"Faroeste Caboclo" (English: Caboclo Western) is a song composed in 1979 by Renato Russo and recorded by Brazilian rock band Legião Urbana for the album Que País É Este 1978/1987.[1]
| "Faroeste Caboclo" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Legião Urbana | ||||
| from the album Que País É Este 1978/1987 | ||||
| Released | 1987 | |||
| Genre |
| |||
| Length | 9:03 | |||
| Label | EMI-Odeon | |||
| Songwriter | Renato Russo | |||
| Producer | Mayrton Bahia | |||
| Legião Urbana singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The song is a lengthy ballad that depicts the story of João de Santo Cristo, a poor man from the Brazilian Northeast who moves to Brasília in search of a better life, gets involved in drug trafficking, briefly abandons the life of crime to pursue a woman and is finally murdered by a rival.[1]
Despite its unusual characteristics for a folk song (168 different lines, no chorus and 9 minutes of playing time), "Faroeste Caboclo" was acclaimed by critics.
It is widely regarded as a Brazilian rock classic, as well as one of the greatest Brazilian rock songs of all time. A film adaptation was released in 2013.[2][3]
Plot
editThe song starts with the introduction of João do Santo Cristo (meaning "Holy Christ" in Portuguese) and his twisted childhood in the countryside of Bahia. His father was murdered by a policeman. While growing up, he began flirting with a criminal lifestyle, stealing from the church's donation box, and seducing all the local girls; at age 15, he was sent to a correctional facility, where he started to think about the discrimination against people of his class and skin color.
João decides to search for a better life in Salvador. There, in a coffee shop, he has a chance meeting with a rancher who had bought a non-refundable bus ticket to the country's capital, Brasília, DF. Due to a change of plans, the rancher would be unable to use the ticket, so he gave the ticket to João.
Arriving, he was impressed by the beauty of the city's Christmas lights, and decided to get a job after the New Year's Eve. He started working as a carpenter in Taguatinga, and became a regular in parties around the city. In one of these parties, he meets his bastard cousin: a Peruvian man named Pablo who smuggled illicit merchandise from Bolivia.
João worked hard, but ultimately his wages were below subsistence level. Following Pablo's example, he started to plant and sell cannabis. Soon he took over the local market; but then he took to robbery, and screwed up his very first attempt. In prison, he was beaten and raped, which increased his anger towards the world and made him a dangerous, widely feared man. However, he soon met Maria Lúcia, a beautiful young girl who made him regret his criminal past. He declared his love to her, renounced his life of crime, and returned to carpentry.
One day, a very wealthy man arrived with a very shady job proposal, implied to be planting a bomb as an act of political terrorism (as Brazil was then under a military dictatorship). Disgusted, João said he won't protect powerful but cowardly men, and sent him off. Before leaving, angered, the man warned João that he had just thrown away his life. Distressed by this, João skipped work and went on a drinking binge, only to find out that he was replaced in his job. Without a better alternative, he turned to Pablo and became business partners with him: Pablo would bring drugs from Bolivia, and João would sell them in Planaltina.
João's activities then got the attention of Jeremias, a major local dealer known for throwing rock and drugs parties, who saw him as an intruder on his turf. Learning of this, João got from Pablo a Winchester .22 rifle, but decided to wait until Jeremias made the first move.
João's activities also kept him away from home for a long time. Homesick and missing Maria Lucia, he returns, only to find out that Jeremias had married her and got her pregnant. That was the last straw for João, who called Jeremias out for a duel the very next day at 2:00pm in Ceilândia, planning to kill both Jeremias and Maria Lúcia. Word of it somehow got out and even television broadcast the news about their duel.
At the place of the duel, crowded with people who had seen the news on TV, Jeremias shot João in the back. In a twist of fate, a repentant Maria Lucia brought João's Winchester .22. Calling Jeremias a coward for shooting him in the back, João shot him five times. Maria Lúcia dies in the gunfight, by João's side. The bourgeoisie watching the event on TV was astonished by what they had just watched, but the poorer people of the crowd called João a saint for facing death with bravery. It is then revealed that João didn’t get his wish, which was that he wanted to go to Brasília to tell the president to help all the people who suffered.
Released and reception
editThe song, together with "Conexão Amazônica" from the same record, had its public execution and broadcasting expressly prohibited by the Division of Censorship of Public Entertainment from the Department of Federal Police of Brazil, reason why the LP of "Que País É Este 1978/1987" was sealed and its commercial sale expressly prohibited to minors under 18 years of age.[4][5][6] While "Faroeste" was censored because of the swearing, "Conexão" was censored because it was about illegal drug trade and drug addiction, but, in "Faroeste" case, due to the extremely high popular demand for its broadcasting, its profanities were censored with a "beep" so that the song could be broadcast without further problems (the Federal Police also demanded the payment of fines for this type of offense, but in practice these were waived by their police officers).[7] Other radio stations decided to make edits to the song,[8] like the 89 FM "A Rádio Rock" Station, where it was made a edit of 8'49" to remove the swearing.[9] Despite its length, the song became a massive hit, being the 24TH most play song in the country in 1988.[10]
In late 1987, when "Que País É Este 1978/1987" was released, the journalist Arthur Dapieve positively said that the song was "without a doubt, a masterpiece". He appreciated the fact that the song beginner as a country, transitioning to reggae and ending as a rock song.[8]
Film version
editA movie based on the song was produced with screenplay by Marcos Bernstein, Victor Atherino and Paulo Lins.[1] The film stars Fabrício Boliveira as João de Santo Cristo and Ísis Valverde as Maria Lúcia. Antônio Calloni, Marcos Paulo, Rodrigo Pandolfo and Felipe Abib also co-star in the film.[11] Initially scheduled to a November 2012 release, it was postponed to May 2013.
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[12] | 2× Platinum | 200,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- 1 2 3 Ney, Thiago (2007-02-15). "Renato Russo inspira filme com ares de tragédia greco-brasileira" (in Portuguese). Folha Online. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ↑ Dapieve, Arthur (2000). BRock - o rock brasileiro dos anos 80. São Paulo: DBA. ISBN 85-7234-253-2.
- ↑ Júlio Naves Ribeiro (2005). "De Lugar Nenhum a Bora Bora - Identidades e froteiras simbólicas nas narrativas do "rock brasileiro" dos anos 80" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-03. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ↑ Fuscaldo (2016), p. 50
- ↑ https://blogfilhosdarevolucao.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/lp.jpg
- ↑ https://scontent-bsb1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/54730096_1126836527493318_6080307788456656896_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=13d280&_nc_ohc=bYrAngmD5k0Q7kNvwEJ-33P&_nc_oc=Adr6CulN-8fQFOtMcojOpFyixzDFdj9f-4UOr2JlBqjkhgj9oD8rrcbP6rJMAqw-cSE&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-bsb1-1.xx&_nc_gid=siVbxqlZj8cxaWJQF4q9gg&_nc_ss=7b289&oh=00_Af6j1cZ2U_U66YVpqISsorSIvD7XX07_1gmkVtfb0sxyhw&oe=6A29EA40
- ↑ "Longa, com palavrões e críticas políticas, "Faroeste Caboclo" deu trabalho quando chegou às rádios". musica.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2026-05-12.
- 1 2 Fuscaldo (2016), p. 51
- ↑ MEDEIROS, Estefani (29 May 2013). "Longa, com palavrões e críticas políticas, -Faroeste Caboclo- deu trabalho quando chegou às rádios". UOL. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
- ↑ "Top Hits 1987". Mofolândia. Archived from the original on 2017-12-05. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
- ↑ Fonseca, Rodrigo (2011-04-23). "Filmagens de 'Faroeste Caboclo', saga do anti-herói criado por Renato Russo, movimentam Brasília". O Globo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2011-04-24.
- ↑ "Brazilian single certifications – Legião Urbana – Faroeste Caboclo" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
External links
edit- English translation of the lyrics Archived 2018-02-07 at the Wayback Machine