"Aquele Abraço" (, English: "That Hug") is a song in the

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

genre by Brazilian singer-songwriter

Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Minister of Culture in the administration ...

. Written during a period of military dictatorship and cultural censorship in Brazil, the lyrics invoke neighborhoods, landmarks, samba schools and popular culture figures of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. It was released as the third track, with an expanded version as track 11, on Gil's third album ''

'', issued by Universal in 1969. On the tracks, he introduces the song as being "for

Dorival Caymmi Dorival Caymmi (; April 30, 1914 – August 16, 2008) was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years, beginning in 1933. He contributed to the birth of Brazil's bossa nova movement, and several of his samba ...

João Gilberto João Gilberto (born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira – ; 10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019) was a Brazilian guitarist, singer and composer who was a pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s. Around the world, he was o ...

and

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...

," all major Brazilian singer-songwriters. Gil was inspired to write the song on Ash Wednesday of 1969, his last day before leaving Rio, shortly after he had been released from detention in a military prison in the neighborhood of

Realengo Realengo is a neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The lower and middle-class neighborhood is between the Mendanha and Pedra Branca mountains.CNN Wire Staff.Hero officer kept Brazilian school massacre from being even worse" ...

, referenced in the song lyrics. Upon his return to his home town of

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

, he was placed under house arrest, where he developed the melody and instrumentation and made the recordings. Although Gil was exiled to Europe by the summer of 1969, the song became a major hit in Brazil, with an extended stay at the top of the charts, and in August 1970 it was awarded the Golden Dolphin (Golphino d'Ouro) prize from the Sound and Image Museum (''Museu da Imagem e do Som'') in Rio. However, Gil refused to accept the prize, writing an angry response in the counter-cultural Brazilian journal ''

O Pasquim ''O Pasquim'' was a Brazilian weekly newspaper published in Rio de Janeiro from 1969 to the mid 1970s. It was critical of the military dictatorship and it is considered the founding periodical of Brazil's alternative press. The idea for the peri ...

'' titled "Rejeito + aceito = rejeito" eject + accept = reject Among the cultural references in the lyrics are the fans of the

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

football team, the popular television personality

Chacrinha José Abelardo Barbosa de Medeiros (September 30, 1917 – June 30, 1988), better known as Chacrinha (), was a Brazilian comedian, radio and TV personality. His career was at its peak from 1950 to 1980. He was author of a famous Brazilian phra ...

, young girls of the

favelas Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...

, the samba school

Portela Portela or Pórtela may refer to: People * Portela (surname) Places * Lisbon Portela Airport, the international airport of Lisbon, Portugal * Residence of Portela, 17th-century country house in Paços de Brandão, Portugal Civil parishes * Po ...

, and the Carnaval street parade

Banda de Ipanema Banda de Ipanema is one of the largest Carnival blocks of Rio de Janeiro's street Carnival festivities. The first parade happened in 1965, when Brazil was under a military dictatorship. In 2004 it was declared part of the city's cultural heritage ...

. In an interview in ''O Pasquim'' shortly after his exile, he explained that the song was his way of capturing the joy and happiness he had seen on the streets, which he had not felt for some time--"my intention was really, very simply, to give an embrace to the people of Rio...It was a song of encountering, not leaving." In that same interview, Gil also addressed the controversy of whether he had taken the title phrase "Aquele Abraço" from the popular Rio television personality Lilico. Gil asserted that he had never seen Lilico's show and that the phrase had existed in the Brazilian imagination for a long time, used in the same nostalgic sense that he had invoked in his song."Gil fala a Odete Lara." Interview in ''O Pasquim'', October 15, 1969. Reprinted in ''Gilberto Gil Encontros'', organized by Sergio Cohn and presented by Ana de Oliveira. Rio de Janeiro: Beco do Azougue, 2008, page 35-36. The song has since achieved an iconic status in Brazilian popular culture and was performed by MPB artists

Marisa Monte Marisa de Azevedo Monte (Brazilian Portuguese: /maˈɾizɐ dʒi azeˈvedu ˈmõtʃi/) (born 1 July 1967) is a Brazilian singer, composer, instrumentalist, and producer of Brazilian popular music and samba. As of 2011, she had sold 10 milli ...

and

Seu Jorge Jorge Mário da Silva, more commonly known by his stage name Seu Jorge (Seu, an abbreviation of "Senhor"; born June 8, 1970; ), is a Brazilian musical artist, songwriter, and actor. He is considered by many a renewer of Brazilian pop samba. Seu ...

at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, as part of the preview of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aquele Abraco Brazilian songs Philips Records singles Portuguese-language songs Songs written by Gilberto Gil Samba songs