Work · 1968 · São Paulo [-23.55, -46.63]
Tropicália (song)
Caetano Veloso's song 'Tropicália' gave the movement its name, sweeping monuments, slogans, and pop debris of modern Brazil into a single cataloguing rush. Recorded for his 1968 album, it crystallized the cannibalist idea of swallowing high and low culture together. The title soon attached itself to the entire movement.
Evidence1
- MusicBrainz: Tropicália (work)MusicBrainz
musicbrainz.org/work/499c826d-84ca-300e-951b-89f7ec061e07
accessed 2026-06-04
Connections1
reacted against by → Chega de Saudade (1959 album)
Where bossa nova answered samba's exuberance with cool refinement, Tropicália answered bossa's restraint with electric noise, collage, and irreverence. Caetano Veloso's 'Tropicália' is at once a child of Gilberto's intimate craft and a deliberate rupture with its good taste. The movement loves the thing it rebels against.