"Polícia" is the fifth single by

Titãs Titãs (, Portuguese for Titans) are a Brazilian Rock music, rock band from São Paulo. Though they primarily are classified as a rock band, the band have also experimented with genres such as New wave music, new wave, punk rock, ska, grunge, M� ...

, from the album ''

Cabeça Dinossauro ''Cabeça Dinossauro'' (; Portuguese for ''Dinosaur Head'') is the third studio album by Brazilian rock band Titãs, released on 25 June 1986. It was their first album produced by Liminha, who was the director of WEA at the time of the album's re ...

'', released in 1986. The song, written just after

Tony Bellotto Antonio Carlos Liberalli Bellotto (; born 30 June 1960) is a Brazilian musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Titãs. He has also written and released several books. Childhood Bellotto spent his childhood in the city of A ...

and

Arnaldo Antunes Arnaldo Antunes (, born Arnaldo Augusto Nora Antunes Filho, September 2, 1960) is a Brazilian singer, writer, and composer. He was a member of the rock band Titãs, which he co-founded in 1982 and left ten years later. After 1992, he embarked on ...

were arrested for heroin traffic, criticizes the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

. According to

Branco Mello Branco Mello (; born Claudio Corrêa de Mello Júnior on March 16, 1962) is a Brazilian musician and actor, best known as the vocalist and bassist of Brazilian rock band Titãs. He has also played small but significant roles in films. Childho ...

, vocalist of the band, the album ''Cabeça Dinossauro'' had "much of that disappointment of being arrested and to know you are not a criminal".

Sérgio Britto Sérgio de Britto Álvares Affonso (; born September 18, 1959), known as Sérgio Britto, is a Brazilian musician. He is a member of the rock band Titãs, for which he contributes lead vocals, keyboards and, more recently, bass guitar. He has als ...

recorded the first take of his lead vocals while overhearing a conversation between producer Liminha and Evandro Mesquita about

spearfishing Spearfishing is fishing using handheld elongated, sharp-pointed tools such as a spear, gig, or harpoon, to impale the fish in the body. It was one of the earliest fishing techniques used by mankind, and has been deployed in artisanal fishi ...

, which made him angry. He wanted to record a second performance, but his band mates convinced him the first attempt was fine. He only had three minutes to record his part. Originally, nobody wanted to take on lead vocals for the song, which Bellotto wrote having

Paulo Miklos Paulo Roberto de Souza Miklos (known as Paulo Miklos , born on January 21, 1959) is a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, musician and actor. He is best known for his tenure with the band Titãs, in which he was a vocalist, guitarist and occasional ...

in mind. The members didn't even think "Polícia" had any potential at all. Since Britto only sang two other songs from the album (" AA UU" and " Homem Primata"), he ended up singing "Polícia", as well. By the time of the album's release, Bellotto said it would be naïve to think a country doesn't need the police to fight criminals and murderers, but he believed he didn't need the police in his life when he was arrested for

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

possession. The song was covered by Brazilian band

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera.Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. They were a major force in the groove metal, thrash met ...

. It was included on their albums '' Blood-Rooted'' (1997), '' Under a Pale Grey Sky'' (2002), the covered song was featured exclusively on the soundtrack version of '' Tales from the Crypt presents: Demon Knight'' (1995) and also on the Brazilian edition of '' Chaos A.D.''. Originally, it was released as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

on the "

Territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

" single, released by

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

. "Polícia" was featured in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of ''

Elite Squad ''Elite Squad'' (, ) is a 2007 Brazilian crime film based on the novel '' Elite da Tropa'' by Luiz Eduardo Soares, André Batista, and Rodrigo Pimentel. Directed by José Padilha (from a screenplay by Padilha, Bráulio Mantovani, and Piment ...

''. A version of the song was used as the opening theme for a

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

TV series called '' Força-Tarefa''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Policia (song) 1986 singles Songs about the military Titãs songs 1986 songs Songs written by Tony Bellotto