Gilberto Gil’s muses

The citations in Gilberto Gil’s lyrics date back to 1969, when the solo album Cérebro Eletrônico came out, listing tracks such as “Aquele abraço”—an homage to TV host Chacrinha, also known as Velho Guerreiro, mentioning him in the song. The song also presented homages to musicians Dorival Caymmi, João Gilberto and Caetano Veloso in the opening, and the name of his then-wife Sandra Gadelha in the end.

In the same album, Expresso 2222, even the Brazilian rock singer from the 1950s Celly Campello was mentioned in “Back in Bahia.” In 1975, in the album Refazenda, it was time for Gil to mention friend Jorge Salomão in “Jeca total.” Ten years later, and in the same year of Rock in Rio, Brazilian rock was Gil’s muse in the song “Roque Santeiro, o rock,” in which he mentioned artists such as Lobão, Os Paralamas do Sucesso, Ultraje a Rigor, and Titãs.

As time went by, other muses appeared in Gil’s work, some as song titles, like “De Bob Dylan a Bob Marley – Um samba provocação" and "Réquiem para Mãe Menininha do Gantois.” “Buda nagô,” an homage to Dorival Caymmi recorded in 1991 in the album Parabolicamará, mentions the name of the composer of “Marina” (also recorded by Gil in 1978) more than 20 times throughout the lyrics. A well-deserved reverence to one of the singer’s greatest idols.

In the album, there was also “O mar e o lago,” whose title was a wordplay with writer and actor’s name Mario Lago. It also listed “Sala do som,” an homage to Milton Nascimento and “Um abraço no João,” referring to João Gilberto, in whom Gil took great inspiration for his way of playing acoustic guitar.

In the same Banda Larga Cordel, the musician mentions several names of politicians and foreign intellectuals who have approached multiracialism in Brazil, in the song “Outros viram.”