Architecture of Tension in Times of Repression An Interpretation of the Samba "Roendo as unhas", by Paulinho da Viola

Abstract

Paulinho da Viola is acclaimed as one of the protagonists of the world of samba in the 1970s. In times of violent repression, the song "Roendo as unhas", launched in 1973, seems to internalize "semantics of repression" in its musical form. From the analysis of that samba it can be observed that two features - the musical interval of the tritone and a principle of circularity - go across all musical components (melody, harmony, arrangement and rhythmic base), conferring to the lyrics a force of omnipresent tension in the structural organization of the song. The article aims to understand the process by which the artist has achieved compatibility between musical structures and lyrics, resulting in a work that condenses, on its aesthetical material, an experience that refers to the historical course of the period.