One of the hallmarks of Brazilian music is actually the fact that there isn’t really such a thing as ‘Brazilian music’: the variety of rhythms and traditions is astounding and, from the gringo point of view, probably quite disorienting. This is of course related to the generous geography and cultural diversity, but even factoring that in, this diversity is quite impressive.
So today I decided to talk about one of the most popular musical genres in Brazil, forró. Technically, forró is not a musical genre, but rather a dance style, which can be danced to a variety of different but related rhythms; nevertheless, as a generic name, forró is ok to describe this cluster of rhythms. Forró is the quintessential music of the Brazilian Northeastern region, widely popular both in rural and urban areas. It actually developed from European styles of folk music brought over by immigrants in the early 20th century; tellingly, the prototypical musical instrument for forró is the accordion, which clearly illustrates the connection with its folk European origins. It is danced throughout the year, but is particularly associated with the June festivities (Festa Junina), a big thing in Brazilian popular culture which takes us back to our ‘rural roots’. Forró is very much a rural phenomenon originally, and the songs are often about the sad fate of individuals who must migrate out of their home regions towards the big cities, chased away by drought and hunger (such as in the classic ‘Asa Branca’, here in the voice of its composer, the king of the genre: Luiz Gonzaga).
Until not so long ago, forró was typically viewed in the Southern, urban parts of the country exclusively as the dance/music style of the poor, rural population up North. But somehow, in the 90s, there was all of a sudden renewed interest in many of the traditional, folk elements of Brazilian culture (music in particular) in the urban South (something I still don’t quite understand qua social phenomenon, but which I have personally experienced back then). And one of the noticeable changes was that forró all of a sudden became extremely popular among the wealthy, urban youth in cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (I spent a good chunk of the mid-90s dancing forró the night away!). In fact, one of the subgenres of forró these days is known as ‘forró universitário’ (college forró), although according to the purists, it is not the ‘real thing’. At any rate, forró in general truly *is* a lot of fun to dance to, and while not entirely straightforward, it is easier in terms of dancing than other Brazilian rhythms, samba in particular.
To illustrate the genre here, I chose a song which is not one of the classics, but which is for many reasons particularly interesting: ‘Esperando na Janela’, by Gilberto Gil (in the video below, the song only starts at around 1:00). It is the main theme of a very nice film of the early 2000s (Eu, Tu, Eles – Me, You, Them), which has a great story from a feminist point of view: a woman who lives happily with three ‘husbands’. This song is sufficiently ‘nice and slow’ for gringos (some of the faster forró might come across as a bit scary…), while having all the traditional features of the genre (accordion, triangle, the characteristic beat).
I’ve mentioned Gilberto Gil before; he is one of the prominent members of the brilliant generation of musicians who emerged in the 1960s (along with Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, among others), and who are still productive and influential to this day. Gilberto Gil has experimented with a multitude of genres and styles, so one shouldn’t think that this song is representative of his whole oeuvre (I will probably post another song by him in the near future). But Brazilian folk music has always been a major influence for him, and his flirt with forró in the soundtrack of Eu, Tu, Eles has been very successful (from my point of view in any case).
Finally, for a glimpse of what dancing forró looks like, check here – but please exercise caution if you want to try this at home!
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