Football and Music

So you’ve probably read about the protests, which looks to continue right through the tournament.

It’s not just about the Brazilian population objecting about the cost of the World Cup and the way that FIFA are going to profit (all tax free remember), there’s another protest about the other cash-in by the organisers – this one is about the music.

» The Guardian has an excellent article which not only mentions the songs, but has a background and additional info about this protest. The reason for this post is that the GU links to these videos, but I can embed the tracks. See this as a TL/DR (too long/didn’t read) summary of the piece. No seriously though go and have a read and then come back here.

As it says it’s the main theme done by you-know-who and you-know-who, which does actually feature a Brazilian singer, Claudia Leitte but only for about 15 seconds of the song.

Tthe locals prefer “Waka Waka” – the song that Shakira did for 2010 World Cup tournment.

Not just with the theme song, there are musical protests which like the street demonstrations are very vocal and demand your attention. Starting with…

Pop Will Eat Itself – Reclaim the Game: Funk Fifa

Turns out that PWEI are still a going concern and they’ve teamed up with BNegão, a Rio de Janeiro based rapper to produce this song:

From the Guardian article:

…In the song, he (Bnegão) raps in Portuguese: “The game is ours, Football is ours, It’s everyone’s, It’s the real passion of the people, It exists by itself, And it doesn’t depend on Fifa.”

“I wanted to voice the opinions of the many people who feel the same way I do about Fifa. I’m glad to be that voice,” said Bnegão, who described himself as a guerrilla artist. “It’s hard for mainstream Brazilian artists to do anything like this song because it could close many doors here. But I’m not afraid of that. I’ve never wanted to be a pop star or anything like that. My entire career was built on saying what I think.”

MC Guime – País do Futebol (Football Nation)

(If you go to the video on YouTube you can click on the CC button and get the captions in English)

…Featuring the rapper Emicida and Neymar, a Brazilian national team striker, it contains a message of self-improvement as a means to escape poverty. This is a popular theme in Brazilian society, where millions are trying to move into the middle class. “Look how far we’ve come,” sings MC Guime in the chorus.

But on the other hand…

…More critical is Desculpa Neymar (Sorry Neymar) a plaintive critique by Edu Krieger that highlights some of the grievances of the anti-World Cup protests that have taken place across the country since last year.

“Sorry Neymar, but I won’t support you this time,” goes the lamentation. “We have beautiful, monumental stadiums while schools and hospitals are on the brink of ruin.”

And finally (for now) there’s this from Alex & Gustavo with their song – Giant Motherland:

Google translation:

“The people are tired of being treated like this, our people are not cattle to eat grass. Why are you so novel, soccer and Carnival, if you never show the truth in the news?

We have no press, no court. Has condemned the Government and this is not normal.[source]

More links:
– Twelve Brazilian songs of (general) protest
– Fifteen photos of anti-FIFA graffiti in Brazil

Extra Time: There’s more songs on the Brazilian version of the Huffington Post – Gaía Passarelli, my friend in São Paulo writes about this: ouça 4 temas alternativos da Copa do Mundo 2014 (Hear the alternative themes for the World Cup).