Chico Buarque's First Chico Buarque

Chico Buarque comprises a critical appreciation of the self-titled album (1978), which is one of the Brazilian artist's most representative. This vibrant collection displays the singer-songwriter's singular talents as a composer/poet of song with both popular appeal and keen analytical skills. The eleven tracks include both up-beat sambas and lyrical compositions: witty tunes, dramatic laments, international items, and, especially, epochal protest songs with fascinating histories. The album embodies Chico Buarque's affective sensibilities and sociopolitical engagement, and this book situates the album in inter-related contexts: the artist's own career; the evolution of the current he represents MPB (Brazilian Popular Music); and, especially, historical conjuncture—the period of military dictatorship in Brazil, 1964-85.

Charles A. Perrone is Professor Emeritus of Portuguese and Luso-Brazilian Culture and Literatures in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Florida, USA. He is the author of Masters of Contemporary Brazilian Song: MPB 1965-1985 (1989), Seven Faces: Brazilian Poetry since Modernism (1996), and Brazil, Lyric, and the Americas (2010). He is co-editor of Brazilian Popular Music and Globalization (2001) and Crônicas brasileiras: a Reader (2014). He has translated numerous contemporary Brazilian writers, most notably poets such as Augusto de Campos and Paulo Leminski.