Aquarela do Brasil

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"Aquarela do Brasil", known in the English-speaking world simply as "Brazil", is a famous Brazilian song, written by Ary Barroso on 1939.

Contents 1 Background and composition 2 Release and reception 3 Controversy 4 Notable covers 5 Usage in popular culture 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Background and composition

Ary Barroso wrote "Aquarela do Brasil" in early 1939, when he was prevented from leaving his home at night due to a strong storm. Its title, which means "Watercolor of Brazil" in Portuguese, is a clear reference to the rain. On the same night, he also wrote "Três Lágrimas" before the rain ended^[1].

Describing the song in an interview to Marisa Lira, of the newspaper Diário de Notícias, Barroso said that he wanted to "free the samba away from the tragedies of life, of the sensual scenario already so explored". According to the composer, he "felt all the greatness, the value and the wealth of our land", reliving "the tradition of the national panels"^[1].

Initially, he wrote the first chords, which he defined as "vibrant", a "plangent of emotions". The original beat "sang on [his] imagination, highlighting the sound of the rain, on syncope beats of fantastic tambourins". According to him, "the rest came naturally, music and lyrics at once". He declared to have felt like another person after the song was written^[1].

[edit] Release and reception

"Aquarela do Brasil" was first performed by Aracy Cortes on June 10, 1939, during the premiere of the musical play Entra na Faixa, by Barroso and Luís Iglesias. Despite the huge popularity Cortes was experiencing at the time, the song flopped, perhaps for not adjusting well to her voice. A month later, it was performed by the baritone Cândido Botelho on Joujoux e Balangandans, a benefit show sponsored by Darcy Vargas, then First Lady of Brazil. The song was first recorded by Francisco Alves, arranged by Radamés Gnattali and his orchestra, and released by Odeon Records on August 1939^[2][1].

"Aquarela do Brasil" took a while to succeed. In 1940, it was not on the list of the three best songs of that year's carnival in Rio de Janeiro. The president of the jury was Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Barroso, offended that his masterpiece was not on the list, cut relations with him. The two men would only speak to each other again fifteen years later, when both received the National Order of Merit^[2][1].

The song only became famous after it was included on the 1942 Walt Disney animated film Saludos Amigos. After that, the song became known not only in Brazil, but worldwide, becoming the first Brazilian song to be played over a million times on American radio stations^[2][1]. Due to the huge popularity achieved in the United States, it received English lyrics by composer Bob Russell^[2][1].

[edit] Controversy

This song, because of its exaltation of the qualities and magnitudes of Brazil, marked the creation of a new genre within samba, the samba-exaltação (exaltation samba). This, with its extremely proud nature, was looked upon favorably by the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas, which generated criticism towards Barroso and his work, as if he were kowtowing to the regime. The Barroso family, however, strongly denies this, pointing out that he wrote at least one anti-fascist song, "Salada Mista", recorded by Carmen Miranda in October 1938. (Although not a fascist himself, Vargas was sympathetic to such regimes.^[3])

It should also be noted that the Departamento de Imprensa e Propaganda (Department of Press and Propaganda) censored a line of the song before its release. The verse "terra do samba e do pandeiro" (land of samba and the tambourine) was seen as "deprecatory" for Brazil. Barroso had to persuade the censors to save this verse^[4].

Another criticism of the song, at the time, was that it used expressions little known by the public, such as "inzoneiro" (sly), "merencória" (melancholic) and "trigueiro" (brown), and that he abused of redundancy on the verses "meu Brasil brasileiro" (my Brazilian Brazil) and "esse coqueiro que dá coco" (this coco palm that gives coconut). The composer defended his work, saying that these expressions were poetic effects inseparable of the original composition. On the original recording, Alves sings "mulato risoneiro" (laughing mulatto) instead of "inzoneiro" for not being able to understand Barroso's illegible handwriting^[5].

[edit] Notable covers

The song has been successful through the years and has been played in many different styles, from a cappella to orchestral arrangements.

During the military dictatorship, Elis Regina performed what is possibly the darkest version of the song ever, accompanied by a choral that reproduced the chants of the indigenous peoples of Brazil.

In 2007, singer-songwriter Daniela Mercury was invited to perform the song at the end of the opening ceremony of the XV Pan American Games, held in Rio de Janeiro.

Year	Artist	Album	Source
1947	Django Reinhardt	Quintette du Hot Club de France
1957	Frank Sinatra	Come Fly With Me
1958	Bing Crosby	Fancy Meeting You Here
1960	Ray Conniff	Say It with Music (A Touch of Latin)	[1]
1963	Paul Anka	Our Man Around the World	[2]
1970	Antonio Carlos Jobim	Stone Flower	[3]
1970	Erasmo Carlos	Erasmo Carlos & Os Tremendões	[4]
1975	Elis Regina	A Arte de Elis Regina	[5]
1973	Banda Eletrica	Banda Eletrica
1975	The Ritchie Family	Brazil
1976	Chet Atkins	Guitar Monsters	[6]
1976	João Gilberto	Amoroso (later re-recorded in Live in Montreux)	[7]
1980	Gal Costa	Aquarela do Brasil	[8]
1980	Simone	Ao Vivo	[9]
1981	Tav Falco's Panther Burns	Behind The Magnolia Curtain	[10]
1985	Geoff Muldaur	Brazil (original motion picture soundtrack)
1985	Kate Bush and Michael Kamen	Brazil (original motion picture soundtrack)
1987	Ney Matogrosso	Pescador de Pérolas	[11]
1990	Harry Belafonte	Around the World with the Entertainers	[12]
1997	Pink Martini	Sympathique	[13]
1998	Vengaboys	The Party Album
1995	Dionne Warwick	Aquarela do Brazil	[14]
2000	Rosemary Clooney	Brazil	[15]
2002	Cornelius	Point
2004	Martinho da Vila	Apresenta Mané do Cavaco	[16]
2005	Arcade Fire	Rebellion (Lies) (B-side)
2005	Daniela Mercury	Balé Mulato	[17]
2005	Plácido Domingo	Lo Essencial de	[18]
2007	Chick Corea & Béla Fleck	The Enchantment	[19]

[edit] Usage in popular culture

Films

Year	Film	Director
1942	Saludos Amigos	Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts
1943	The Gang's All Here	Busby Berkeley
1944	The Three Caballeros	Norman Ferguson, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts
1948	Sitting Pretty	Walter Lang
1956	The Eddy Duchin Story	George Sidney
1976	Silent Movie	Mel Brooks
1980	Stardust Memories	Woody Allen
1985	Brazil	Terry Gilliam
1998	There's Something About Mary	Farrelly brothers
1999	Three to Tango	Damon Santostefano
1999	Being John Malkovich (Trailer)	Spike Jonze
2003	Carandiru	Hector Babenco
2003	Something's Gotta Give	Nancy Meyers
2004	The Aviator	Martin Scorsese
2006	Sicko	Michael Moore
2008	Australia	Baz Luhrman

Television programs

Year	TV Series	Episode
1996	Dexter's Lab	"Dimwit Dexter"
2002	The Simpsons	"Blame it on Lisa"
2004	Miss Marple	"The Body in the Library"
2007	Vidas Opostas	Theme song
2008	Eli Stone	Theme song and during episode previews

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• "Aquarela do Brasil" at Allmusic
• Legran Orchestra "Aquarela do Brazil" Samba Mp3· ISWC T-0425394804 "Latin Complete Collection" Album. Published with the permission of the owner of rights
• The Disney Version
• Ary Barroso, Giant of Brazilian Song by Daniella Thompson

Preceded by "Forever Came Today" by The Jackson 5

Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single (The Ritchie Family version) August 20, 1975 - September 20, 1975

Succeeded by "Fly, Robin, Fly" by Silver Convention