THE MADELEINES SONGS OF NARCISO EM FÉRIAS

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the relationship between song and memory in the book Narciso em Férias, released by Caetano Veloso in 2020 which corresponds to one of the chapters of Verdade tropical, an autobiographical work published by the author in 1997. The approach establishes a parallel between the power of evoking memory provided by songs and the involuntary memory awakened by Proustian madeleines in the sense of Benjamin (1989). Songs mentioned in the autobiographical text are observed highlighting those capable of reliving the horror of prison in contrast to the Beatles' song "Hey Jude", taken as a positive foreshadowing and released as a single by the interpreter together with the publication of the book. The discussion permeates the nexus established between the past evoked by the work, in the context of prison and military dictatorship, with the present time of the launch, in a new dark historical situation, marked by the pandemic and the social and economic crisis in the country and in the world.