Noah Cooper
Footy and Music by agthom – CC BY-NC-2.0
Right back at the beginning of the Word Cup, and the start of my series of posts for MKB World Cup for Kids, I asked people what Brazil was famous for, with the idea that I could write some posts based on these ideas.
One person, on Facebook I think, rightfully mentioned that Brazil is famous for samba but that there is also a lot of other music that Brazil doesn’t get recognition for. There are great jazz musicians, heavy metal artists, funk singers and DJs that all come from Brazil. There are also a lot of crap sertanejo, pagode and axé musicians around, but then every country has its fair share of shame in the music stakes.
But as this is the World Cup I thought I’d share some of the music from Brazil about, or inspired by football. I don’t make any claim to all of them being on my playlist, but I have culled a lot of songs that I think are awful. If you would like to find out about more songs from Brazilian artists about football you can do a Google search for musica brasileiro futebol.
Jorge Ben Jor – Fio Maravilha
This song is about a footballer whose nickname was Fio Maravilha. It tells the story of a friendly game in which he was brought onto the pitch in the 33rd minute and scored ‘the goal of an angel’. Due to legal problem between the singer and the player you’ll often see the song called Filho Maravilha, which would be translated as ‘Wonderful Son’. This particular version also features the brilliant Gilberto Gil.
Skank – É Um Partido do Futebol (It’s a Football Match)
Skank are a rock/reggae/indie band that started in the early 1990’s. Despite being very successful in Brazil they haven’t really sought international recognition, which surely would have been theirs if they had tried.
Elis Regina – Aqui É O Pais do Futebol (The Football Country Is Here)
I love Elis! I think she has to be one of my top two favourite Brazilian musicians. She sang some great political songs during the dictatorship and managed to get away with it. I like to think this was because of her voice, but it was probably because the authorities were too stupid to figure out what she was actually singing about. This isn’t one of her best, but it’s still pretty good.
Pixinguinha – Um a Zero (One Nil)
Pixinguinha was one of the first popular Brazilian musicians. He started playing in bands and recording songs when he was still a teenager in the early 20th century in Lapa, Rio de Janeiro. He is credited with bringing choro to the Brazilian masses as well as being around for the birth of samba.
Chico Buarque – O Futebol (Football)
Along with Elis Regina, Chico Buarque is probably my other favourite Brazilian musician. If you have never heard of him, them shame on you. For this particular song I chose a video with images of Garrincha, the Brazilian footballer who was probably better than Pele, and definitely loved more than the Viagra-selling-wannabe-politician.
Edu Krieger – Desculpe, Neymar (Sorry, Neymar)
No, this isn~t a lament for Brazil’s star player breaking his back. Instead, this song is a letter to Neymar telling him that the author will not be supporting Brazil at this World Cup because of the corruption, huge budgets and the problems facing Brazilian society.
Bonus track – Atlético’s Fanáticos drummers
Practically every team in Brazil has its band of drummers and my team, Atlético Paranaense, is no different. The organised supporters group for Atlético is called The Fanáticos, and they have come in for some criticism for links to hooligans and crime. They have a decent set of drummers, though.
I have left loads of songs off this list. If you know of any in particular that you think are better than the ones I have mentioned, please just leave a comment below.
This blog piece is a part of the Multicultural Kid Blogs series on World Cup for Kids. If you would like to follow the World Cup from the point of view of kids around the world then please go and check out the site. There are bloggers from all of the competing countries as well as articles about Brasil and how to get kids interested in sport.
Related articles
