Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of the song “Pelas Tabelas”, by Chico Buarque, and explores its main allusion: the Biblical figure of John the Baptist as a symbol of resistance to tyranny, violence, and irrationality. Buarque uses poetry, irony, and references to Brazilian culture in order to create a story of love and alienation with pathetic intensity. The paper contextualizes the song in the context of Buarque’s musical oeuvre and in that particular political moment in Brazilian history - the 1980s - in which a great movement for the reestablishment of democracy was on its way: the movement called Diretas Já. This analysis proposes a dialogue with the fields of cultural studies, theology, and literature. It shows that Buarque’s song is imbued with the poetic, the prophetic, and the pathetic.
Keywords:
Chico Buarque; Brazilian Pop Song; Alienation; Pathos; Art and Politics