Brutality Garden:
Tropicália and the
Emergence of a
Brazilian Counterculture

Christopher Dunn

276 pp., 12 color
and 18 b&w illus.

$55.00 cl

$19.95 pb

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  "Divino Maravilhoso" (Caetano Veloso – Gilberto Gil)

Atenção para a estrofe, pro refrão
Pro palavrão, para a palavra de ordem
Atenção para o samba-exaltação
Atenção tudo é perigoso
Tudo é divino maravilhoso
Atenção para o refrão, uau!
É preciso estar atento e forte
Não temos tempo de temer a morte
Pay attention to the stanza, to the refrain
To the curse word, to the slogans
Pay attention to the exultant sambas
Attention, everything is dangerous
Everything is divine marvelous
Pay attention to the refrain, wow!
You need to be alert and strong
We have no time to fear death

More than any other tropicalist song, "Divino Maravilhoso" captures the mixture of exuberance, defiance, and fear expressed in late 1960s cultural production in Brazil. A forceful critique of forms of authoritarian discourse, the song urges its listeners to reflect critically on cultural production. Gal Costa gave a stunning performance of this rock hit at the 1968 Festival of Brazilian Popular Music aired by TV Record. Her definitive recording of the song was later featured on her first solo album from 1969. In late 1968, the tropicalist group had a short-lived televised musical showcase, "Divino Maravilhoso," on the now defunct TV Tupi. The irreverent, circus-like show was abruptly pulled off the air in December 1968, just before Veloso and Gil were arrested by military authorities and later sent into exile.

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