Construção: The Top One Brazilian Song of All Time

An overview of the ’71 classic and its political statement, which is as much alive today as it was back in the seventies

Photo by Agustín Diaz on Unsplash

It is 1971, and Brazil is in its seventh year of coup d’etat: the military period. Out of the harshness that only oppression and censorship can bring, the most beautiful flowers bloom. The Brazilian ’70s was the high time for veiled political statements. All dressed up as sambas and carnival, written in between metaphors. Among these, “Construção,” by Chico Buarque, is one of the most brilliant pieces of music ever written.

In 2009, the song was elected the number one Brazilian song by the Rolling Stones.

Before we go on, I urge you to listen to the song. Lyrics and music are by Chico Buarque himself, and the orchestration is by Rogério Duprat. For maximum enjoyment, follow along with the original/translated lyrics here.

For musicians, here are the song chords. However, beware, this is not the average pop song :)

If you had never heard the song and now you did, my job is already halfway done. In the following, I will breakdown what it means, how it fits the political period of the time, and, ultimately, how it is as much alive now as it was back then.

Keep an eye for links, as I tend to add them to most things I mention. Some are other great tunes. Others are complementary readings. Feel free to skip them all or take your time to immerse yourself in the Brazilian ‘70s.

The Form

The song is divided into 3 + 1 parts. The first three are entirely in dodecassilable verses (twelve syllables), and all verses end in a proparoxytone word (one that has the accent on the antepenultimate syllable, such as family and cinema).

Rhyming with proparoxytones is extremely hard, as one has to rhyme three syllables to make a properly sounding rhyme. Musically, these syllables lead to a very…