Chico Buarque de Hollanda Biography

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Chico Buarque (Full name: Francisco Buarque de Hollanda; born June 19, 1944 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian singer, composer, dramatist and writer. He is best known for his music, which often comments on Brazil's social, economic and cultural reality.

Biography

Chico came from a both intellectual and privileged family background: his father Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda was a well-known historian and sociologist, and the first name of his lexicographer uncle Aurélio Buarque de Holanda is as strongly associated with Brazilian Portuguese dictionaries as the name Webster is with American ones. A studious child with a precocious interest in music and writing, Chico was heavily impressed by bossa nova, and specifically, by the work of João Gilberto.

Chico made his public debut as musician and composer in 1964, rapidly building his reputation at music festivals and television variety shows. His self-titled debut album exemplified the work to come, with catchy sambas characterized by inventive wordplay and an undercurrent of nostalgic tragedy.

Chico's increasing political activity against the Brazilian military dictatorship resulted in his arrest in 1968, and eventual self-exile to Italy in 1969. Other important musicians like Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil experienced the same. Chico returned to Brazil in 1970, using his fame and song-writing skills to protest against the dictatorship. At this time his lightly-veiled protest single Apesar de Você (Despite you) somehow passed by the gaze of military censors, becoming the democracy movement's anthem. After selling over 100,000 copies, the single was eventually repressed, and all copies were removed from the market. Despite the censorship, songs such as Samba de Orly (Samba of Orly; 1970), Acorda Amor (Wake Up, Darling; 1974), and Vai Passar (It Will Pass; 1983) made Chico's continuing opposition blatant.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Chico collaborated with filmmakers, playwriters, and musicians in further protest works against the dictatorship.

In 1998, the carnival samba school Mangueira took Chico as its annual theme, winning first prize.

His latest book, Budapeste, achieved great critical acclaim and won the Prêmio Jabuti, a Brazilian literary award similar to The Booker Prize Award.

Example of work: Cálice

During Brazil's military coup of 1964, Chico wrote about the situation and avoided censure by using cryptic analogies and word play. For example, in the song "Cálice" (Goblet) he uses the Portuguese words for "shut up" (cale-se) and "goblet" (cálice) to sing about the military's oppression under the guise of a bible story:

Lyrics (in Portuguese)

Pai, afasta de mim esse cálice

De vinho tinto de sangue.

Como beber dessa bebida amarga

Tragar a dor, engolir a labuta.

Mesmo calada a boca, resta o peito

Silêncio na cidade não se escuta.

De que me vale ser filho da santa

Melhor seria ser filho da outra

Outra realidade menos morta

Tanta mentira, tanta força bruta.

Translation

Father, take away from me this goblet

of wine tinted red with blood.

How can I drink from this bitter drink

Inhale the pain, swallow the drudgery.

Even if the mouth is shut, the heart still remains

Silence isn't heard in the city.

What good is it to be son of the saint (female)

It would be better to be son of the other (this breaks the rhyme scheme, the most obvious rhyme here being with "son-of-a-bitch")The expression "filho da puta" is common in Brazil, having roughly the same meaning as "son of a bitch". Expecting a rhyme with "escuta", the listener would naturally expect the lyric to end rudely.

Another reality less dead

So many lies, so much brute force.

Worked With

• Caetano Veloso
  
• Gilberto Gil
  
• Tom Jobim
  
• Vinicius de Morais
  
• Edu Lobo
  

Trivia

• Chico is a football lover. He plays regularly and "owns" a non-professional team called Politheama
  
• Chico is a supporter of Fluminense, a football team from Rio de Janeiro
  
• Chico is the brother of singer Miúcha and uncle of her daughter, singer Bebel Gilberto
  

Selected compositions

• "A Banda" ("The Band")
  
• "Ã? Flor da Terra" ("At Earth's surface")
  
• "O que Será ("What will be")
  
• "Apesar de Você" ("Despite You")
  
• "As Vitrines"
  
• "Brejo da Cruz" (Cross` bog)
  
• "Bye Bye, Brasil" (Bye Bye, Brazil)
  
• "Carolina"
  
• "Construção" ("Construction")
  
• "Deus Lhe Pague" ("God Bless You")
  
• "Cotidiano" ("Daily")
  
• "Feijoada Completa" ("Complete Feijoada")
  
• "Funeral de um Lavrador" ("Funeral of a tiller")
  
• "Futuros Amantes" ("Future Lovers")
  
• "Homenagem Ao Malandro" ("Tribute to the `malandro`")
  
• "Meu Caro Amigo" ("My Dear Friend")
  
• "Morena de Angola"
  
• "Mulheres de Atenas" ("Women from Athens")
  
• "Noite dos Mascarados" ("Night of the Masquerade")
  
• "Olhos nos Olhos" (Eyes on the Eyes)
  
• "Paratodos" (Has no meaning, but written as 'Para Todos' means: To All)
  
• "Quem Te Viu, Quem Te Vê" (Who Saw You, Who Sees You)
  
• "Roda Viva" ("In a literal translation to English: 'fuss'")
  
• "Sonho de um Carnaval" ("Dream of a Carnival")
  
• "Teresinha"
  
• "Vai Levando" ("Carrying on")
  
• "Vai Passar" ("It Will Pass")
  

Books

• 1966 - A Banda (Songbook)
  
• 1974 - Fazenda Modelo
  
• 1979 - Chapeuzinho Amarelo (Children's Literature)
  
• 1981 - Ã? Bordo do Rui Barbosa
  
• 1991 - Estorvo
  
• 1995 - Benjamin
  
• 2003 - Budapeste
  

Theatre

• 1967-8 - Roda Viva
  
• 1973 - Calabar (co-authored with Ruy Guerra)
  
• 1975 - Gota d'água
  
• 1978 - Ã?pera do Malandro (Based on John Gay's Beggar's Opera and Bertold Brecht's Threepenny Opera)
  

Cinema

• 1972 - Quando o carnaval chegar (Screenplay's co-author)
  
• 1983 - Para viver um grande amor (Screenplay's co-author)
  
• 1985 - Ã?pera do Malandro
  
• 2000 - Estorvo (Movie based on his play for the theatre)
  
• 2003 - Benjamin (Movie based on his book)
  

Discography

1966

• Chico Buarque de Hollanda - vol.1
  
• Chico Buarque de Hollanda
  
• Morte e Vida Severina
  

1967

• Chico Buarque de Hollanda - vol.2
  

1968

• Chico Buarque de Hollanda - vol.3
  
• Chico Buarque de Hollanda â?? compacto
  

1969

• Umas e outras - compacto
  
• Chico Buarque de Hollanda â?? compacto
  
• Chico Buarque na Itália
  

1970

• Apesar de você
  
• Per un pugno di samba
  
• Chico Buarque de Hollanda - vol.4
  

1971

• Construção
  

1972

• Quando o carnaval chegar
  
• Caetano e Chico juntos e ao vivo
  

1973

• Chico canta
  

1974

• Sinal fechado
  

1975

• Chico Buarque & Maria Bethânia ao vivo
  

1976

• Meus caros amigos
  

1977

• Cio da Terra compacto
  
• Os saltimbancos
  
• Gota d'água
  

1978

• Chico Buarque (Samambaia)
  

1979

• Ã?pera do Malandro
  

1980

• Vida
  
• Show 1º de Maio compacto
  

1981

• Almanaque
  
• Saltimbancos trapalhões
  

1982

• Chico Buarque en espanhol
  

1983

• Para viver um grande amor
  
• O grande circo místico
  

1984

• Chico Buarque (Vermelho)
  

1985

• O Corsário do rei
  
• Ã?pera do malandro
  
• Malandro
  

1986

• Melhores momentos de Chico & Caetano
  

1987

• Francisco
  

1988

• Dança da meia-lua
  

1989

• Chico Buarque
  

1990

• Chico Buarque ao vivo Paris Le Zenith
  

1993

• Paratodos
  

1995

• Uma palavra
  

1997

• Terra
  

1998

• As cidades
  
• Chico Buarque da Mangueira
  

1999

• Chico ao Vivo
  

2001

• Chico e as cidades (DVD)
  
• Cambaio
  

2002

• Chico Buarque â?? Duetos
  

2003

• Chico ou o país da delicadeza perdida (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
  

2005

• Meu Caro Amigo (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
  
• A Flor da Pele (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
  
• Vai passar (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
  
• Anos Dourados (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
  
• Estação Derradeira (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
  
• Bastidores (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
  

2006

• O Futebol (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
  
• Romance (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
  
• Uma Palavra (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
  
• Carioca (CD + DVD com documentário "Desconstrução", direção Bruno Natal)
  

External links

• Official Chico Buarque Site (in Portuguese)
  
• Chico Buarque discography, news, and bio from Music City
  

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