Gilberto Gil's Discography: 'All albums have a biography' - Part 3

Gil dove deep into issues connecting heaven and Earth. Albums such as Luar (A Gente Precisa Ver o Luar), in 1981, Um Banda Um (1982), Extra (1983), and Raça Humana (1984) are examples of his search for a scientific materialness with spiritual transcendence.

At the beginning of the 80s, more specifically in 1981, Gil recorded another collective album: Brasil, with Maria Bethânia, Caetano Veloso and João Gilberto.

In Luar (A Gente Precisa Ver o Luar), Gil recovers the poetry of the Moon through a human perspective, not supporting it in scientificism, which he explores instead in songs like “Lunik 9” (1967) or “Futurível” (1969). This album also brings Gil closer to a religiousness which has always been a part of him.

In Um banda Um, Gil shows his relationship with Umbanda, a religion which, to him, was a kind of introduction for the Candomblé rituals. “Esotérico” reinforces his syncretic tendencies. And he reiterates the importance of Faith in “Andar com fé.” 

A bit late, but still on time to honor his ex Sandra Gadelha, in Um Banda Um he records “Drão,” a song about the separation that happened three years before.

In the album Extra, Gil goes back to themes related to the extraterrestrial or extrasensory that appeared in his life during the exile, when he went to ufology meetings. The cover is a montage with animals, which are irrational beings of planet Earth.

Rock starts to appear strongly in his repertoire, with “Punk da Periferia”. The return to rationality is in Raça Humana, released in 1984.

Raça Humana brought on a Gilberto Gil who wanted to use his human potential and ability to understand the time in which he lived to innovate: according to current trend, Gil records only electric guitars for the first time (before, he used acoustic guitars).

The greatest successes were the incredibly human “Pessoa Nefasta,” “Índigo Blue,” and “Vamos Fugir.” A very human problem, “time” is praised in the also successful “Tempo Rei.”

With Liminha, he embarked on a trip to Jamaica to record “Vamos Fugir” with The Wailers. When he came back, he decided to take more liberties in his production, setting up a studio with the producer, called Nas Nuvens [On the Clouds] (the audio is from one of the takes of recording the song).

Dia Dorim Noite Neon came on the same year as Bem, his sixth child, the first with Flora. Still in 1985, Gil was one of the stars at Rock in Rio, and Brazil had a president elected for the first time after over 20 years under military dictatorship.

The title Dia Dorim Noite Neon is an homage to writer Guimarães Rosa and his classic The Devil to Pay in the Backlands. Rosa’s themes and aesthetic are present mostly in “Casinha feliz,” “Febril,” and “Logos versus Logo.”

Rock with glitter—from the look he wore to the festival—comes in “Roque Santeiro – o rock,” while black activist reappears in “Oração pela libertação da África do Sul.”

In 1987, Gil was productive and released the albums Gilberto Gil em Concerto, Ao Vivo em Tokyo and Soy Loco Por ti América.

In 1989, a year after Bela Gil's birth, Gil released O Eterno Deus Mu Dança with contemporary reflections. The soundtrack that gives the album its name proposes a paradoxical ideal of transformation as the only constant in the universe.

The change claimed by Gil is like a desire to reorder the cultural perspective of the Western culture: in his own way, he incites the rupture with the imaginary of the hegemonic society that results in historical enslavement.

At a time when Brazil was getting in touch with re-democratization, Gil also proposed that land workers focus on their dreams, with the song “Amarra o eu Arado a Uma Estrela,” registered for the opening of the soap opera O salvador da Pátria as well as in O Eterno Deus Mu Dança.

Continues on Part 4.