Tropical ginsberg

January. In July, a group of artists, 163 who called themselves
tropicalistas, released the “manifest-album” called Tropicália, ou Panis
et Circensis. Later on that same year, Gil released his second album
called Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes released their debut album called Os
Mutantes, and Tom Zé also released his debut album called Tom Zé. All
these albums together give a clear blue-print of what was slowly
growing inside these artists and in the world around them. They stand
out in time as something timeless. They are always fresh, yet always
provoke a certain strangeness to the ears. They are the cornerstones of
the Tropicália.
Right in the middle of all the political tension going on, the
artistic split-up which music faced because of ideological differences,
and all the fervent activity going on globally, there appeared this group
of friends, who dressed differently, made dissonant music, their
performance was even more daring than that of the artists of the Jovem
Guarda, and they were dead serious about their craziness. They were
neither left wing, nor right wing. They used the guitar – a lot of it – but
they made overtly elaborate musical arrangements to accompany it.
Most of their lyrics were ambiguous or highly allegorical. We are left to
think that each word had been carefully thought about before it was
finally written. Each note, each musical movement, everything, right
down to the artists’ clothes in their performances, 164 was a planned
absurdity.
Although 1968 ended in a tragic form for most Brazilians, with
the “Ato Institucional Número 5,” 165 issued on December the 13 th , it had
been rather prolific for the music sphere, during most of the year. All
these ingenious albums, previously mentioned, stand alone for their
brilliance, yet, at the same time, complement each other with the best of
what each artist had to offer. These albums portray a peculiar
characteristic of the Tropicália, the constant dialogue of various musical
styles. The lyrical wit of Caetano Veloso, the melodical perfection of
Gilberto Gil, the anarchical craziness of Os Mutantes, the sheer
brilliance of Capinam and Torquato Neto, the sensuous strident voice of
Gal Costa, the in-tune hoarse voice of Nara Leão, and the electrified
163 Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Rita Lee, Arnaldo Baptista, Sérgio Dias, Tom Zé,
Capinam, Torquato Neto, Nara Leão, Rogério Duprat, Júlio Medaglia, and Damiano Cozzella.
164 The Tropicalistas had a sagacious publicist-manager, Guilherme Araújo , expert of
pamphletary language, slogans, puns, and with a wicked sense of humor; he coined the clause
“Divino Maravilhoso.”
165 Institutional Act Number Five, the AI-5, which, among other things, suspended habeas
corpus for crimes of political motivation, and closed the National Congress.
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