Carnival Songs: Cabeleira do Zezé
Carnival is just a few weeks away people! Time to start thinking about your fantasia, planning which blocos you’re going to attend and of course, learn some more marchinhas de carnaval!
Today’s song is super catchy, but it has also got me feeling a little perplexed. Perhaps I’m being naïve or simply ‘not getting it’ (wouldn’t be the first time!), but there seems to be a bit of a bullying, homophobic aspect to this song.
The title of the song is Cabeleira do Zezé and it was written by João Roberto Kelly (and Roberto Faissal) back in the early 1960s.
João Roberto Kelly, cheeky looking chap, responsible for more than one cheeky carnival tune! I notice his hair wasn’t exactly small…
Kelly was born in Rio in 1938. In 1964, aged just 24, he had huge success with today’s song when it was recorded by Jorge Goulart. We’ll hear Jorge sing the song in a moment, but before that, let’s have a quick look at the lyrics and maybe you’ll get an idea of why I’m a little perplexed.
The song’s title is “Cabeleira do Zezé” – Zezé is a nickname for someone called José and ‘cabeleira’ means big hair. So this is a song about Zezé’s big hair! Pretty strange right? It’s not a long song, so let me put the full lyrics down:
Olha a cabeleira do Zezé [Look at the big hair of Zezé]
Será que ele é [Will it be that he is]
Será que ele é [Will it be that he is]
Olha a cabeleira do Zezé [Look at the big hair of Zezé]
Será que ele é [Will it be that he is]
Será que ele é [Will it be that he is]
Será que ele é bossa nova [Will it be that he is bossa nova]
Será que ele é maomé [Will it be that he is Mohammed]
Parece que é transviado [He looks like he is wayward]
Mas isso eu não sei se ele é [But I don’t know if he is]
Corta o cabelo dele! [Cut his hair!]
Corta o cabelo dele! [Cut his hair!]
OK, so there’s this guy Zezé who has big hair. Our singer is trying to figure out why. Could it be that he is into bossa nova? Or could it be that he is a Muslim? The word “transviado” has various translations – I have used “wayward”, but Google Translate also suggests “pervert” and “deviant”. Finally we finish off with a call to cut his hair! Let’s have a listen:
So what am I confused about? Well there’s the Mohammed thing – I’m guessing back in the early 1960s, this was a jokey way of saying Muslim. And Muslims were known for having big hair?
Then there is the whole “cut his hair!” shout at the end. I know this is nothing to do with Brazil, but “Get your haircut” has been a favourite shout of skinheads and bullies in England for years.
Finally, the lines I’ve highlighted in pink are traditionally followed with a chant from the crowd of BICHA! The word “bicha” (sounds like ‘beesha’) is disrespectful term for homosexual. Here is the composer himself singing the song – you can hear the “bicha!” call from the crowd. Interestingly, he stops midway through his performance to explain that he didn’t add the bicha line, that it was added by the studio audience on the Silvio Santos show.
At this point I am guessing that there may be some Brazilians reading this who are rolling their eyes and thinking I’m being ridiculous! Perhaps questioning these lyrics is the equivalent of criticising the story of Little Red Riding Hood for being cruel to animals because the wolf gets killed at the end. I really don’t know! Can someone explain this to me – am I being overly politically correct or does this song have a nasty edge?
João Roberto Kelly (who is still going strong today) wrote various other marchinhas including Bota a Camisinha (Put on a condom), Maria Sapatão (sapatão translates to lesbian, dyke, etc) and a fairly recent song about Obama, Osama and Lula! Interesting guy!
One thing I can tell you is that, whatever you think of the lyrics, this tune really stays with you. I’ve had it buzzing around my head all day! I’ll leave you with a completely different interpretation which is my favourite so far. This makes me want to run away and join a bloco!
I’d seen “viado” used as a slang word for a gay guy, but didn’t realize it came from “transviado.” I always learn something interesting from your posts, lol.
I wonder if the connection in the song between Muslims and big hair is a reference to the stereotype of Islamic men wearing turbans, giving the impression of having big hair? Just a thought….
Hello Phil,
The word viado does not originate from transviado. They are two completely different words, with different meanings. Viado (male homosexual) comes from Veado (deer – the ruminant mammal). Transviado means pervert, lost, to go astray morally.
Hope this helps :o)
Kátia :o)
Thanks for the explanation, Kátia! I probably wouldn’t use either word just to be safe, though I guess if I saw a deer I’d have to use “veado,” não é? Does “viado” sound just like “veado,” or is there a difference?
Hello again Phil!
Both words sound exactly the same.
Um abraço,
Katia :o)
I think the song’s lyrics pretty much preach conformity: all sorts of insinuations are geared towards the main character (Zézé) for the sole reason of his hairstyle not fitting the norm. Now I am not one to jump on the bullying bandwagon but I think this tune definitely intimidates someone to change his appearance or be subject to ridicule. Since part and parcel of said ridicule refers to that person’s perceived sexual orientation and then links that to something negative – the unusual hairstyle (negative) must be changed since he looks gay due to it (negative) – then the song is homophobic as well.
I like a carnival marcha called “Aurora” since it narrates the sadness the author feels with the arrival of Ash Wednesday and thus the end of carnival. A day that is always a happy one for me (dude, carnival is a mess).
http://veja.abril.com.br/blog/10-mais/diversao/as-10-melhores-marchinhas-de-carnaval-de-todos-os-tempos/4/
Nice one Gritty, I like that Aurora one – very nice. But “carnival is a mess”?! It’s a fun mess though! At least it is for the first 3 days… ;)
“But “carnival is a mess”?! It’s a fun mess though! At least it is for the first 3 days…”
You are right about that, and the messy results resemble what happens at the end of the video below.
Ha ha ha! :D
And here we go again with the political correctness… :-P Please…
The lyrics could be worse, they could actually be :
Olha a cabeleira do Zaru, será que ele tem, cabelo no … :-))
Have you heard the ban people wanted to put on Monteiro Lobato’s books on PC basis? :-/
Ha ha! Sorry Mauricio! :) You probably won’t believe this, but in real life I’m actually a pretty relaxed person and I don’t go around criticising people for using the “wrong terminology” the whole time. It’s just that as I attempt to understand both the language and the culture, I need some things explaining to me.
When I first heard the song I thought it sounded quite jolly. Then I heard the whole “BICHA!” shout and I was like WTF?! Can you imagine if you went to an English speaking country and they had some song which described some ‘misfit/pervert’ guy and then the whole crowd shouts “FAGGOT!” at the end of each line? That’s pretty weird to an outsider! It makes me wonder if gay guys are bothered by this or if they sing along with the rest?
I haven’t heard of Monteiro Lobato – I just checked out his Wikipedia page. Looks like I have some reading to do! (hopefully before they ban his books ;) )
Nah, no problem Tom, I do understand your point. It’s normal to wonder about cultural differences. :-)
Please correct me if I’m wrong but the word ‘faggot’ sounds a lot more offensive than ‘bicha’. Homosexuals call each other bichas. No problem there. People call each other bicha for fun. If a friend of you is picky on a subject , or anything, sometimes we say : Come on, sua bicha! No one gets offended and people laugh…
I wouldn’t dare calling anyone a faggot… but rather a pussy…
There was a controversy regarding one of Monteiro Lobato’s books as he used expressions that could be interpreted as racists. I do agree to it in some level, but people who has judged it this way, did it, de-contextualizing the time when the book was written. They simply wanted to ban the book from schools, period… IMHO they should not do that, but instead, comment on the subject, explaining to the children what was wrong with the text, contextualizing it.
Another PC hit I’ve heard the other day:
Do you know that very famous child carol that instigates cruelty against animals?
Atirei o pau no gato-to
Mas o gato-to,
Não morreu-reu-reu
Dona chica-ca
Dimirou-se-se
Do berro, do berrô
que o gato deu,
Miau!
Here’s the PC version of it, they’re teaching in schools nowadays :
Não atire o pau no gato-to
Porque isso-so
Nao se faz-faz-faz
O gatinho-nho
É nosso amigo-go
Não devemos maltratar os animais
Miau!
(Boring!!!)
BTW I never heard of people that would through a stone to a cat cos he heard the original song…
Ah-ha, interesting! Thanks Mauricio :) I guess this is one of those ‘lost in translation’ things – I had thought that bicha was a pretty rude/offensive word. To me it still seems kind of mean, but I’ll get over it! ;)
That’s a really good point you make on the context of history. It’s like taking our current moral values (which have changed very rapidly in the last 50 years) and using them to judge writings, songs (etc) from the past. Contextualising is the key point!
There’s a very strong history of children’s songs and stories being quite gruesome. I remember reading a book of children’s stories from the 1800s when I was a kid. They were terrifying! This picture was from a story which ‘encouraged’ children not to suck their thumb – otherwise this scary man would come and chop them off! :-/
Wow! That’s a great picture for a children’s stories book! :-D
Terrifying but very effective method, I bet! ;-) Super nanny can’t beat that one! ;-)
Mauricio,
I laughed my ass off reading your comment, especially your reaction to the new and sanitized redention of “Atirei o Pau no Gato”. I imagined you feeling like this afterwards http://murmolka.com/img/l/images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/7/21/boooring128611517980731969.jpg
LOL. I feel that way about certain sensibilities as well.
That was a pretty accurate picture you sent! hehehe ;-)
“Have you heard the ban people wanted to put on Monteiro Lobato’s books on PC basis? :-/”
Well, no one want to ban his works – people want to bring to light a – ugly – side of Monteiro – and, for extent, of brazilian society – that is always hided from public; and this analysis is based in his works, writings and personal mail – not in guessing or political correctness.
Monteiro Lobato was a enthusiast of eugenics, and this is not a secret. His personal mail, his literally works and other writings already show this, and, although primary and secondary school don’t talk about it with the students – choosing to do, instead, only laudatory comments about Sitio do Pica Pau Amarelo e his books for children – the load of academic research done about the subject left little doubt about the question.
A little bit of his personal correspondence, were he talk about the poorer cariocas – those who lived in the outskirts of town and travel inside – out the city daily, to work:
“Dizem que a mestiçagem liquefaz essa cristalização racial que é o caráter e dá uns produtos instáveis. Isso no moral – e no físico, que feiúra! Num desfile, à tarde, pela horrível Rua Marechal Floriano, da gente que volta para os subúrbios, que perpassam todas as degenerescências, todas as formas e má-formas humanas – todas, menos a normal.”
“Os negros da África, caçados a tiro e trazidos à força para a escravidão, vingaram-se do português de maneira mais terrível – amulatando-o e liquefazendo-o, dando aquela coisa residual que vem dos subúrbios pela manhã e reflui para os subúrbios à tarde.”
“Como consertar essa gente? Como sermos gente, no concerto dos povos? Que problemas terríveis o pobre negro da África nos criou aqui, na sua inconsciente vingança!…”
As you can see, in Monteiro own words, racial mixing dissolve the personal identity, and create unstable individuals. Those individuals are also, according to Monteiro, plain ugly. And, of course, this racial mixing and lack of self-conscience and identity is a major hindrance, the reason behind all the flaws (?) of the country. Lastly, the blame for that catastrophe should be put, according to Monteiro, in the black people, because they have diluted the european/portuguese ‘ethos’ when started to ‘mix in’ – that naughty slaves… – with whites.
About the Ku Klux Klan, Monteiro wrote, in 1928 in letter to his friend Arthur Neiva:
“”País de mestiços onde o branco não tem força para organizar uma Kux-Klan é país perdido para altos destinos. (…) Um dia se fará justiça ao Kux-Klan; tivéssemos aí uma defesa dessa ordem, que mantém o negro no seu lugar, e estaríamos hoje livres da peste da imprensa carioca – mulatinho fazendo o jogo do galego, e sempre demolidor porque a mestiçagem do negro destroem (sic) a capacidade construtiva.”
So, to Monteiro, a country were whites couldn’t organize a ‘movement’ like a Kux-Klan is doomed to never achieve something meaningful. But, according with him, one day people will do justice to the Klan. Lastlty, to Monteiro, if we, brazilians, could keep the black people in their place we also could overcome – or at last minimize – the ailments of racial mixing that hurt white creativity.
You can easily find more on academic sites – especially UNICAMP, that are the curators of his mail. His mail, works and others writings already were organized and published in book format, so you won’t have any problem to find it out.
Those excerpts of personal letters were published here:
http://www.livrariacultura.com.br/Produto/LIVRO/BARCA-DE-GLEYRE-A/22189777
So, until someone discovers something new about it, it’s not PC – it is a well documented and researched fact.
Wow, I had never heard of this guy and now I know a lot more about him! Thanks Cesar! I remember that Herge, the author of the much-loved TinTin books, has been accused of racism, particularly in his book TinTin in the Congo. With that example it sounds like most people have taken a sensible approach – that book isn’t really suitable for young kids to read as a children’s book, but it can be read by people a little older with an understanding of its historical context.
“Well, no one want to ban his works – people want to bring to light a – ugly – side of Monteiro – and, for extent, of brazilian society – that is always hided from public; and this analysis is based in his works, writings and personal mail – not in guessing or political correctness.”
I agree to the veracity of those letters and that he was really racist. However, IMHO, what needed to be discussed was the contents of his work.
People from (Iara) “Instituto de Advocacia Racial e Ambiental” wanted those books banned from the (PNBE) program, responsible for distributing his books to the school libraries (that makes use of public resources).
http://g1.globo.com/sp/vale-do-paraiba-regiao/noticia/2012/09/na-terra-de-lobato-estudiosos-falam-de-polemica-sobre-obras-do-escritor.html
Just to reenforce my point, here’s another example. William Shockley, one of the transistor’s inventors, Nobel prize in Physics :
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19890813&id=JXg0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=maUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4800,4188942
Should we judge his contributions to the fact he was a racist (big time racist)?
So, unless Mr Lobato’s work is a big piece of racism manifesto, I don’t think they should be judged altogether. That do not seem to be the case.
Interesting point Mauricio – I’ve often found myself wondering about the connection between art itself and the artist. There have been several times that I’ve absolutely loved some music, then heard an interview with the artist and found him to be an absolute idiot. I ask myself “Does it matter? Do I have to like the artist to enjoy the art?” – I think the answer is no. For all I know, JS Bach was a really horrible person, but I’m still happy to listen to his music from time to time.
I guess the key issue here is whether Lobato’s views come across in his work.
“Should we judge his contributions to the fact he was a racist (big time racist)? (…) So, unless Mr Lobato’s work is a big piece of racism manifesto, I don’t think they should be judged altogether. That do not seem to be the case.”
The problem it’s precisely the Monteiro prejudice in his works. Like i said before, it is not something that was restricted to his private life, it permeated his literary work – which is understandable, given that a book don’t write itself: it’s a work of a real person, in a real world and historic moment, so of course it will be permeated by his author’s views. It’s a discourse, so it should be taken like that – and criticized. Also, this help to remind us that, indeed, racism was – and still is – a very real problem in Brazil, directly responsible by the dire situations faced by black, native and mixed blood people – and not just whine of some guys that couldn’t get over themselves.
Take Jeca Tatu as an example: a stupid, lazy and ignorant ‘caboclo’ – descendent from white and native parents – that, in Monteiro view, was the main reason for the underdevelopment of countryside. When you take into account the fact that Monteiro himself was a big landowner, used to deal with poor rural populations of caboclos, on daily basis, and lived in a period of tribulations and peasant’s insurgency, it’s pretty clear that personal, private views were deeply rooted in his work – and, obviously, this mix is not only understandable, but expected.
So, when you analyze a literary work you should take into account his author too – both are bound. If the work is enjoyable or not, is another question.
“Just to reenforce my point, here’s another example. William Shockley, one of the transistor’s inventors, Nobel prize in Physics: (…) Should we judge his contributions to the fact he was a racist (big time racist)? ”
There is a slightly difference between books and transistors.
On top of that, the way that you put it seems like people wanted all Monteiro’s books banned from the shelves, witch is far from truth. People wanted to take out from the list of recommendations given to school teachers by the ministry of education, some of Monteiros works – and nothing more.
Cesar,
I won’t be spending much time here trying to convince you. We have divergent opinions on the matter and I respect that. I’m just against that kind of censoring. In practice, removing “some” of the books from the list of recommendations boils down to that.
All the best,
“Just to reenforce my point, here’s another example. William Shockley, one of the transistor’s inventors, Nobel prize in Physics. (…) Should we judge his contributions to the fact he was a racist (big time racist)?”
Just a little note about books and transistors.
Books carry on an idea and have a direct social/cultural impact. By it’s own characteristics, books are prone to prejudice. They can be tainted by it, because, at it’s core books are an author’s idea made physical.
Transistors don’t. By its own essence, there is no room for racism in Shockley’s work – or at least not in the realm of pure physics or electronics. So, Shockley, although racist, couldn’t use his works to support his views, neither his works have the power to bear or reverberate Shockley’s racism trough society. His racism hasn’t any impact in his work – not because he wanted it or not, but because of the very essence of the work he done don’t supported it.
In that sense, we should not discard Shockley contribution because he was racist: in the kind of contribution made by Shockley, the very notion of racism does not even apply.
To me the problem here is to use the work of a racist where the very notion of racism is nonsense to excuse another work, where the author’s racism have a direct impact. Seems quite cynical to me. Is like you were saying that just because Shockley were a racist but we don’t have racist sound systems, it will be okay to accept racist literature without discuss racism because, surely, the author’s racism won’t affect his work or anything else.
That’s why we should not compare books and transistors. Not in this simplistic way, at least.
Hi, Tom
A lot of people use the word “transVIADO” (deviant) as an euphemism for “viado”.
We should consider that in Brazil of the early 60’s people were much less politically correct concerned. But time went by and the song consolidated itself as a Carnaval classic, therefore no one, even gays, would see it as an offense or bullying toward homosexuals.
For us, Brazilians, it’s just another Carnaval song happily sang even by gays themselves. That’s carnaval, after all :)
Heh heh, this is a confusing country sometimes! :D But that keeps things interesting! Thanks for clearing that up Gil!
This song is definitely homophobic and The Gritty Poet’s interpretation 100% correct . To call someone a bicha is not a big deal? what?! Try to call a stranger man on the street a bicha and see what will happen to you… Just because A FEW gay men call each other bichas doesn’t make it allright. African americans call each other niggers, does it make it allright to everyone say that word? When men want to offend other men, some of the most common name calling are bicha ou viado.
Hi Nanda – I’m not going to try calling a stranger any of those things! ;) I guess the context is really important with things like this. In many cases people can say the exact same words but, depending on their tone, it could either be incredibly rude and offensive, or it could actually be affectionate. To take a less controversial word, I could say “You fool!” to someone and it could be rude, or I could say it in a jokey way and it would be a friendly joke.
There have been quite a range of interpretations/reactions to this song. I guess the key here again is the tone and the context. If I was with some gay Brazilian guys at carnaval and this song came on, I’d probably wait to see what they did when it came to the chorus. If I was with some gay American guys who had never heard of this song, I would not want to be the one who tried to explain it to them! ;)
The comments for some of your posts are almost as interesting as the posts themselves, Tom (notice that I said *almost*).
I like this song, but of the Carnival songs you’ve shared, I still prefer “Vou Festejar,” which is the best “f**k off” song I have heard in any language, and when Beth Carvalho sings it, you can tell she means it.
Ha ha Phil! I think the comments are *at least* as interesting as the posts and often considerably more informative!
I’m with you on the Vou Festejar song – I guess it’s not a genuine marchinha, but it’s definitely my favourite when it comes on at the blocos! It still cracks me up when I think about how cheery I thought it was before I found out what she was singing. :D
OI Tom,
Desculpe-me não escrever em ingles, mas as vezes cansa rsrs..
A despeito dos fatos, vamos voltar ao tempo, a decada de 60 foi uma decada em que os cabelos compridos começaram a aparecer no Brasil, e quem usava os cabelos compridos? o pessoal da bosa nova, da joven guarda e claro, os hippies,
E tambem o pessoal da tropicalia,
Ah sem esquecer que os jovens da esquerda da epoca usavam cabelos compridos como forma de desafio as normas sociais.
A palavra transviado tambem se refere a uma pessoa que esteja fora da norma comum da sociedade, ou seja tambem é um marginal.
Corta os cabelos significa fazer-los voltar a norma sociall da epoca.
A proposito, esta musica foi um grande sucesso durante os anos 60 justamente por causa da repressão da epoca.
Talvez seja uma daquelas musicas criptoreferencial da epoca.
Quanto a Maome, não creio que se refira aos seguidores do islã, na epoca era muito comum musicas com referencias aos arabes.
como uma que tem um refrão..ah meu bom Alah, não me lembro bem a letra, mas certamente sua senhora talvez saiba ao que me refiro.
Muito obrigado mhgonçalves – seu commentário é muito inteligente e informativo. Eu achei esta marchinha que você mencionou – vou postar amanha! É muito bom! :)
“I won’t be spending much time here trying to convince you. We have divergent opinions on the matter and I respect that.”
Maurício,
No problem. But even so is important to note that Monteiro’s racism is not just a matter of “opinion”. It is a well documented fact. It exists, regardless my, your or anyone’s opinions about it, and it will keep existing, regardless your – very much appreciated – respectful disagreement toward the people who points it out.
“I’m just against that kind of censoring. In practice, removing “some” of the books from the list of recommendations boils down to that.”
Well, i, also respectfully, disagree. We were talking about a list of books recommended to schools for use in classroom activities, not about books that should or shouldn’t be available to the general public. It isn’t censorship, it is the definition of the parameters of a school program. The books still will be available to everyone, and Monteiro will not be erased from history.
The only change is some of his books will not be recommended by the official school program anymore, but even so this books still can be used as such in case the teacher want it.
I think this sounds reasonable. If we apply this to the TinTin example (did you guys get TinTin over here?), there was that one example I mentioned (TinTin in the Congo) where there is racism and various forms of animal cruelty (killing rhinos with dynamite!?) and so that particular book has been removed from the Children’s section of most book shops. You can still find the book (in the adult graphic novel section) but it’s not seen as suitable for little kids anymore. Not censorship really – just a suggestion that it’s not suitable for young kids.
Exactly. The objective isn’t to ban the books, deny any literary merits to Monteiro’s work or erase him. The objective is just to adjust the contents of some – not all – books of Monteiro to the kid’s age, and only inside the official school program.
I mean, if they want the books, they still can have it trough public libraries and bookshops.
PS: Tin Tin killing rhinos with dynamite? I never read TinTin, but i used to watch the cartoons. My world is falling apart right now.
Ha ha! I know! I couldn’t believe it when I heard. He always seemed such a nice boy! ;)