Blast of sambas: World war II and folk song

Abstract

In Brazil, several songs were composed during the Second World War (1939–1945) having the conflict as subject. Their lyrics were full of praise to the allied troops as well as criticism and mockery of the enemies’ leaders. This paper, however, focuses on sambas with some kind of irony. In Brazil, at the beginning of the 1940’s, the political regime was a dictatorship. Authoritarian governments very often try to use the joint path of propaganda and censorship, namely persuasion and repression. This involves musical circuits of production, mass media and broadcasting. Some songs about the World War II show contradictions and confrontations of our own society, especially about the poor and black people. Original recordings at 78 rpm were used as main sources. The transcription of the lyrics at 78 rpm recording is full of challenges (homophones, terms that fell in disuse, slangs). As for methodology, the discourses of the songs are read trying to be attentive to its qualitative signals and points of relevance.