User:Palenortherner/Apesar de Você

"Apesar de Você" (English: "Despite You") is a song by Brazilian musician Chico Buarque written and first released in 1970. The lyrics detail censorship and hope in the Brazilian military dictatorship, disguised as an argument between lovers.

Background
In 1970, Buarque returned to Brazil after over a year of self-exile in Italy, influenced by André Midani, the director of his record label, Philips, who assured him that the situation in Brazil was improving. In reality, what he encountered was a state that continued to be hampered by a crackdown on personal liberties, torture and forced disappearances of dissidents, concealed by a national superiority complex only exacerbated by Brazilian victory in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. When Buarque sent the song to the SNI, he expected it not to pass censorship requirements but, to his surprise, it ended up being released.

Reception
After being released as a single, it sold 100,000 copies, going gold. Released alongside a rise in the popularity of samba, the song became a national hit and was covered by Clara Nunes in 1971 , resulting in her arrest although she believed the song was simply about a fight between lovers. She was later forced to perform for the government.

Censorship
In February 1971, the journalist Sebastião Nery, from Tribuna da Imprensa, published in a column that his son and colleagues sang "Apesar de Você" as if it were the national anthem. As a result, Nery had to later give a statement to the police.

As the song grew in popularity, the regime began to understand its actual message and cracked down on playing the song and its distribution. This included the shutdown of a planned public performance, the destruction of remaining copies of the disc, and the interrogation of Buarque himself, in which he was reportedly asked who the subject of the song was.

From this point onward, the government's opinion of Buarque began to degrade, his material often now rejected for seemingly no reason other than fear over his influence. In an attempt to circumvent censorship, Buarque took on pseudonyms such as Julinho da Adelaide and Leonel Paiva, for the approval of three compositions. One of which, "Acorda Amor", featured on his album Sinal Fechado in 1974. Upon the government's discovery of this, the SNI created new requirements in an effort to verify composer identity.

Covers and re-recordings
Other than Clara Nunes, Maria Bethânia, Benito Di Paula and Beth Carvalho too covered the song. Buarque himself would also re-record the song for his self-titled LP, Chico Buarque (1978).