Salve Jorge!
It’s been a while since our last music post, so I thought that today we could start with something topical from the legendary Caetano Veloso (bonus points if you can work out why it’s topical).
Caetano is a huge name in Brazilian music and deserves a post (at least one!) all to himself.
My first Portuguese teacher played that song to me during one of my first lessons. It’s a nice song for someone learning Portuguese as Caetano sings very clearly and the lyrics include some great words such as the rather magnificent sounding deslumbrante (gorgeous/glamorous/stunning).
So, apart from it just being a great song, did any of you work out why I picked that particular track? It’s because in exactly a week it will be St George’s Day, or as they say here in Brazil, Dia de São Jorge.
Back in England there has been a campaign simmering away for years in the (mostly right wing) press to make the day of St George (England’s patron saint) a public holiday. Well, what The Daily Mail, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire and a host of far right organisations haven’t been able to achieve in England, has been a reality here in Rio for years – 23rd April is a public holiday.
“Take that ya dragon!”. George absolutely hated dragons and did his bit to ensure that dragon populations were kept under control in 3rd century Turkey.
It’s not just the English and Cariocas who have love for St George. He is also the patron saint of Georgia, Portugal, Malta, Beirut, Preston, the Boy Scouts of America and people suffering from skin diseases and syphilis!
The story of St George (in fact let’s call him São Jorge from now on) is a little patchy but it seems that he was Greek, born in Palestine in the 3rd century AD and raised as a Christian. By his early 20s, both of Jorge’s parents had died, so he went off to join the Roman army. As a successful soldier he was promoted and things were going well until the Emperor ordered that all Christian soldiers be arrested.
The Emperor pleaded with Jorge (by now a valued officer) to renounce his faith but he steadfastly refused. The Emperor felt he was left with no choice. Jorge was tortured on a wheel of swords and finally beheaded.
One way or another, Jorge passed into legend and for many centuries he has been revered as a warrior saint, a holy protector depicted on horseback, slaying a dragon (which represents both Satan and also the Roman Empire apparently).
Salve Jorge the Telenovela
Here in Brazil, São Jorge is an incredibly popular figure. If you speak to a devotee about this saint, it won’t be long before you will hear them say Salve Jorge! (literally ‘Save Jorge’, though a better translation would be ‘Viva Jorge’). Nowadays though, this phrase is not just the cry of the religious – it is also the name of a popular telenovela (soap opera), set in a Rio favela and dealing with subjects such as human trafficking and enforced prostitution.
This is the logo for the telenovela. Take note of the two red stones – we’ll be coming back to them!
Since we’re having a music day, here is Coisa de Jorge, no less than four Jorge’s singing about their namesake – some of the footage in this video may give you an idea of the kind of devotion this saint inspires here in Brazil.
Coisa de Jorge: Jorge Ben, Jorge Vercilo, Jorge Mautner, Jorge Aragão singing Líder dos Templários.
São Jorge and Ogum
OK, so we’ve established that St George and São Jorge are the same person, but things get a little more complicated here in Brazil. In many songs, poems and other sources, you will find people using another name for Jorge. They will refer to him as Ogum.
The Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomblé states that Olorum (God) created the world using 7 deities known as Orixás (sounds like oree-SHAHS). Ogum is one of these Orixás and he’s a very impressive fellow:
Three depictions of Ogum, the warrior protector of Candomblé.
Ogum is associated with law and order, politics and war. As you can see above, he is depicted as a complete badass quite differently to São Jorge, but many people view Ogum and São Jorge as synonymous – two incarnations of the same saint or deity.
I saw this guy at a bloco – his tattoo mentions 3 orixás: Jagum (AKA Obaluaê) , Oxum and Ogum. It says “I am the son of Jagum; blessed by Oxum and I follow the path of Ogum”.
Salve Jorge and the Evangelical controversy
The number of evangelicals in Brazil grew by 13% between 2003-2009 and today only the USA has more. Like it or not, Evangelicalism is a growing force and their influence is felt at all levels of Brazilian politics. As you may know, amongst other things, evangelicals are not keen on saints – they view saint worship as a form of idolatry. Even so, I was rather surprised to find how threatened they apparently are by Salve Jorge the telenovela:
Remember those two red stones? Apparently these are symbols of adoration of the spirits. At the bottom we are warned: Once your life is cursed for watching this rubbish, don’t complain that God didn’t warn you.
Devotees of São Jorge responded with sarcasm, saying “To the evanglists who criticise the telenovela ‘Salve Jorge’: When we have the public holiday for São Jorge, please go to work, because to take a holiday in homage of the saint is adoration too”.
To me all this controversy sounds like people arguing over whether fairies have pink wings or if they’re actually more of an orangey colour, but everyone is entitled to their own beliefs I guess.
How about we finish off with some more São Jorge related music? This time it’s Racionais MCs with Jorge da Capadócia.
Personally, I prefer the last song but in the original version by Jorge Ben Jor.
This one Andrew? Good call – Jorge Ben Jor is such a great song writer isn’t he? I love all the string arrangements in this one too. p.s. I agree – this version is far superior isn’t it?
http://youtu.be/SeDcDJ8JH3k
That’s the one. I like the duality of the lyrics where, in the beginning, you can imagine the singer literally serving in the cavalry along with George but then it turns into a prayer to Saint George for protection.
Racionais MC are musically very relevant in their own right and, as far as hip hop versions go, that isn’t a bad one but I still vote for the original.
Correct me if I’m wrong (just being polite: I’m right) but wasn’t St. George proclaimed England’s patron saint when the country was still Roman Catholic? If so then the fact he was retained by King Henry is by far his most impressive feat (you’d think said king would replace him with a saint keen on food and misogyny).
Ha ha ha! That sounds like my kind of saint! Oh wait…not the misogyny bit. Just the food. Can we throw some in some wine too?
He was just thinking ahead: the English would eventually invent football and Saint George would become the patron saint of the best football team in the world (here I go starting a religious war… :-) )
Aha! I had no idea! I had to look that one up. I was shocked at first to see that Flamengo’s saint is called Judas, but then I showed my lack of Christian knowledge – I hadn’t realised that there 2 Judas’s in Jesus’s team of 12.
I guess Southampton FC would claim Saint Mary…
Fascinating post.
Last year, which was my first experience of April in Rio, I was surprised to not only discover that St. George’s Day was a public holiday but quite a few people were wearing St. George T-shirts. Someone told me he is patron saint of Rio de Janeiro which might explain it.
I checked on Wikipedia and the page on St. George confirms Rio de Janeiro in the list of places and organisations that claim him as Patron Saint. However, searching for ‘Patron Saint of Rio de Janeiro’, both on Wikipedia and the Web says that honour goes to Saint Sebastien. Can a city have 2 patron saints? Maybe one is Roman Catholic and one Protestant?
Hi John,
I had been wondering about that as well (whether cities can have more than one patron saint). While I was reading around this article, I found a few examples of apparent multiple patron saints – I’m not sure what the rules are and who actually makes the official decision.
I hadn’t noticed the St George t-shirts before, but I’ll be keeping a look out for them this time round! :)
Loved the song and the background on São Jorge, as well as the telenovela and evangelista connection. Did you know that St. George is also featured on the coat of arms of both Moscow *and* Russia? Apparently he was the patron saint of an early Russian prince (Yaroslav the Wise, to be specific). Same imagery, too: armored knight on a horse, sticking the spear directly into the dragon’s throat.
Hi Phil! I didn’t know that Moscow/Russia claimed him as well! He is one popular saint – I wonder if it’s anything to do with him being this warrior/protector figure. Christianity may be all about turning the other cheek and forgiveness, but I guess a lot of people like the idea of having a warrior looking after them :)
Greek ? Always thought he was a Turk (from Capadocia region). According to my research he was a farmers’son, Christian, and very good in killing some huuuge serpents (komodo like creatures) who were eating sheeps and plaguing the region. He became a gladiator/prisoner and then a member of the Roman legion. Never denied his faith.
Why I know all that ? Well, when pregnant and searching for a name for my son I heard the name “Joris”. I liked it a lot. Searching the meaning I discovered it was “George / Jorge”. There are so many variations of this name, you wouldn’t believe it. http://www.behindthename.com/name/joris
Hi Ana! I always wonder how much anyone really knows about these old legends. According to Wikipedia there are actually two Georges and it certainly seems that there have been some occasions when the two guys have been confused or mixed together into one.
According to Wikipedia there is the George that I was talking about: St George and there was another guy who they refer to as George of Cappadocia.
There do seem to be a suspicious number of similarities between these two Georges though, with ‘St George’s’ father coming from Capadoccia and both men being killed in rather uncomfortable circumstances, but the last paragraph of the ‘George of Cappadocia’ article suggests they were different.
That Joris link is amazing! How many variations?! :-o
I’m Christian and I can tell you that I don’t like these macumbeiros. they’re dangerous people, you cannot trust in them. they pretend to be christians but they aren’t. they worship the devil. I think everybody should avoid them. St.Jorge belongs to the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church.