"Que País É Este" ("What Country Is This") is a song by Brazilian rock band

Legião Urbana Legião Urbana (Portuguese for Urban Legion) was a Brazilian rock band formed in 1982 in Brasília, Distrito Federal. The band primarily consisted of Renato Russo (vocals, bass and keyboards), Dado Villa-Lobos (guitar) and Marcelo Bonfá (d ...

. It was written by

Renato Russo Renato Russo (born Renato Manfredini, Jr., March 27, 1960 – October 11, 1996) was a Brazilian singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock band Legião Urbana. A Brazilian film depicting his life and career was rele ...

in 1978, when he was still a member of Aborto Elétrico. However, it was only released in 1987 on Legião Urbana's album ''

Que País É Este ''Que País É Este'' (), subtitled ''1978/1987'', is the third studio album by Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At ...

''. About such delay, Russo explained: The song was ranked at #81 on the list of "The 100 Greatest Brazilian Songs" by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

Brasil''.As 100 Maiores Músicas Brasileiras
/ref> In 1987, it was the Brazilian song with the biggest airplay, and the second if international music is considered, standing behind " Livin' on a Prayer", by

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

. In 2013, it was elected as "Brazil's most remarkable protest song ", in a poll conducted by iG.

History

The song was composed by vocalist and acoustic guitarist

, when he was still a member of punk band Aborto Elétrico. However, even after the end of the band, Russo would still perform the song in his then new band Legião Urbana (founded in 1983). Russo took advantage of the Brazilian political scenery to finally record the song in 1987, when the country was emerging from a

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

Personnel

Per the album booklet:LEGIÃO URBANA. '' Que País É Este 1978/1987''.

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 ...

EMI-Odeon Odeon Records is a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. The label's name and logo come from the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe in Paris. History Straus an ...

Brazil, 1987. Internal booklet. *

— vocals, acoustic guitar *

Dado Villa-Lobos Eduardo "Dado" Dutra Villa-Lobos (born 29 June 1965) is a Belgian-born Brazilian musician, best known as the ex-guitarist of post-punk band Legião Urbana. Along with singer Renato Russo and drummer Marcelo Bonfá, he was one of the founding ...

— guitar * Renato Rocha — bass *

Marcelo Bonfá Marcelo Augusto Bonfá (born January 30, 1965), also known simply as Bonfá, is a Brazilian musician. Famous for being the drummer of Brazilian rock band Legião Urbana, after its disbanding he pursued a solo career, and has released three albums. ...

— drums

Notable cover versions

* In 1999, the band Os Paralamas do Sucesso cover it on '' Acústico MTV''. * In 2005, the band

Capital Inicial Capital Inicial is a Brazilian rock band that flourished in the 1980s, saw a resurgence in the late 1990s, and extended into the 2000s. History The band has recorded fifteen studio albums, six live albums and seven DVDs in their 40-year career ...

covered it on ''MTV Especial: Aborto Elétrico'', lançado em CD e DVD. * Also in 2005,

Titãs Titãs () are a Brazilian rock band from São Paulo. Though they basically play pop/alternative rock, their music has touched a number of other styles throughout their 30-year career, such as new wave, punk rock, grunge, MPB and electronic mu ...

covered it live for the album ''Renato Russo - Uma Celebração''.

Alleged plagiarism

There are controversies about the song's main riff being plagiarism of "I Don't Care", by American punk rock band

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

. When confronted about this, Russo said "eu não ligo!", which is the Ramones' song title translated to Portuguese. Soon after, he admitted to having drawn inspiration from the song.

References

{{Legião Urbana Legião Urbana songs Songs in Portuguese Brazilian songs Songs about Brazil Protest songs 1987 singles 1987 songs EMI Records singles