“Aquele abraço” is a song that was written in 1968 and released in 1969 by Brazilian singer-songwriter Gilberto Gil. It was written by Gil right before he was forced into exile by the Brazilian government shortly after he was imprisoned by them alongside Caetano Veloso, another famous Brazilian musician. This happened in the fallout of the Third International Song Festival, where Gil, Veloso, and rock band Os Mutantes performed the protest song “É proibido proibir”, which protested censorship. They were jeered by the crowd, which was mostly young students, for performing music so heavily influenced by foreign rock music. Gil and Veloso were arrested by the police several days later and imprisoned without trial. The exact reason for this is unknown, but it’s very likely that it was because of the incident at the festival
The song itself doesn’t directly or indirectly criticize anything. Rather, it’s a song about the happy sights Gil saw in Rio de Janeiro the day before he was deported. It was later released in 1969, after Gil was deported and lived in London. The importance of this song is its proximity to an important event in Brazilian censorship.
Lyrics (English Translation):
Rio de Janeiro is still beautiful
Rio de Janeiro is still
Rio de Janeiro [January River], Febraury and March
Hello, hello Realengo [one of Rio’s neighbourhood]
A big hug!
Hello Flamengo fans [a popular soccer team]
A big hug!
Chacrinha is still [a TV host]
Shaking his tommy
And honking to the lady
And commanding the crowd
And is still
Giving the orders in the place
Hello, hello Mr. Chacrinha
Old warrior
Hello, hello Terezinha [a partner in Chacrinha’s TV show]
Rio de Janeiro
Hello, hello Mr. Chacrinha
Old clown
Hello, hello Terezinha
A big hug!
Hello, lady from the slum
A big hug!
Everybody from Portela [a samba school]
A big hug!
Every Febraury month [Carnival takes usually takes place in Febraury]
That dance step!
Hello Banda de Ipanema
A big hug!
My way around the world
I make it myself
Bahia has given me [one of Brazil’s states]
Ruler and compass [an education]
I’m the only one who knows what happens to me
A big hug!
For you who forgot about me
A big hug!
Hello Rio de Janeiro
A big hug!
All Brazillian people
A big hug!
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/aquele-abra%C3%A7o-big-hug.html
Gil, Gilberto. “Aquele abraço”. Philips, 1969, Accessed November 15, 2022.