A piece for the BBC News Magazine about Aquarela do Brasil:
One rainy night in 1939, he wrote the opening lines of Aquarela do Brasil (Watercolour of Brazil): “Brasil, meu Brasil brasileiro.” This translates as “Brazil, my Brazilian Brazil”. Never have four words been more Brazilian, before or since.
The censors had issues with some colloquialisms and a folksy reference to tambourines, but Barroso persuaded them that his “samba exaltacao” was modern and patriotic enough to meet their exacting requirements.
I thoroughly enjoyed Misha Glenny’s radio documentary The Making of Brazil, Bryan McCann’s book Hello, Hello Brazil: Popular Music in the Making of Modern Brazil and Scott L. Baugh’s reference work Latino American Cinema: An Encyclopedia of Movies, Stars, Concepts, and Trends. I am indebted; they are recommended.
My favourite versions:
And here’s that Disney, and Ze Carioca alive and well in 2014:
- See also: the BBC’s World Cup song, Stevie Wonder’s Another Star
- Photograph of a football match in Bekonscot
Tags: aquareladobrasil, arybarroso, bbc, bbcmagazine, bbcnews, brasil, brazil, football, music, politics, smashedhits, writing
