Now here's a song that is often referenced in the media but it's hardly ever heard of (except back of its release in the 1990's) and with an underseen
video. The duo Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil composed and performed this hard hitting and poetic song that makes up a comprehensive gathering of elements
of Brazilian society and latest events of then and mixes up with the everlasting brutal reality of Haiti, to later then gives us two lines that confuses us
in finding out what is actually our true reality: the Haiti is here or the Haiti isn't here? You be the judge.
A very dark video with Caetano and Gil performing the song in a sort of like controlled rap since it isn't fast, it isn't much focused on the beat,
it's focus is in the detailed lyrics that can talk about police brutality, political corruption, racism, the massacre of Carandiru, foreign visiting exotic
countries in order to engage in sex tourism, etc. The background is dark, minor points are iluminated and the only thing apart from the singers that we
can actually notice is a water well that sometimes show its point of view of the artists observing it.
I personally think this is one of the greatest moments in Brazilian Popular music that haven't got the fame and name it deserved. It doesn't play on
radio (maybe it did back in 1993 but afterwards it never did); the video plays a little in clip channels since it is one of the most recent videos from both
Caetano and Gil and if we consider both Tropicalia representants united it's a wild spectacle that people must see. The sound quality isn't so perfect
which kind of ruins the most important thing of the song which is the incredible lyrics - or maybe the monotone manner in which they perform it make it
a little unintelligible, must search the lyrics elsewhere and then follow along with the audio/clip. But every now and then I take a look at this clip and
find it very engaging, mysterious, poetic and very dark. 9/10
P. S.: Happy 80th Gilberto Gil.
