On and off the Internet: Gil's most listened to songs

Of the musician's signature works, this track released on the 1969 album of the same name is his most played song, surpassing 24 million streams.

Written in the period between the singer's release from prison during the military dictatorship and his exile, Aquele Abraço is a song "that takes place on Ash Wednesday," as the author states in the book Todas As Letras.

Composed - without the help of a guitar - with a simple harmony, so that the singer would not forget it before entering the studio, the samba that "goes to Dorival Caymmi, João Gilberto, and Caetano Veloso" is one of the biggest hits of his career, indispensable in his concert repertoires.

A composition that will complete 40 years in 2022, the track released on the album Um Banda Um is a prayer by Gilberto Gil that reinforces the importance of faith in difficult situations. 

The chorus uses the pronunciation "faiá" instead of "falhar" [the word for faith in Portuguese]: "'faiá is from the heart,' 'falhar' is from the head. And faith is from the heart," says Gil. The song is a hymn that offers courage and perseverance to those who sing and dance to it.

Made in honor of Nara Gil, Gil's oldest daughter who entered pre-teenhood in 1979, Toda Menina Baiana is a guaranteed presence in parties where DJs play MPB tracks and also in encores of his concerts.

With its easy chorus, repeated by audiences all over the world, the track composed in Salvador speaks of the virtues and defects of the human being, and of the "founding character of Bahia", according to Gilberto Gil. 

The original version, released on the album Realce (1979), is the third most played song on streaming.

Originally composed for the singer Roberto Carlos, Se Eu Quiser Falar Com Deus is one of the great hits from the album Luar (A Gente Precisa Ver O Luar), Gil's first album in the 1980s.

However, it is the acoustic recording released as a single in 2019 that has more than 11 million streams: the original, from 1981, accumulates about 2.3 million streams.

Since the author of Detalhes declined to record the song - for having a different idea of God than the Gil - he included the track which, in his words, is more philosophical than religious, in the 1981 record. Se Eu Quiser Falar Com Deus was also recorded by Brazilian singer Elis Regina.

Forever in the memory of Brazilians with Arthur Maia's bass solo played in its live versions, Palco is Gilberto Gil's declaration of love for the music made on the spot, for the passion of the presentations with the audience.

"I didn't come here in the world to discourage, I came here to encourage," said the singer in the episode of the program Amigos, Sons e Palavras in which he interviewed by actor Lázaro Ramos.

The quote defines the energy of the song recorded in 1981 on the album Luar (A Gente Precisa Ver O Luar) and that, on many tours, was chosen as the opening act.

Featuring twice on the list, the track composed for Realce gained other readings. Besides the danceable version, which is the third most listened to, the acoustic one from the album Unplugged (1994) ranks sixth in the TOP 10. 

Originally recorded by the quartet Doces Bárbaros, with Maria Bethânia and Gal Costa singing, Gilberto Gil added to the album Um Banda Um (1982) the song Esotérico, with a reggae arrangement.

On the digital platforms, people listen more to the Gil and Caetano Veloso's version for the record Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música (Ao Vivo). 

In the book Todas As Letras, Gil claims the song "was born from the desire to talk about the esoteric meaning of things through something that was all too human, such as the love relationship between two people - not failing, in the end, to refer the question to divinity".

Made as soon as the singer returned from exile in 1972, the song, originally recorded on the album Expresso 2222, is a declaration of Gilberto Gil's longing for Bahia during the period he was away from Brazil due to the military dictatorship.

The live version in Caetano and Gil's album Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música (Ao Vivo) is the most listened to on digital platforms.

One of the main records of when Gil started to play the guitar, the composition "is based on very intimate, northeastern musical motifs - improvisation, embolada, galope, martelo...

"...and in cordelic patterns, with rhythmic (and also internal) rhymes, typical of Northeastern and symmetrical verses,"  the artist revealed in the book Todas As Letras. 

A Paz, a partnership with pianist João Donato, brings a recurrent resource in Gilberto Gil's work: the contrast between opposing themes. 

In the song, whose lyrics were inspired by the image of his partner dozing peacefully on a sofa, the artist talks about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan and relates the themes of war and peace (with declared inspiration in the work of writer Leon Tolstoy).

Originally recorded by singer Zizi Possi in 1987, Gil released his version on the album Unplugged in 1994.

A partnership with producer Liminha, Vamos Fugir is one of the great reggaes in Gilberto Gil's career.

Originally featured in the album Raça Humana (1984), the record had the participation of musicians from the band The Wailers, which accompanied the singer Bob Marley, exponent of the Jamaican musical style.

For such a special recording, the songwriters traveled to the Tuff Gong studio, founded by Marley in Jamaica. 

A Linha e o Linho is one of the tributes he made to Flora Gil, his companion since 1979. The track is on the album Extra, released in 1983.

Lamento Sertanejo is a partnership in which Gil put lyrics to the melody composed by Dominguinhos. 

The track had already been recorded by the Violado Quintet under the name Forró de Dominguinhos, in an instrumental version, for the album Berra Boi (1973), and by the accordionist himself, already as the "xote" Lamento Sertanejo, in the album Tudo Azul (1973), also in an instrumental and accelerated version.

With Gil, it was slowed down and ended up on the album Refazenda, in 1975. 

Drão was composed belatedly for his third wife, Sandra Gadelha. When Gil included it in the album Um Banda Um, in 1982, the couple had already separated. 

Tempo Rei first appeared on the album Raça Humana, in 1984, but Gilberto Gil first offered it to the singer Amelinha, from Ceará, who recorded it that same year on the album Água e Luz, with a musical arrangement by Gil.