Analysis of “Deus lhe pague” by Chico Buarque after 40 years

This is a reproduction, slightly modified, of an article that appeared in the fourth issue of the journal La del Taller, published in November of 1985. It is included here because, as far as we know, it was the first article to appear in a Latin American publication based on the theoretical framework proposed by Philip Tagg. The article consists of a brief analysis of the song “Deus lhe pague” (1971) by Chico Buarque, based on Tagg’s musematic approach. The author particularly emphasises the analogies between processes that occur in different parameters –instrumentation, harmony, melody, singing, lyrics–, and how they combine to generate a commentary on alienation and oppression in the context of the most repressive period of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985.