Song of the Week w/c 14th April 2025

Alright, so the theme this week is globalisation. No, wait, don't run away. Walk with me on this one. As is the case every week, I was trying very hard to think of an interesting song that I've been listening to a lot recently, and then I was hit with a bolt of inspiration. I've been listening to a lot of Spanish-language music recently (idk, it keeps coming up on the Spotify made-for-me playlists), and especially NUEVAYoL by Bad Bunny, which is this week's song of the week. I've been really really enjoying it, and I'll go into that more in a bit, but what's interesting to me is this - Bad Bunny is an incredibly popular artist. He was Spotify's #1 listened-to artist for THREE YEARS running. This guy is stratospheric levels of popular. But - I don't know anyone who listens to him. And, ok, Latin Trap isn't really a genre a lot of my friends go in for, but equally, they're not generally massive fans of Taylor Swift and Harry Styles, but those people are at least in the cultural conscience, you know? I think this is true on a wider level too; when Bad Bunny was on SNL I saw comments sections filled with people wondering why they would get him on as a guest, as if he wasn't maybe their biggest pull of the year. And, to be clear, I'm not really a massive fun of Bad Bunny in general! I think his music is mostly like, fine, but not my thing. But this is an interesting phenomenon to me.

So, ok, why is this? My favourite question to ask. I think there's a few factors at play here. His music is clearly aimed at a Latin audience; his music is entirely in Spanish, and doesn't try to cater to an English-speaking audience (which I really like). It's also a genre that is really popular across the Latin world, but not so much elsewhere. But that just creates another layer of questions, right? Because why is it that his songs being in Spanish would mean they're less popular? Why are some genres globally palatable, and others aren't? In 2020, when Bad Bunny was first the #1 streamed artist, he'd never had a song or album even crack the top 100 in the UK. I was really fascinated by this, so I looked up the top artists by country, and found that I had never heard of ... most of them. Which, makes a lot of sense. By YouTube streams, the top artist is Alka Yagnik, an Indian playback singer. As of two days ago, I'd never even seen her face before.

I think this is an interesting thing about this idea of globalisation. Does is make our experiences more global? Or does it only make us feel that way? And, if it does make you experiences more global, whose experiences get that privilege? When I'm in Brasil, half the music on the radio is in English. My mum always tells stories of growing up in Brasil listening to the radio, and how she's never even once bothered listening to the lyrics, even now that she does speak English. I mean, as a teen (and still now) she was one of the biggest fans of U2 out there, who sang exclusively in a language she did not understand. I do not need to belabour the point that this is not largely the case on English radio.

Anyway, where do I go from here? I could write a whole lot more about globalisation and my thoughts on how it allows people to abstract away the exploitation that their lives are built on, but I fear that would be getting a little far from the point. And, of course, it's sort of hard for me to sit here criticizing globalisation as a product of it, without recognising some of the great things its done for the world. So, here's my thought instead - I will share some of my favourite Brasilian culturally-important songs, and you will have a listen to some of them and let me know what you think. Deal? In this way, in a small way, I get to control what experiences are shared. Because it will be mine, and yours.

• Águas de Março by Elis Regina & Tom Jobim is one of my all-time favourite songs (as are, to be fair, most of the songs on this list). Tom Jobim is considered by many to be the father of Bossa Nova. He's definitely most globally famous for Garota de Ipanema/The Girl from Ipanema (which I had to learn to sing when I was at school in Brasil!) but I just love love the interplay of Elis and Tom on this song, and I'd say in Brasil, this is the most popular by far. The title translates as "Waters of March", and it's kind of an odd song, lyrically. The song begins, "It's the wood, it's the stone, it's the end of the road." The whole song continues this way, this series of unconnected snapshots, pulling together a collage of scenes happening at the end of Summer in Brasil, as the rains hail the beginning of autumn. I think it's this simplicity that really makes it shine, and there's always something new to notice. It doesn't overstate itself, and gives every little image the same weight, and in this way I think it's really great exploration of the cycle of life. From looking it up on Wikipedia there's apparently also an English version, but I think Tom Jobim cut a lot of Brasil-specific references out of it when he was translating it, so I wouldn't recommend it. Plus, the joy of this exercise is in letting the music flow over you and not trying to place your own understanding back on top of it. Letting it lie just as it is.
• Nobre Vagabundo by Daniela Mercury. When I was a kid, Daniela Mercury was my Mum's favourite, and I listened to this song SO MANY TIMES. Still, when I listen to it, I can see little me and her dancing together in the living room so clearly. This song comes from an album called "Feijão com Arroz" (Beans with Rice), and it's almost as much of a classic in my life as the dish is ;)
• The equivalent to Nobre Vagabundo is A Doida by Seu Jorge. It comes from the album "Musica para Churrasco" (Music for Barbecues), but the main place that I hear it is every single time I step into my Dad's office at work. Is it kinda misogynistic? Yeah. But, great news - if you don't understand the lyrics, you don't have to worry about that. Seu Jorge is such an icon in samba, and I think it's hard to listen to the bright popping music and still feel sad.
• Cálice by Chico Buarque and Milton Nascimento is I think the most important song on this list. Along with other icons from the 60s and 70s (Tom Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Caetano Veloso), Chico Buarque especially was targetted by the military dictatorship in Brasil, serving a prison sentence, and leaving the country in 1970 to escape further prosecution. But, importantly, he decided to come back, and wrote many of the most iconic songs protesting the dictatorship and advocating for the redemocritization of Brasil. Cálice is a song that plays on how the word "chalice" sounds like cale-se (shut up), and it explicitly makes references to the murder and torture of Stuart Angel. It's difficult to read about, but if you can I'd recommend doing so, both to honor his life and to understand that this was just one case that we know about. My Mum grew up under military dictatorship, loving these songs - but also, knowing the danger. Being educated was dangerous, and there was (as will not surprise people today) an association between Universties and the protest movement. Family members of mine were kidnapped because they were university students, and that was scary to the dictatorship. On this note, I'll just leave one more song I love from Chico Buarque - Apesar de você, or "Because of you". Buarque sings, "In spite of you/ Tomorrow will be another day". That's a good one to remember, sometimes. You can read the rest of the English lyrics here.

Alright, let's briefly get back to Bad Bunny and NUEVAYoL. It melds together very classic sounding songs with the new in a way I love so much. The opening, before he starts singing, has a quality like some of the other songs I've put on this list (which, given they're mostly from the 70s gives it a sort of dated/classic feel), but as soon as Bad Bunny starts singing you're catapulted through to the present. There's singing, rapping, spoken word, all over a beat that's just ridiculously fun. That "hey, hey, hey" in the background is so so catchy, and I think the breakdown at the end of the song is great too. I always think it's very impressive for a song that barely cracks the 3 minute mark to have so many distinct phases to it, but that still mesh so well together.

Alright, sorry for another massively long one, see y'all next week :)

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