Music / Fôrça Bruta

"Está chovendo e a chuva vai molhar alguém"^note  "It's raining and the rain will wet someone"

Fôrça Bruta is the seventh studio album by Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist Jorge Ben Jor, under his former alias, Jorge Ben.

His second album with Trio Mocotó, a samba band that had backed Jorge on his previous self-titled record, Jorge experimented with moodier, more groove-oriented arrangements while experimenting with musical techniques from soul and funk music. With Ben's lyricism focusing more on Brazilian identity, melancholy, the nature of modernity and politics. The latter of which influencing the title of this record, having been made while Brazil was in political upheaval due to a prior coup d'etat.

A commercial and critical success, Fôrça Bruta established Ben as a notable artist in Brazil's Tropicália movement and pioneered a fusion genre that would later be referred to as samba rock. In 2007, Rolling Stone Brasil named it the 61st greatest Brazilian music record.

Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Oba, Lá Vem Ela" (4:13)

2. "Zé Canjica" (3:53)

3. "Domênica Domingava num Domingo Linda toda de Branco" (3:50)

4. "Charles Jr." (6:09)

5. "Pulo, Pulo" (2:50)

Side Two

1. "Apareceu Aparecida" (3:17)

2. "O Telefone Tocou Novamente" (3:51)

3. "Mulher Brasileira" (4:27)

4. "Terezinha" (3:13)

5. "Fôrça Bruta" (5:15)

Tropes:

• Alliterative Title: "Apareceu Aparecida"
• Break Up Song: "Zé Canjica", "O Telefone Tocou Novamente"
• Concept Album: The album is primarily preoccupied with Brazilian identity, with a prevailing sense of melancholy and a specific focus on the plight of Afro-Brazilians in the modern era. The latter theme being expressed mainly through the album's longest track "Charles Jr.". Women are also central figures on this record with songs such as "Mulher Brasileira" "Domênica Domingava" and "Terezinha" being dedicated to Brazilian women, specifically.
• Epic Rocking: "Charles Jr." clocks in at about six minutes.
• Female Empowerment Song: "Mulher Brasileira" celebrates Brazilian women of all backgrounds. Revering them as the pride of Brazil:
  Pois a minha grande vitória
  É conseguir botar uma mulher brasileira na minha vida
  Pois para mim ela será sempre a primeira
  A companheira nas horas fáceis e difíceis^note For my great victory / Is to be able to have a Brazilian woman in my life / Because for me she will always be the first / The companion in the easy and difficult hours
• "I Am" Song: "Charles Jr." with it's notable refrain:
  Eu me chamo Charles Júnior
  Eu também sou um anjo^note  My name is Charles Jr. / And i am a angel
• New Sound Album: This album is a largely stripped down record in comparison to previous works by Ben. Whereas though his previous records were a melodic fusion of bossa nova, samba and psychedelia, Fôrça Bruta mostly experiments with more rhythmic cadences and groove utilizing African drumming and lush string sections. It's lyrical content differs from his previous album's lackadaisical atmosphere, with a more melancholy tone and a focus on social justice.
• Postmodernism: The record would critique modernity in regards to Afro-Brazilians still facing marginalization in a modern Brazil.
• Silly Love Songs: "Domênica Domingava num Domingo Linda toda de Branco" is one dedicated to his wife.
• Telephone Song: "O Telefone Tocou Novamente" is about the narrator having an argument with a lover from across the phone, who leaves to meet, only not to find her.

• Unrequited Love: "Oba, Lá Vem Ela" is about a lonesome narrator who longs for a relationship with a women who doesn't even know him. But, contents himself with just watching her as she passes by him.