Stimulated by the talent and the interest in the rising phenomenon of the Brazilian Rock, soon they had recorded their first LP “Cinema Mudo” (1983) and had become a success with songs such as “Vital e sua Moto” and “Patrulha Noturna”.
The second LP “O Passo do Lui” (1984), consolidated the initial pull with the hits “Óculos”, “Ska” and “Meu Erro”, but it was in the presentation during the Rock in Rio Festival in January 1985, that they were definitely consecrated after their two concerts only for the power of their music, not for any scenic artifice.
After having toured throughout Brazil (more than 150 shows), Paralamas made a stop and released the revolutionary “Selvagem” (1986), that gave new routes to the Brazilian Rock 80’s generation. They abandoned the first influences and started to mold a personal sonority recognized and approved by the youth that bought more than 750 thousand copies of the album. In “Selvagem”, social (“Alagados”) and politics criticism (“Selvagem”) coexisted with good mood (“Melô do Marinheiro”), a tribute to Tim Maia (“Você”) and a partnership with Gilbert Gil (“A Novidade”).
At this time they made the first incursions in Latin America, initiating a work that would lead them to be the most recognized act of the Brazilian music in the decade of 90 in countries as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela. The “Selvagem” success also gave them the right to be the first group of their generation to participate of the Montreux Jazz Festival, in 1987, when they took advantage to also perform at the Olympia in Paris.
The concert in Montreux was recorded and became the LP and video “D” (1987), with the participation in the keyboards of João Fera and George Israel (sax), as special invited.
In the following year a new successful LP “Bora Bora”. The hits “O Beco”, “Uns Dias” and “Quase um Segundo” extended the series of influences and added brass instruments to the sound of Paralamas.
The following LP “Big Bang” (1989) would consolidate the new sonorous format in exciting songs as “Perplexo” and lyric ones as “Lanterna dos Afogados”, as well as a bossa-nova “Nebulosa do Amor”.
To turn the decade, the trio released the compilation “Arquivo” with their hits of the 80’s, the rerecording of their first hit “Vital e sua Moto” and also the new song “Caleidoscópio”.
The first half of the 90’s would be dedicated to the experiment and the conquest of the Latin American market. The album “Os Grãos” (1991, with songs of minor popular appeal, was not a sales success, but it did not affect the band itself. Herbert, Bi and Barone spent three months in London with the producer Phil Manzanera recording “Severino” (1994), considered by many revewers the “Sgt. Pepper's of 80’s generation” of the Brazilian Rock. In despite of that, the radios did not play the album and the exit for Paralamas was the airport.
In 1992, they released in the Latin American countries the compilation “Paralamas”, with versions in Spanish of their hits, what opened for them the markets that they had been visiting repeatedly since 1986. They started being each time more requested for shows, due to the great success of the Spanish version of “Severino” baptized “Dos Margaritas”.
But the excellent tour of “Severino” throughout Brazil confirmed that Paralamas does not need to have a song on the hit parades to attract the audience, so they decided to release “Vamo Batê Lata” – Paralamas Ao Vivo” (1995). Attached there was a four track bonus CD. The explosion of one of tracks “Uma Brasileira”, a Herbert and Carlinhos Brown partnership, with the special participation of Djavan, led the trio back to the mega success. A second song “Luiz Inácio (300 picaretas)” would lead the band to the politician news after being forbidden to play it in a show in Brasilia, under allegation that the song wounded the honor of the noble members of the Chamber House. The song referred to a declaration of the current Brazilian president, at the time a Federal Deputy, that in the National Congress there were some honored men and 300 tramps. Herbert detonated the political class at that time.
In 1995, Paralamas initiated a pull in the MTV Video Music Brazil that would take them to gather up 11 prizes up to 1999. In that year, the video “Uma Brasileira” got the awards for the best pop video and the video of the audience.
From there on Paralamas sailed in the rhythm of success with two more studio albums: “Nove Luas” (1996) – with the tracks “Lourinha Bombril” (awarded with the best video of the year, best edition and direction in the MTV Video Music Brazil (VMB) and “Busca Vida” (best video of the year in the VMB) – and “Hey Na Na” (1998) – with the tracks “Ela Disse Adeus” (five awards in the VMB: best video of the year, best pop video, best direction, photograph and direction of art) and “O Amor não Sabe Esperar” with the participation of Marisa Monte. The video “Depois da Queda o Coice” gained the VMB for the best edition.
In 1999, it was the time for a project that they have dreamt of during the entire decade, the album “MTV Unplugged”. Instead of making a revision of their career through the successes, they opted by a repertoire dominated by significant songs that had not received the due attention (“Bora Bora”, “Vai Valer” and “Trem da Juventude”) with homage to Chico Science and the group Legião Urbana, the new song “Sincero Breu” and “Um Amor Um Lugar”, recorded before by Fernanda Abreu. The CD sold more than 500 thousand copies and gained the Latin Grammy for the best Brazilian rock album.
The victorious “Unplugged” tour was extended until the end of 2000, when the trio released the compilation “Arquivo 2”, that brought the unpublished “Aonde quer que eu vá”, a Herbert Vianna and Pablo Sergio Valle partnership, one of the great composers of the Brazilian Popular Music (MPB).
At that time, Paralamas announced a six month stop for vacations and a reformulation in the sound of the group, after almost two decades of career. The plans pointed to a new rock album and, primordially, in trio.
This CD was recorded and is titled “Longo Caminho”, but the tragic accident that Herbert suffered on February 4th 2001, left the Brazilian music in mourning. The fall of the small plane in the Angra dos Reis Bay, Rio de Janeiro, when he was on the way to Dado Villa Lobos home, killed his wife, Lucy Needham Vianna and it left him between life and death. The entire country followed Herbert’s fight for survival in the hospital Copa D’Or, in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro.
It has been a difficult journey since then due to the sequels of the accident: Herbert is in a wheel chair and has not recovered the cerebral functions fully yet, but all that has not incapacitated him for music and in October 2002, he started the rehearsals with the complete band in his home studio. The result was so good that it led gradually to the new CD, with the repertoire composed before the accident.
The Band:
Herbert Vianna:vocals and guitar
Bi Ribeiro:bass
João Barone:Drums
O Homem
Os Paralamas Do Sucesso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lutando no seu íntimo
Sem que nenhum dos dois prevaleça
O homem tolo se põe a lutar por um lado
Até perceber
Que golpeia e sente a dor
Ele é o alvo da própria violência
Só então vê
Que às vezes o covarde é o que não mata
Que às vezes é o infiel que não trai
Às vezes benfeitor é quem maltrata
Nenhuma doutrina mais me satisfaz
Nenhuma mais
Os Paralamas Do Sucesso's song "O Homem" explores the dichotomy of humanity and the internal struggle individuals face. The lyrics suggest that every person carries both sanctity and sin within themselves and must continually confront and reconcile these opposing forces. The lines "O homem traz em si a santidade e o pecado, lutando no seu íntimo, sem que nenhum dos dois prevaleça" (The man carries within himself both sanctity and sin, fighting within himself, without either of them prevailing) speak to the inner battle that the human experience presents.
The song goes on to suggest that often, the very thing one is fighting against is something that they are also perpetuating. The lines, "O homem tolo se põe a lutar por um lado, até perceber, que golpeia e sente a dor, ele é o alvo da própria violência" (The foolish man sets to fight on one side, until he understands, that he strikes and feels the pain, he is the target of his own violence) speak to this idea of self-harm and how it can be an unfortunate byproduct of seeking external change without internal reflection.
The song then takes a philosophical turn, suggesting that morals and ethical codes are not cut and dry but rather multifaceted and complex. The lines "Às vezes benfeitor é quem maltrata, nenhuma doutrina mais me satisfaz, nenhuma mais" (Sometimes, the benefactor is the one who mistreats, no doctrine satisfies me anymore, none at all) speak to the idea that morality and ethics are not black and white, and what may seem like the right thing to one person may be the opposite for another.
Overall, "O Homem" by Os Paralamas Do Sucesso is a thought-provoking commentary on the human experience and the internal conflict we all face in reconciling our own sanctity and sin.
Line by Line Meaning
O homem traz em si a santidade e o pecado
The nature of men is a combination of both good and evil.
Lutando no seu íntimo
Fighting within oneself to choose between good and evil.
Sem que nenhum dos dois prevaleça
Both good and evil are equally powerful and none can overpower the other.
O homem tolo se põe a lutar por um lado
A foolish man chooses to fight only for one side either good or evil.
Até perceber
Until he realizes that he hurts others and himself by choosing one side only.
Que golpeia e sente a dor
He inflicts pain and experiences it as well.
Ele é o alvo da própria violência
He becomes the target of his own violence exhibited by his choices.
Só então vê
Only then he sees the truth about his choices.
Que às vezes o covarde é o que não mata
The coward sometimes is the one who chooses not to fight or kill.
Que às vezes é o infiel que não trai
The unfaithful sometimes is the one who chooses to be loyal and true to oneself.
Às vezes benfeitor é quem maltrata
Sometimes a benefactor is the one who inflicts pain on others.
Nenhuma doutrina mais me satisfaz
No doctrine satisfies me more than the realization of my own choices and consequences.
Nenhuma mais
None of them other than the realization of self.
Contributed by Michael H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
gauchatche
"...as vezes é o infiel que não trai, as vezes benfeitor é quem maltrata." Nenhuma doutrina mais me satisfaz! Adorooooo essa música!
Leandro the light
Esse trabalho do Paralamas é praticamente insuperável. Época em que a música era feita com Arte... O álbum inteiro é um delírio, repito sempre umas 3x quando escuto.
Diogo CL
Paralamas do Sucesso elevando o conceito de musica genial.
Carlos Eduardo do Nascimento Gomes
Uma das mais brilhantes letras do rock nacional já escritas.
Marcos Tavares
fodassa, arte pura, elevado grau de inteligencia, instrumental arrebatador, nem precisa falar que o baixo pegada e timbre lindo e a percusgxsa é obra xo
Paulo Fernando
Nenhuma doutrina mais me satisfaz
Nenhuma mais.
Letra estupenda. Poesia dilacerante.
Ghisnaldo Stofel
O homem, sua história, a humanidade e todo resto, como se nada mais valesse a pena. 📝
Gabriel Teixeira
MUITO FODA esse álbum, não conhecia esse lado do Paralamas... só me pergunto por que eu não ouvi isso antes BIG UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Windows 10
"O homem traz em si , a santidade e o pecado"...
Santiago Ribs
Um dos reggaes mais pesadões deles, mais até que "O Beco"(1988), curto muito...