By FRANCISCO DE OLIVEIRA BARROS JUNIOR*
Thoughts on albums released by each of the three artists in 2021
In the first half of the 1980s, I graduated in Social Sciences. In classical sociological theory, the reading of Émile Durkheim, Max Weber and Karl Marx. Integration, understanding and conflict in the sociological field. Trio of fundamental thinkers in my integral formation. To them, my gratitude.
A big thank you to everyone who made my head. Influencers from the most varied fields, especially those in the artistic field. In addition to the knowledge of the sociological disciplines, I list three names that tread, with art, my formative process: Caetano Veloso, Ney Matogrosso and Maria Bethânia. On the FM's hit charts at that historical juncture, I enjoyed their sounds. Three classic names in the history of Brazilian Popular Music (MPB).
People who continue to influence generations. 2021 on the scene and they continue in their sound reigns. Luminous Highnesses in their works. Clarity for the conjuncture pitches of a historical context of ambivalences. Lunar tourism in the company of the hungry, living dead of our squares and dumps. Competitors of rats in modern-day pestilences. An invitation to read Albert Camus. The “rotten powers” exercised by the genocides of the “neoliberal plague” threatening human existence. “In the chiaroscuro of chaos”, Manuel Castells alludes to the disgusting “institutional rottenness”. Threatened with extinction, we feel the stench produced by “sociopathic clowns”, promoters of the “civilizational crisis” and allies of the coronavirus.
Trump and Bolsonaro under the target of critical reflection by Noam Chomsky: “There are serious threats in Latin America. The election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil brought to power the most extremist, the most heinous of right-wing ultranationalists now plaguing the hemisphere.” “Brazil: genocidal policy?” Questioning by Boaventura de Sousa Santos in relation to the health and political crises caused “by an irresponsible, coup-mongering and ultra-right president”. Protagonist of “Necropolitics” and “necropower” that generate the “living dead” in Brazil, in accordance with the edited expressions of Achille Mbembe. In the atrocious hands of terrifying creatures, barbarism takes over the show, elevates its audience and generates profits.
In the midst of our daily plagues, brilliant artists emerge to shine in everyday barbarities. Vitalizing sonic flashes. Caetano Veloso with My coconut, Ney Matogrosso with naked with my music, Maria Bethania with Nightly. Three albums released in 2021. Sound clarity to lift our spirits. Musical vigor to calm our “aesthetic nerves”, in the expression of Theodor W. Adorno. Artistic productions committed to beauty, endowed with gravity and attentive to the signs of our harsh and turbulent times. Discs representative of the resistant attitudes of the protagonists of responsible and convinced art.
Caetano, Ney and Bethânia, promoters of good noises, continue to carnival our stocks. Talents and personalities from the depths of Brazil. Nourishing sounds of the tropical sweets and barbarians. Unclassifiable and chameleonic. In their musical languages, in their unique ways, they expand and politicize our consciences. Lovers, ecologists, chroniclers, troubadours and poets. In the diffusion of beauty, they open our minds and hone our sensibilities. On stage, in beautiful and consistent shows, they transmit their loving, political messages in broad senses. Discursive diversity that provokes enchantment and reflections in the light of songs in tune with the multiple dimensions of our lives.
Caetano, Ney and Bethânia, in their intergenerational paths, make history and are references beyond their professional fields. They are workers of songs, citizens, active voices of the live wheel of Brazil. Artists with clear positions that provoke thinking about the role of the artist in the society in which he is inserted. In the limelight and in satirical workshops, the crooked angels, in their aesthetic provocations, opine, annoy and disrupt the chorus of the happy. Cutting songs, with indignation, a word sung by the singer attentive to the pains and delights of being an earthly presence in the year 2021. Ney and Bethania.
Active, ingenious and modeling creatures. Human beacons to increase credibility in the ambiguous human animal. “Miltons” saviors from darkness. I'm not an idolater. With the “prudence” chanted by the “queen bee”, I go slowly with the litter because I know that every saint is made of clay, but I say it is invigorating to enjoy the new musical offspring of Caetano, Ney and Bethânia. Energetic gust for the Brazilian, profession hope. On digital platforms, I enjoy the fine cookies of the phonographic trinity and recharge my desire to be present in the here and now. It is the voice of a fan: “Tiete is a kind of admirer”. Thank you, golden trio. Fishing for pearls, in d(i)discoveries, I oxygenate existence. And I keep drooling...
*Francisco de Oliveira Barros Junior Professor at the Department of Social Sciences at the Federal University of Piauí.
