the message, amplifying Tropicália’s satirical critique of industrialization and modernization. Despite its initial rejection by Brazilian youth, the movement ultimately paved the way for greater artistic freedom, demonstrating that cultural hybridity could serve as a source of strength rather than a threat. By reinterpreting Brazil’s past to understand its future, Tropicália fostered a cultural independence that resisted domination while remaining open to global exchange. This bold reimagining of Brazil’s identity marked a new era of Brazilian popular music and positioned the nation as a cultural innovator on the global stage.
The tropicalist music mixed popular and erudite elements, creating works that functioned as both marketable products and inspirations for fellow artists. Tropicália expanded the boundaries of popular music-- blending cinematic lyrics, theatrical costumes, and performative elements to create a "plastic sculpture of the living body."43 This multi-sensory approach music heard, seen, and
43 Benjamin Legg, review of Tropicália: gêneros, identidades, repertórios e linguagens, Luso-Brazilian Review 48, no. 2 (2011): 218–21, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/lbr.2011.0042.
shared created a new cultural language that transcended traditional genres.
The fear of the nationalistic military was one based in a fear of losing culture–yet they failed to acknowledge the culture of Brazil is one which cannibalizes. In taking the electric guitar, and psychedelic styles from abroad and incorporating them with Brazilian stories and sounds, a new culture was formed–one of rebellion, and freedom. However, the forgotten aspect of cannibalism is that two people are always affected: the one who eats, and the one who is eaten. Foreign musicians such as Paul Simon, and the Talking Heads, have all credited the Tropicália movement as being formative for their musical development. This movement, more than anything, proves that globalization is a successful and present force for good.
As the 21st century progresses, and the world–as it so often does–begins to fear progress yet again, I encourage looking back on this brief period of time to remember one crucial thing: there will always be those who welcome change, and are willing to fight for it.
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