The band is considered one of the main groups in Brazilian rock. Like most groups from the 1960s, Os Mutantes were heavily influenced by The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Sly & the Family Stone. However, Brazilian musicians were also immersed in their local culture, exercising their own creativity in the use of feedback, distortion and studio tricks of all kinds, just as was done by the Liverpool quartet and the group The Beach Boys. In this sense, Mutantes were pioneers in mixing rock and roll with Brazilian musical and thematic elements. Another characteristic of the group was irreverence. Like Os Mutantes, there began to be a kind of mixture of foreign and Brazilian music and the addition of new ideas, with doses of experimentalism, thus opening the way for musical hybridism.
Os Mutantes began their activities in 1966, as a trio, when they performed on the program O Pequeno Mundo de Ronnie Von on TV Record. On the eve of the program's premiere, the trio had the name "Os Bruxos", but neither Rita Lee nor the Dias Baptista brothers (Arnaldo and Sérgio) were satisfied with that name and wanted to change it. According to Carlos Calado,[2] the idea for the name "Os Mutantes" came from an ironic joke between Alberto Helena Júnior, the program's producer, and Ronnie Von, who, at the time, was reading O Império dos Mutantes, by Stefan Wul, and did not talk about any other subject. "Are you guys still looking for a name for the boys ensemble? Why not The Mutants?" Ronnie Von liked Alberto Helena's idea and took it to the group, who approved it immediately.
The group soon became one of the main exponents of the new MPB, influenced by Tropicália, until it dissolved in 1978. Over these twelve years, nine albums were recorded, two of which - O A e o Z and Tecnicolor - were only released on 1990s, when the group began to be recognized, on the national and international rock scene, as one of the most creative, dynamic, radical and talented of the psychedelic era and the history of world rock. In 2006, the band reunited, without Rita Lee or Liminha, but with the presence of Arnaldo Baptista and Zélia Duncan on vocals. The following year, Arnaldo and Zélia left the band, which was recomposed with other musicians and continues to perform under the leadership of Sérgio Dias, the only remaining member of the original lineup.
Mande um Abraço pra Velha
Os Mutantes Lyrics
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Que eu não vinha aqui cantar no festival
Eu não vou ganhar, quem sabe até eu vou perder ou empatar
Nós não estamos nem aí
Nós queremos é piar
Nós estamos é aqui
E sua mãe onde é que está?
Mande um abraço pra velha
Diga pra ela se tratar
Você pensa que cachaça é água
Mas cachaça é água não
É não
Você pensa que eu estou brincando
Mas brincando eu não estou não
Estou não
Estou não
Imagine um festival
Sem caretas e no sol
Imagine um festival com a sua mãe e o Juvenal
The song "Mande um Abraço pra Velha" by Os Mutantes talks about the band's experience at a music festival. The lyrics suggest that it has been a long time since the band participated in a festival, anticipating that they might not win or might even lose or draw. However, they do not care about winning, but only about performing. They ask the audience about the whereabouts of their mother and plead with them to send her love, telling her to take care of herself. The song sarcastically talks about the misconception that cachaça, a famous Brazilian alcohol, is just water, suggesting that it is much stronger than people think. The song ends with an imaginative and colorful invitation to a festival without any uptightness, along with the mother and Juvenal, a Brazilian name.
The song's lyrics present a funny and teasing tone, characteristic of Os Mutantes' music, always playing around with words and meanings. It's a typical representation of tropicalia, a Brazilian artistic movement from the '60s that represented social, political, and cultural rebellion. Through their songs, Os Mutantes would protest against oppressive governments, express their creativity and irreverence, and use psychedelic elements in their music.
Line by Line Meaning
Já faz tempo pacas
It's been a long time since I've been here to sing at the festival
Que eu não vinha aqui cantar no festival
I haven't been here to sing in the festival for a while
Eu não vou ganhar, quem sabe até eu vou perder ou empatar
I'm not going to win, maybe I'll even lose or tie
Nós não estamos nem aí
We don't care
Nós queremos é piar
We just want to sing
Nós estamos é aqui
We're here right now
E sua mãe onde é que está?
And where's your mother?
Mande um abraço pra velha
Send a hug to the old lady
Diga pra ela se tratar
Tell her to take care of herself
Você pensa que cachaça é água
You think that cachaça is water
Mas cachaça é água não
But cachaça is not water
É não
It's not
Você pensa que eu estou brincando
You think I'm joking
Mas brincando eu não estou não
But I'm really not joking
Estou não
I'm not joking
Estou não
I'm not joking
Imagine um festival
Imagine a festival
Sem caretas e no sol
Without looking angry and in the sun
Imagine um festival com a sua mãe e o Juvenal
Imagine a festival with your mother and Juvenal
Contributed by Peyton W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
antonio juliano
E isso seria apenas um esboço do que seria a fase progressiva dos Mutantes se Rita Lee não tivesse sido expulsa da banda: qualidade instrumental e irreverência lado a lado!
Julio Cesar Pereira
A primeira vez que vi/ouvi Os Mutantes foi quando defenderam esta canção no VII FIC de 1972. Eu tinha 10 anos e fiquei de queixo caído. As mudanças na música e o refrão não saíam da minha cabeça. Valeu!!!
AngryKoala Insane
Ouvi agora pouco depois de "velho" (30 anos).. e fiquei de queixo caído tb.. é uma obra de arte.. o teclado SOMBRIO pra cacete!!!!!!! Ninguém conhece essas coisas pqp.
Atila Ulisses Tahim de Sousa
lindemais queria ver um registro
Jessé Carvalho
Valeu! Isso com bateria de escola de samba ficaria loko! rsrsrs
Caio Fabbri
Meu deus, como nunca havia escutado isso antes?
Zé Júnior
Tbm me fiz essa pergunta quando comecei a ouvir mutantes kkkk
Ademar Amâncio
Uma música de longa-duração,nunca tinha ouvido,pra tocar no rádio exige-se que a canção dure em torno de três minutos.