Of all the social commentary songs of the 1980's from countless rock groups and artists such as Titãs, Paralamas do Sucesso, Legião Urbana, Cazuza and countless others,
there's one in particular that is almost forgotten yet it hits a perfect note when it comes to make poignant reflections about the social/economical situation of Brazilian
people of the 1980's and before that that still echoes in today's reality. The song in question being "Revanche" by Lobão. If you haven't heard it, the time is now. And if you
haven't seen the video it got, then here's another fine reason for that (just to see how life was back in 1986).
In it, Lobão performs the song inside of a train station in Rio de Janeiro where he makes a brief contact with singer Elza Soares (great cameo, and not so random as you
may think since they collaborated together in another song); and on the second half of the video he appears as a Mephisto-like character inside of a room while smashing a TV
screen. In between those moments with the artists, there's plenty of documentary-like images of common people conducting their business, walking around, doing their work or
exiting the crowded train. It's the reality of then, few things changed but there's this everlasting feeling of how far behind things were back in 1986 and before that, the
poverty from urban areas and some sense of desperation in the air.
Well, if the images don't hit you about people's situation in Brazil while dealing with lack of fairness, social problems, or how we cope with such things wheter being
in the form of addiction or as if treated as the slaves of the 20th Century (as the song pinpoints here and there), at least you have the hard hitting lyrics from Lobão, which
are quite relevant even today. It can make us analyze the time when it was written and analyze it for our current era, and don't be mistaken the near future isn't so far
from that past.
A little bit of context: 1986 was the first full year of democracy after two decades of military regime and what did we got then? Inflation; the new currency Cruzado which didn't help anyone with its constant change of value; frozen payments received by workers; corruption everywhere; and as salvation it was the year where major revolutionary works from rock groups saved us from insanity while dealing with strong social/political themes. "O Rock Errou" from Lobão and of which contains this single is one of those works (add to it Legião Urbana's "Dois", Titãs' "Cabeça Dinossauro", Ira! "Vivendo e Não Aprendendo" and Paralamas with "Selvagem?").
Although quite dated in several moments (for obvious reasons) the video never ceased to impress me ever since I started watching it on MTV. Time and again I keep
revisiting it, always looking for some detailed I might have missed in previous views. There's something strangely special there and that's why I recommend it to music video
fans out there. 9/10.
