9. Forró: Festas Juninas

Introduction

Audio: Som da Massa, “Transcontinental Baião”

JCV: I’m Juliana Cantarelli Vita.

SW: And I’m Schuyler Whelden.

JCV: This is Massa, a podcast about Brazilian music and culture.

SW: Juliana and I are musicians and music professors. In each episode we dive into a specific genre, song, artist, or issue in Brazilian music to try to understand how it works and what it means.  

JCV: Schuyler, I’m so excited about today’s episode.

SW: You say that every time! But I am, too. Today we get to talk about the music and other aspects of the festas juninas.

JCV: Yes! Festas juninas means “June festivals.” These festivals are celebrated every June.

SW: And in some parts of Brazil, into July.

JCV: Yes, but not so much where I’m from.

SW: Right.

JCV: The reason these festivals are celebrated in June is because that month features the feast days for some important Catholic saints.

SW: The most popular of those saints is almost definitely this guy:

Audio: Luiz Gonzaga, “São João Antigo” (Youtube) (Spotify)

JCV: That song is called “São João Antigo.” This performer here is the famous Luiz Gonzaga, who also wrote the song with his frequent collaborator Zé Dantas. 

SW: Gonzaga was born in the drought-plagued sertão of your home state of Pernambuco, but later moved to Rio de Janeiro to make it as a composer and recording artist.

JCV: A lot of people know him as “Gonzagão.” 

SW: Or by title of “O Rei do Baião.”

JCV: The “King of the Baião.”

SW: Some of you might remember from our very first episode that the word baião refers to a rhythm and dance style that emerged in the Brazilian Northeast. This song actually uses the baião rhythm.

JCV: Look for an entire episode dedicated to that dance genre in just a couple of weeks.

SW: Okay, so this song is about São João.

JCV: In English, St. John.

SW: Whose birthday is June 24th.

JCV: So we’re releasing this episode on June 22nd to coincide with that.

SW: And to give you all a chance to plan your own festa junina by the end of the month.

JCV: No pressure…. In this song, which was first recorded in 1957, Gonzagão recalls how much better the festas used to be.

SW: Though he’s not sure if it’s the festas that have changed or if it’s him.

JCV: He sings “Era festa de alegria / São João! / Tinha tanta poesia / São João! / Tinha mais animação / Mais amor mais emoção / Eu não sei se eu mudei / Ou mudou o São João.”

SW: “It was a festival of joy / São João / There was so much poetry / São João / There was more excitement / More love, more emotion / I don’t know if it was me that changed / or if it was São João.”

JCV: These lyrics evoke a sentiment that is pretty important in Brazilian culture (as well as some other places in the Portuguese-speaking world).

SW: What’s that?

JCV: Saudade.

SW: Ah yes, the famously untranslatable term saudade.

JCV: It’s true that English doesn’t have a word that means exactly the same thing, but you might think of it as a kind of longing, often for the past or from some person or situation that you are far from.

SW: It’s kind of like nostalgia, but is usually understood as stronger, less wistful. In Brazilian popular music, saudade shows up pretty often as a word or as an affect.

JCV: And it’s not really the focus today, but look at how it shows up in the next verse:

SW: “Vou passar o mês de Junho / Nas ribeiras do sertão / Onde dizem que a fogueira / Inda aquece o coração / Pra dizer com alegria / Mas chorando de saudade / Não mudei nem São João / Quem mudou foi a cidade.”

JCV: “I’m going to spend the month of June / in the rivers of the hinterlands / where they say the bonfires / will warm your heart / To say with joy / But crying from saudade / Neither I nor São João changed / What changed was my city.”

SW: Oh wow. I see what’s happening here. The song is from the perspective of a migrant, someone who has left their home and is feeling that pain of not only the unreachable past, but an unreachable homeland.

JCV: This theme of migration is very common in Gonzaga’s and other musicians’ work. So common, in fact, that we’ll have an entire episode about it in a few weeks.

SW: Wow, you are really planting seeds for these future episodes.

JCV: I’m thinking ahead.

SW: Nice.

JCV: But for now, it bears mentioning that this is a common experience. Many Northeastern migrants would have missed the traditions of their home region once they moved south.

SW: Yes! And that migration, along with a sort of national mythology about the Brazilian Northeast, helps to explain the popularity of festas juninas throughout the country.

JCV: Exactly. This tradition is extremely strong in the Northeast, and some of us northeasterners are protective of it, jokingly asserting that our version of the tradition is the best one.

SW: You would never.

JCV: Well…

SW: So we’re going to highlight the way that festas juninas are celebrated in the Northeast, but also might mention a few variations or differences in other regions.

JCV: Let’s get into it.

SW: But wait, there’s one more thing.

JCV: What’s that?

SW: Well, this song seems to be saying that the festa is for São João. 

JCV: Yup! The festa is often just called São João.

SW: But we said, and I quote, “some important Catholic saints,” plural.

JCV: Right! The days for São Pedro (or St. Peter) and Santo Antônio (St. Anthony) are also in June.

SW: But Gonzaga doesn’t mention them.

JCV: That's true. They are, let’s say, less celebrated. As my dad says, “The party is for São João. São Pedro and Santo Antônio are just along for the ride.”

SW: Aw, poor guys.

JCV: Don’t worry, we’re going to give them some love, too.

Forró

SW: This is a big topic, so we’re going to break it up into more digestible episodes. Today, we’re going to set the scene, talk about these festas and the saints they honor.

JCV: We’ll talk through some of the most prominent instruments that you’ll hear at these gatherings.

SW: We’ll also talk a bit about genre, which is a fairly complex topic when it comes to this music tradition.

JCV: Yes, there are a number of regional dance genres, which have specific rhythmic bases and specific dance steps.

SW: These include arrasta-pé, xote, xaxado, and baião.

JCV: The song “São João Antigo” that we’ve been listening to is an example of a baião.

SW: During the mid-twentieth century, these various dance traditions were brought together under an umbrella genre called forró. And primarily as a result of Luiz Gonzaga’s successes, forró came to occupy a pretty large portion of the Brazilian recording industry. 

JCV: Today, we’re going to share songs from all of these different subgenres, ending with a slightly more in-depth discussion of arrasta-pé.

SW: And each of the next three episodes will focus on one of the other genres: first xote, then xaxado, then baião.

JCV: Then we’ll come back to forró as a genre a few episodes down the line.

SW: Sounds great.

JCV: The word forró has a contentious history. There is a very common, but seemingly false etymology of the word forró that says that it is a Brazilianization of the English words “for all,” intended to convince British workers and U.S. servicemen to attend parties in the Northeast.

SW: But the reality is that it probably comes from the word forrobodó, meaning “party” in Bantu.

JCV: Most forró songs draw on specific regional dance rhythms, like baião.

SW: And other dances like xote, xaxado and arrasta-pé.

JCV: At some point, a standard ensemble coalesced to play these genres for parties like the festas juninas.

SW: Let’s go through the instruments one by one.

JCV: There are only three, so perhaps we can introduce them in song?

SW: Okay.

JCV: Let’s start with a song performed by a Pernambucana. This is Marinês singing “Quero Ver Xaxá,” written by João do Vale.

Audio: Marinês, “Quero Ver Xaxá” (Youtube)

SW: I love that. 

JCV: Me too!

SW: Before we get into the instrument that she’s singing about there, I just want to note that the melody of this song really reflects some of the melodic and scalar characteristics that we discussed in this last episode.

JCV: Yes! This is what’s called a mixolydian scale. You can really hear it when she sings “Vem cá benzinho / Vem correndo meu amor.”

SW: Yeah, that’s basically the same melody we discussed in that last episode.

JCV: But that’s not the focus here. 

SW: No.

JCV: This is a song about dancing the regional dance called xaxado.

SW: We’ll be explaining what the xaxado rhythm is in another episode, which is good, because it’s little buried here. You can hear part of it in that loud drum hit that happens at the end of each rhythmic cycle.

JCV: Yeah, and she’s actually calling attention to that drum in the lyrics.

SW: She sings “Bate o bombo zabumbeiro, quero ver a palha voar / Bate o bombo zabumbeiro pra moçada xaxear.”

JCV: “Beat your drum, zabumbeiro, I want to see the straw fly / Beat your drum, zabumbeiro for the kids to dance the xaxado.”

SW: If you listened to our episodes on maracatu de baque solto, you heard the term bombo used to describe one of the drums in that ensemble. Here, she seems to be using it as a generic term for drum.

JCV: The actual drum in question is called a zabumba.

SW: Hence the term zabumbeiro, meaning “zabumba player.”

JCV: The zabumba is one of the three primary instruments in the forró ensemble. 

SW: It’s a large shallow bass drum, traditionally made of wood with two drum heads stretched across it, one on the bottom and one on the top.

JCV: The player secures the zabumba with a shoulder strap. The dominant hand holds a mallet, which strikes the top drum head, creating a booming sound. The non-dominant hand holds a thin stick, which plays the bottom head.

SW: Most of these regional dance rhythms, like baião and xaxado, are identifiable by the pattern played on the zabumba. 

JCV: So in the song, when Marinês sings “beat your drum zabumbeiro for the kids to dance the xaxado," it’s not just encouragement for the drummer to enliven the party, but to give them the rhythm that tells them which dance to do.

SW: Another lyric here calls attention to the festa junina context. She sings “I want to see the straw fly.” 

JCV: There are a few different ways that straw plays a part in the festas juninas. Traditionally, people wear straw hats and use straw fans.

SW: In a lively xaxado, you can imagine the straw hats flying off or the fans being tossed in the air. 

JCV: Let’s talk about the next instrument in the ensemble. Or rather, let’s let the singer Amazan talk about it...

Audio: Amazan, “Sanfoneiro Nordestino” (Youtube) (Spotify)

SW: Aha! I see what’s going on here.

JCV: Tell me.

SW: This song is about the prowess of a sanfoneiro, meaning accordion player.

JCV: Yup! That’s the next instrument in the ensemble. In English, the lyrics are something like, “The northeastern accordion player doesn’t need to beg / His bellows get the people moving / Look at me again coming to dance close.” 

SW: Accordions make sound by blowing air across reeds. But unlike, say, a clarinet, the air doesn’t come from out of your mouth but from the compression of the bellows.

JCV: Not to get too granular about it, but he’s referring to a specific style of accordion playing popularized by, guess who? 

SW: Luiz Gonzaga.

JCV: Yup. The player moves the bellows back and forth quickly, creating a rhythmic effect.

SW: Ah, so this sanfoneiro is particularly skilled. Like the zabumbeiro in the last song, he has the power to get the people dancing.

JCV: This is a pretty common theme in forró: songs that talk about the music that the players are playing.

SW: Later he talks about the particular “swing” of the forró from his home region.

JCV: He’s from the town of Campina Grande in the state of Paraíaba, which borders Pernambuco to the north. Campina Grande likes to position itself as the home of the best forró and the best festa junina, though the nearby town of Caruaru, Pernambuco would dispute this claim.

SW: It’s worth noting that Amazan also shouts out the zabumba player, who “beats the skins to make them moan.”

JCV: Very evocative.

SW: As is the line “O suor vira pirão misturando com poeira.”

JCV: Yeah, that’s kind of gross. When the sweat mixes with dust, it turns to pirão, a kind of viscous sauce made from flour and water. I guess they need their fans, after all! 

SW: But at the same time, it puts you there. It’s hot and dusty and people are dancing.

JCV: Yeah, the next line mentions the bonfire and the cachaça at the party, so you get the idea.

SW: Okay, so we have two of the three instruments—zabumba and accordion. Is there a song about the third!?

JCV: Um, not really. The third instrument doesn’t get the same pub. It’s the triangle.

SW: Aw, no love for the triangle? Poor little guy.

JCV: Well, Luiz Gonzaga does mention it in at least one song.

SW: Gonzagão for the win.

Audio: Luiz Gonzaga, “Pau de Arara” (Youtube) (Spotify)

JCV: So, again he’s describing that migration from the rural Northeast to the urban centers. And one of the things he takes with him is a triangle.

SW: I also noticed a shout out to maracatu in there! 

JCV: Yes! In addition to the zabumba and the triangle, he has a gonguê, the maracatu bell we’ve talked about previously.

SW: You bringing up maracatu is a thing huh?

JCV: Just like you bringing up samba.

SW: Touché.

JCV: So we have our ensemble: accordion, zabumba, and triangle. That is the standard forró grouping.

SW: Sometimes, when the ensemble is made up of these three instruments and only these three instruments, that kind of forró is referred to as forró pé-de-serra.

JCV: Which translates literally to “foothills forró,” but in practice means something like “roots forró.” 

SW: The need for this distinction arose because, starting in the 1970s, musicians started to introduce all kinds of other instruments to forró ensembles. 

JCV: Especially drum set, electric bass, and other kinds of keyboards. We heard this with the Amazan song just now.

SW: Though, like Amazan, most ensembles usually still have zabumba, accordion, and triangle in addition to the other instruments.

The Party

SW: So, Juliana, I’m guessing that you’ve been to a few festas juninas in your life.

JCV: Yes. Since birth. Both of my parents have family in the countryside. So I would attend festas every year with my extended family, either in Caruaru, or Nazaré da Mata, or in Itacuruba, in the sertão.

SW: I just realized something. Mestra Joana talked playing in maracatu and candomblé when she was still in the womb. And because you were born in August, you must have been to a festa junina even before you were born.

JCV: Yes. And in fact, my mom went into labor a few months before I was actually due and she blames it on—not on the festas juninas, but on all the partying that happens around that time.

SW: Are you sure we’re allowed to include that in the podcast?

JCV: I don’t know! So, she was working in—she had nightshifts at a pub. During that time, it’s pretty busy. And she blames it on being super busy and me not being extremely patient.

SW: Fair enough. So, let’s talk about what they are like. For example, my experience at festas juninas tells me that there is a typical costume that many people wear.

JCV: Yes. Plaid shirts and straw hats are the norm.

SW: Why those?

JCV: They are meant to invoke the rural Northeast, a kind of old-time romanticized version of the common people.

SW: I could see this costume going in the direction of thoughtful homage or in the direction of stereotype and appropriation.

JCV: Yes, it can take both of those forms. For example, I was a kid, it was common for people to darken a tooth.

SW: To be like a country person who didn’t have a dentist?

JCV: I guess. Not the best, really.

SW: No.

JCV: And some people still do it. There are other things as well. Women often put their hair in pigtails or braids, which seems to create this image of the “poor little innocent country girl.”

SW: Ixe.

JCV: But, remember, this saint’s feast has transformed into a marker of northeastern identity.

SW: Right, it has become an event to connect a lot—I’m talking about millions—of people to their homeland, or their parents’ homeland, or their parents’ parents’ homeland.

JCV: So there is a way in which these costumes, done right, are actually a heartwarming expression of saudade. 

SW: Okay, so everyone is in plaid, there are straw hats. What’s the decoration like?

JCV: There’s a great song by the Rio de Janeiro-born composer Lamartine Babo that sets the scene. It’s called “Chegou a Hora da Fogueira.” 

SW: This recording is from an album by the artist Jackson do Pandeiro. Like Amazan, he’s from the state of Paraíba.

JCV: And the voice you’ll hear is Jackson’s wife Neusa Flores.

Audio: Jackson do Pandeiro, “Chegou a Hora da Fogueira” (Spotify)

SW: The lyrics say “It’s time for the bonfire! It’s the night of São João / The skies are illuminated / The sky is starry / Painted with balloons.”

JCV: These lyrics really set the scene. It’s weird, but just listening to them is making me kind of emotional.

SW: Well, they are a reminder of a time and place that you aren’t right now.

JCV: And haven’t been in a long time, because of the circumstances of the world.

SW: Exactly.

JCV: The festa often happens in an arraial.

SW: An arraial is kind of like a tent with no tent. Imagine the posts for a circus tent, but instead of a canvas covering, the posts are connected with strings strung with little triangular flags, usually made of crepe paper: hundreds of little triangular, multi-colored flags.

JCV: The flags are usually homemade, though you can buy them too. And they are strung up to define a space that isn’t alway intended for this kind of gathering.

SW: Right, these festas can happen in the town’s public square.

JCV: But in rural areas, it was traditional for people to have parties in their backyards or in the street in front of their homes. The arraial defines this temporary collective space, kind of like a block party.

SW: Oh cool! 

JCV: In addition, the focal point of the festa is the bonfire. It used to be common for every family to have their own bonfire on their property, or even in the street.

SW: Sounds dangerous!

JCV: And not great, environmentally, either. Because that’s a lot of fire!

SW: Right.

JCV: So, nowadays, it’s more common to have parties for a whole neighborhood, or at least multiple households.

SW: Gotcha. This song also mentions balloons?

JCV: Yeah, these are like mini hot air balloons.

SW: Wait, powered by what?

JCV: By fire!

SW: What!?

JCV: Yeah, the balloon part is made of paper and the fire makes it rise. Eventually it catches fire and is consumed.

SW: Holy cow. So when Lamartine Babo writes, “the sky is starry, painted with balloons,” he means that the sky is filled with little fireballs.

JCV: Haha, yes.

SW: Got it.

JCV: So, that’s actually not legal anymore… 

SW: Because… fire.

JCV: Yeah, it’s caused some problems.

SW: What is the rest of the scene like?

JCV: There are also the estandartes, which, like banners, have the images of the three saints.

SW: That makes sense.

JCV: Oh, and fireworks!

SW: More fire!?!?!

JCV: Yes. Some of them are just sparklers but there are also big, loud fireworks.

SW: I bet the dogs love that.

JCV: Yeah, not really. It’s something that people are getting aware of.

SW: What about in the cities? Those parties seem bigger and maybe more official, right?

JCV: Yes, those happen at the same time as the street parties. Some people might go to both on the same night.

SW: What are they like?

JCV: These big parties have stages, often with higher profile or at least professional musicians. They play forró and sometimes other regional music styles. There are lots and lots of people there. Sometimes thousands.

SW: This sounds more like the festas juninas I’ve been to in Rio. They don’t always happen on São João’s feast day, but there might be a different festa in a different location throughout the city every weekend for all of June and some of July.

JCV: Oh wow. Yeah, that’s different.

SW: I think it also explains my confusion about the importance of São João. Because it’s not only the 23rd that these parties happen in Rio.

JCV: Makes sense.

SW: It’s worth noting that this song is an example of the regional dance rhythm called arrasta-pé.

JCV: Arrasta-pé literally means “dragging feet.” It is understood to be the oldest dance genre within the umbrella of forró.

SW: It’s connected to the European dance called in Portuguese quadrilha, or square dance.

JCV: And it’s also known as a marcha junina.

SW: So marcha means march. It’s a parade form that has a two beat meter and typically has very few lyrics. They are not being composed with the same frequency that they used to be.

JCV: Arrasta-pés are still a very important part of the festas themselves.

SW: We talked to the accordion player Júlinho Mendes.

JM: Meu nome é Julio Cesar Mendes. Minha família e meus amigos me conhecem por Julinho, que é um diminutivo do meu nome. Eu toco acordeom… e aqui no Brasil, na região nordeste o acordeom é chamado de sanfona.

JPRV [translating JM]: My name is Júlio César Mendes. My family and friends know me as Julinho, which is the diminutive of my name. I play accordion, and here in Brazil, in the Northeast region, the accordion is called the sanfona.

JCV: And Julinho told us about how the accordion is perfect for this particular song form:

JM: O arrasta-pé tem uma característica especial, marchinha, especificamente em relação ao acordeom porque a quadrilha tradicional (a quadrilha europeia, eu falo né, que é de onde vem essa coisa da marchinha, da marcha junina). A quadrilha europeia ela uma coisa da elite. É uma coisa que exige uma indumentária bem preparada e cheia de coisas e ou exige orquestra pra tocar ou exige um pianista muito bom. Porque é meio parecido com um ragtime muito complexo. Aquelas coisas de George Gershwin com a mão esquerda bem elaborada, fazendo uma marcha do tipo assim. Baixo (bass), acorde (chord), baixo, acorde. No piano seria baixo lá embaixo gravão, a mão esquerda volta pra fazer o acorde, a mão esquerda volta de novo lá pro baixo… ou seja, tem que ser um pianista muito bom pra tocar uma quadrilha. No acordeom é muito fácil tocar uma quadrilha, tá tudo pertinho aqui, baixo, acorde, baixo. E essa coisa entrou no meio do forró pela facilidade que é tocar uma marcha no acordeom.

[The arrasta-pé has a special characteristic, marchinha, specifically in relation to the accordion, because the traditional quadrilha (the European quadrilha is what I’m talking about, where the marchinha or the marcha junina comes from). The European quadrilha is something of the elite. It is something that demands a well prepared and complete outfit or requires an orchestra to play, or a really good pianist. Because it sort of similar to a really complex ragtime. Those things by George Gershwin with the elaborate left hand, doing a march like this. Bass, chord, bass, chord. On the piano it would be a very low bass note: the left hand jumps up to play the chord, the left hand jumps down again to play the bass note. That is, you need a really good piano player to play a quadrilha. On the accordion, it’s really easy to play a quadrilha, because everything is very close. Bass, chord, bass. And so it comes into forró through the ease with which you play a march on the accordion.]

SW: Julinho is going to pop in over the next few episodes to play some accordion and tell some stories about these various forró rhythms.

JCV: Here he’s playing the song “Olha Pro Céu Meu Amor,” which is a classic of the festa junina. Like “Chegou a hora da Fogueira” it describes the balloons in the sky.

Audio: Luiz Gonzaga, “Olha Pro Céu Meu Amor” (Youtube) (Spotify)

SW: Perhaps you noticed that up-tempo two-beat feel.

JCV: Here’s what the zabumba would play to accompany it:

SW: Whether you call it arrasta-pé or marcha junina, or even quadrilha, it’s fun, up tempo music befitting the party.

Quadrilha

SW: So, speaking of the quadrilha, you mentioned it translates to “square dance.”

JCV: I did. 

SW: Is it at all similar to square dancing as it’s done in the U.S., which typically has someone who leads the crowd by calling out the steps?

JCV: It is! All of the couples do steps according to what a caller, known as a puxador or puxadora, shouts out. In both the U.S. and Brazil, the square dance was influenced by the French quadrille, so a lot of these steps have French names.

SW: Oh, cool. Want to play an example so we can hear what this sounds like?

JCV: Sure! Let’s listen to a track by the Bahian composer Moraes Moreira, 

SW: Oh, I love Moraes Moreira. He’s best known as one of the primary singers and songwriters of the group Novos Baianos.

JCV: One of the things he does in this song is recreate the atmosphere of the quadrilha.

SW: Oh, cool.

JCV: So we’ll actually not be focusing on Moraes today.

SW: Sorry Moraes.

JCV: Instead, let’s listen for the other voice on this recording. Right out of the gates, you can hear the puxadora Carmen Perrota calling the party goers to the dance floor. She’s explaining that there’s going to be a “wedding”—a play wedding—and the priest and other important people are there.

Audio: Moraes Moreira, “Pra Dançar Quadrilha II” (Youtube) (Spotify)

JCV: Then she starts to shout out the directions for the dance steps so everyone can get together. Because this kind of dance comes originally from France, many of the dance steps have French names. Listen for the French word anarriê for example.

SW: I would highly recommend typing quadrilhaI into Youtube to get a sense of what these dances look like, by the way

JCV: Yes, do that!

SW: We should mention that the quadrilha can have a competitive component too.

JCV: Yes, a lot of the big cultural events in Brazil have a competition built in. 

SW: Obviously, we’ve talked about carnaval and everyone knows about football.

JCV: Cazá, cazá, cazá cazá cazá / A turma é mermo boa / É mermo da fuzaca!

SW: Right, exactly. And even some of the biggest popular music acts of the twentieth century, from Gilberto Gil to Elis Regina to Raimundo Sodré, who we talked about in Episode 1, got their start in televised song competitions.

JCV: Yeah, I guess there is a lot of competition, huh?

SW: Yeah.

JCV: During June, there are large competitions where state pride is at stake, even. The group Luar de São João from Piauí won the big prize in 2019, which is the last time it was held.

Comida

JCV: Now, in addition to the saints days, June is the traditional month for the corn harvest.

SW: Which is a very important event in rural life.

JCV:   You find harvest festivals all over the world, from Pakistan, to North America, to Brazil.

SW: So, the harvest element has been integrated into the festival.

JCV: Yes! Notably in the food that we eat. Let’s let, say it with me now

Together: Gonzagão

JCV: …tell us.

SW: Okay, this is “Festa do Milho” written by Rosil Cavalcanti and sung by Luiz Gonzaga.

Audio: Luiz Gonzaga, “A Festa do Milho” (Youtube) (Spotify)

JCV: The song’s refrain is more reference to families that have been separated through migration. The mother is wanting her son to return in time for the festa.

SW: But then, Gonzaga begins to describe the process of planting the corn and tending the fields, and eventually harvesting.

JCV: This corn then becomes the basis for the food at the feast. 

SW: “On the day of Santo Antônio / There is a bonfire burning / The corn is ripe / And goes into the husk to be roasted / On the days for São João and São Pedro / Because pamonha and canjica / Complete the corn feast.”

JCV: Julinho told us about the importance of the corn harvest in his family:

JM: Uma coisa interessante que eu me lembrei agora também é, quando eu era pequeno, especialmente a família da minha mãe, os tios, a minha avó, eles são todos de área rural. Minha mãe nasceu em área rural, nasceu num sítio. E os tios dela, ele tinha uma fazenda e enquanto eu não era profissional ainda o São João tradicional era a gente ir pra lá pra casa dele. Dias 22, 23 e 24 de Junho. Era festa, forró e uma festa que a gente chama de pamonhada. Pamonha é uma comida típica nossa aqui que eu sei que tem em outros lugares por aí também, mas é uma comida feita de milho. E tradicionalmente, embora isso não fosse a coisa necessária já nessa época enquanto eu era pequeno, mas muito antes da minha época ou da época dos meus pais, o tradicional da festa junina era você chamar seus amigos que moravam em outros lugares pra lhe ajudar a colher o milho da roça pequena de milho que você fazia ali perto da sua casa, pra fazer a festa junina, fazer pamonha, canjica e milho assado. Então todo mundo de tarde colhia o milho, de manhã colhia o milho—que é uma coisa simples, não exige nada técnico—e ia se fazendo as comidas de milho e começava a festa. E o forró começava de tarde e ia até de madrugada. O forró não era tipo um show de uma hora ou duas não. Começava a partir do momento que acendia a fogueira, de noite, 6-7 horas da noite até 4h da manhã. Isso é uma coisa que ficou na minha memória. A pamonhada da festa junina e de todo mundo ir pra lá pra ajudar a colher o milho pra fazer as comidas de milho. Isso é meio perdido hoje, obviamente. 

[One interesting thing that I remembered just now as well is, when I was little, especially in my mom’s family, my uncles, my grandfather, all of them are from a rural area. My mom was born in a real area, was born on a farm. And her uncles, one of them had a farm and, even though he wasn’t a professional, we traditionally went to the São João festival at his home. On the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of June. It was a party, forró, and what we called pamonhada. Pamonha is a typical food of ours here that I know they have in other places, but it’s a kind of dish made from corn. And traditionally, although it wasn’t necessary when I was growing up, but much longer ago, before my time, before my parents’ time, the tradition of the festa junina was that you call your friends that live in other places to help you harvest the corn from the little corn field that you had near your house, and to make pamonha, canjica, and roasted corn. So everyone would harvest in the afternoon, in the morning they would harvest corn—which is simple, it doesn’t require any technique—and then they would make the corn dishes and start the party. And the forró began in the afternoon and went until the wee hours. It wasn’t a typical one or two hour forró show. It started from the moment that you lit the bonfire, at night, six or seven o’clock at night, until four in the morning. This stuck in my memory. The pamonhada of the festa junina and everyone being there to harvest the corn to make the corn dishes. This has been sort of lost today, obviously.]

JCV: Pamonhas are kind of like tamales. There are sweet and savory versions, but it’s corn steamed in the corn husks.

SW: I’ve had the sweet version.

JCV: It’s the only version I knew until I was like 20.

SW: What about canjica?

JCV: Canjica is different depending on the region. But Gonzaga is talking about a sweet firm pudding. Kind of like flan. Made from corn, obviously.

SW: Along with music, food is one of the legible symbols of regional identity, so these foods have become important markers of northeastern-ness in Brazil.

JCV: Yes. Of course, different regions eat and drink different things during these festas.

SW: For example, in the south and southeast regions, it’s common to drink quentão or mulled wine.

JCV: But in Pernambuco, even though it’s winter, it’s too hot for that.

SW: Right.

Santos

JCV: Now that we’re both good and hungry, let’s talk about the saints who are celebrated at these festas.

SW: Since these festas are sometimes called “São João” maybe we should start with him?

JCV: Works for me. 

SW: Okay. São João Batista or, in English, St. John the Baptist, is one of the most widely venerated saints in Brazil.

JCV: His feast day is on his birthday, the 24th of June, but the party typically happens the evening before, on the 23rd.

SW: That’s pretty common in Brazil, to have the big celebration the night before.

JCV: So people can use the holiday to recover from the hangover.

SW: Makes sense.

JCV: But also, even though this is a wintertime festival, in the Northeast of Brazil it’s always pretty hot, so you want to have your parties at night whenever possible.

SW: Yeah.

JCV: There are seemingly infinite songs about São João.

SW: Yeah, he’s pretty popular.

JCV: But I want to talk about one that’s not really a forró. It’s called “São João, Xangô Menino.” 

SW: Ah, cool. Yeah, this title showcases something we talked about in episode 2. Xangô is an orixá of the religion candomblé. He is associated with justice. Like many other orixás in Brazil, candomblé practitioners often syncretize, or blend, Xangô with a Catholic saint as part of the worship practice.

JCV: The composers of this song, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, are from the state of Bahia, just to the south of Pernambuco. In Bahia, Xangô is often syncretized with São João. 

Audio: Doces Bárbaros, “São João, Xangô Menino” (Youtube) (Spotify)

SW: This recording is from a 1976 tour that Caetano and Gil did with the singers Maria Bethânia and Gal Costa called Doces Bárbaros. Christopher Dunn writes about that tour in his book Contracultura. I highly recommend checking it out.

JCV: The syncretism is really interesting here. The lyrics seem to be about the celebration for São João and addressed to Xangô. But to be certain of that, you would have to look at how the composers used punctuation in the lyrics.

SW: Thematically, this song captures some of the saudade that we discussed before. The song’s protagonist “wants to forever be a boy in front of the bonfires of São João.”

JCV: The chorus lyrics are interesting too. They recall the “green corn” of the harvest.

SW: Other than the prominent triangle that gives the song its propulsivity, it doesn’t really recall forró in its instrumentation.

JCV: This rhythm is interesting. It’s not 100% clear which dance rhythm is being evoked. It could be a riff on xaxado or it could be a version of a different dance rhythm.

SW: Regardless, it’s not a faithful recreation, but “inspired by” forró rhythms.

JCV: The flutes recall the bandas de pífano, the flute bands of the countryside. (Side note: we heard that kind of flute earlier in the recording by Moraes Moreira.)

SW: A web of interconnectedness! But seriously, there is plenty of musical evidence that Gil and Caetano listened to that genre. 

Audio: Gilberto Gil, “Pipoca Moderna” (Youtube) (Spotify)

JCV: The melody returns to that mixolydian scale we discussed before.

SW: Yeah! These musicians are all from Bahia and they are certainly highlighting northeastern musical notions, but generically, it fits into the genre known as MPB, which is not directly connected to a regional tradition in the way that forró is.

JCV: For sure. But it’s telling that this is a popular song about São João.

SW: Absolutely. It goes to show how important he is in the popular imagination. 

JCV: And, if we wanted—future episode idea, maybe?—we could play dozens of examples of popular artists invoking São João, but maybe we should talk about Santo Antônio and São Pedro too?

SW: Yeah. They’re along for the ride, after all. Santo Antônio is a Portuguese saint who is actually commemorated on the day of his death: June 13th.

JCV: In Brazil, he is a marriage saint.

SW: Why is that?

JCV: Well, there are many stories. In one, a woman didn’t have enough for a dowry, so she prayed to Santo Antônio and he provided one. Another, even better, says that a woman was so upset about being single that she threw a statue of Santo Antônio out the window, which hit the head of a man in the street. She went to apologize and they ended up getting married.

SW: Hahah, okay. Is that why the dia dos namorados (the Brazilian equivalent of Valentine’s day) is celebrated on the 12th?

JCV: That, and to encourage some consumer activity during the winter months…

SW: Of course.

JCV: Even though there are tons of songs about marriage and Santo Antônio—

SW: —many of them for children, if you want to know how younger generations learn the values of their parents, but I digress…

Audio: Banda Plinta, “Isto é Lá Com Santo Antônio” (Youtube) (Spotify)

JCV: —but let’s not get into that. Let’s listen to the song “Glorioso Santo Antônio” by Antonio Carlos and Jocáfi.

SW: Antônio Carlos and Jocáfi are also Bahians, who had some big hits in the early 70s after they moved to Rio de Janeiro.

JCV: It’s perhaps a little subtler than some songs, but it does seem to be a supplication to Santo Antônio for a love connection. 

SW: No doubt.

JCV: The opening of the song evokes a prayer in church.

SW: It fades in on the sleigh bells and voices with no harmonic accompaniment.

JCV: They are singing “Glorioso Santo Antônio, rogai por nós” or “Glorious St. Anthony, pray for us.”

SW: Some might recognize this as the beginning of a typical prayer for St. Anthony.

JCV: And the context certainly reinforces that notion: the lack of accompaniment and the church-like echo.

Audio: Antonio Carlos & Jocáfi, “Glorioso Santo Antônio” (Youtube) (Spotify)

SW: But there is an atabaque, or hand drum, that’s playing the ijexá rhythm associated with candomblé ketu. 

JCV: (Find out more about the ijexá rhythm in episode 3.)

SW: So we’re not in a strictly Catholic environment.

JCV: Not at all. This is much like the Doces Bárbaros example in that both Afro-Brazilian religion and Catholicism co-exist.

SW: And then the real surprise happens when the beat drops.

JCV: This is another example of MPB, but it clearly draws on U.S. soul and funk, as was fairly common in the mid 70s.

SW: If anyone is questioning our reading of that atabaque as a nod to ijexá—

JCV: I wouldn’t blame them; it’s pretty subtle.

SW: Totally. But when the chorus comes back after the first verse, they layer in the agogô bell pattern and it really clears things up.

JCV: Well, I’m convinced.

SW: Good! Me too.

JCV: What about São Pedro? 

SW: São Pedro’s feast day is on June 29th.

JCV: São Pedro, or St. Peter, is famous for being the gatekeeper to heaven. Having the keys to those gates, he is also seen as being able to open and close the heavens and change the weather. For that reason, farmers pray to him for rain.

SW: Hence the comments in the song “A Festa do Milho” about São Pedro’s role in that harvest.

JCV: Yup! 

SW: If I’m not mistaken, fishermen also pray to him for protection on the seas.

JCV: Yeah, he was a fisherman before he became an apostle.

SW: Right! And also, the weather is extremely important if you’re on a boat in the ocean.

JCV: In the islands of Fernando de Noronha, which are about 200 miles off the coast of Pernambuco, the biggest festival is for São Pedro, rather than São João.

SW: Okay, that makes sense. In a small, remote island, fishing and boats are very important.

JCV: You wouldn’t know anything about that.

SW: Right. But São Pedro is actually important all over, so let’s listen to an example from yet another genre. This is the Rio de Janeiro sambista Bezerra da Silva with his song “Alô São Pedro.”

Audio: Bezerra da Silva, “Alô São Pedro” (Youtube) (Spotify)

SW: For those scoring at home, the genre of this song is samba de partido alto. 

JCV: I think we’re up to 47 distinct genres in this episode.

SW: Just 47? 

JCV: There’s still time to add a few more...

SW: But we’re not going to get into the characteristics of partido alto today.

JCV: I promise we can do a whole episode on it later.

SW: Just one?

JCV: Anyhow, Bezerra da Silva’s samba has a lot of lyrics, but let’s highlight a couple of interesting ones.

SW: Well, the song is structured like an irreverent prayer to São Pedro. The title is simply, “Hello, St. Peter.”

JCV: Skipping to the second half of the first verse, he says, “What I’m saying is true / Pay attention São Pedro, I’m not joking around / The people are eating a little bit of nothing, I swear / With the bread that the devil kneaded.”

SW: He says, “Jump down here to earth / And don’t forget to bring from heaven / Special ships full of packed lunches / Because in my Brazil the hunger is cruel.” 

JCV: And then, “Also, come prepared / To watch the people suffocate / If not, you’re being an idiot and will go home beaten up / Asking for help.”

SW: It’s amazing, he’s very polite to São Pedro, calling him o senhor, which is the formal address in Brazilian Portuguese.

JCV: But also he’s sort of threatening him.

SW: It’s a warning. Things are bad, so come prepared for that.

JCV: Totally. In the refrain he says, “This is cowardice / They are forcing the people to rob / At night to be able to eat during the day.”

SW: Bezerra da Silva sort of comes off as a prankster, but he’s actually interested in talking about serious issues.

JCV: I also noticed that during the chorus, he actually says “Xangô.” 

SW: Yeah! Xangô is also sometimes syncretized with São Pedro, depending on the exact religious tradition and region.

JCV: Again, you can see why, right? Xangô is the deity associated with justice and thunder. Thunder, rain, weather, etc. And São Pedro is sometimes understood to grant or deny access to heaven, which might connect to the justice angle.

Festas Juninas in the time of COVID-19

SW: Well, we’ve really covered a lot of ground here.

JCV: Hopefully we’ve shown how important these celebrations are, not only in the Northeast, but in many parts of Brazil.

SW: And the fact that musicians have made music about these festivals and about these saints in many genres and from many perspectives also shows how linked all of this is to musical traditions.

JCV: There’s something a bit bittersweet about this discussion.

SW: Yeah, we’re releasing this episode on the eve of the eve of São João, but most people can’t safely have a celebration for him!

JCV: Exactly. Picking up on that theme of saudade, I think it’s something a lot of people are feeling. With that in mind, I want to share one final example.

SW: Okay, sure!

JCV: This is a song called “Cadê o Meu São João?”

SW: “Where is my São João?”

JCV: By the group As Januárias.

Audio: As Januárias, "Cadê o Meu São João" (Spotify) (Youtube)

JCV: Did you hear that melody they are humming at the beginning?

SW: Yeah! It sounds like a funeral song or something. I assumed that was the “bitter” part of the bittersweet.

JCV: It is, but not entirely for the reason you’re saying.

SW: Okay.

JCV: So that melody is actually from Luiz Gonzaga’s song “Olha Pro Céu” that we heard earlier.

SW: Oh right!

Audio: Luiz Gonzaga, “Olha Pro Céu”

SW: Ah, okay, so that song’s in a minor key, but it’s not tonally “sad.” It describes the multicolored balloons in the night sky and compares the fires to the feeling he gets when his lover looks at him.

JCV: Yeah, but As Januárias actually emphasize that minor melody, slow it down, and make it really seem like a funeral dirge.

SW: Which is in contrast to the upbeat song that follows. I wonder if that tonal contrast will come back to mean something?

JCV: Foreshadowing!!

SW: So, the refrain says “Where is my São João? / It’s not possible to be without you.”

JCV: And the first verse speaks to the reality, “There will be no quadrilha / There will be no bonfire … There will be no fireworks, nor balloons.” They also talk about the food and the rhythms.

SW: It’s a taxonomy of all things that we’re all missing during this time.

JCV: But, they’re clever about it.

SW: Yeah! Later, they switch from “there won’t be” to “there can be.”

JCV: Exactly! They say, “There can be quadrilha / With mothers and daughters / Make your own space / Move the sofa over / Cut your own flags and balloons / Play Marinês and Gonzagão / The arraial is in your heart.”

SW: I’m getting worked up thinking about this.

JCV: Yeah, it’s sad, but it’s beautiful.

SW: Should we have our own festa junina—you, me, and our spouses—over Zoom? Festa Zoomnina?

JCV: Is that an invitation?

SW: It is! We could listen to Marinês and Gonzagão!

JCV: And Flávio José and Jackson do Pandeiro and As Januárias!

SW: I’m so down!

JCV: Me too.

SW: I encourage you all to do it! There’s obviously plenty of music to enliven the party.

JCV: For those of you who love the granular music details, we’ve got some of that coming up!

SW: Yes, we’re going to dive into the history and mechanics of some of the rhythms that we’ve mentioned in this episode over the next few weeks. I think you’ll all really enjoy it!

JCV: I’m certainly enjoying making them! Until next time, Schuyler! 

SW: Thanks Juliana! Viva São João!

JCV: See you at our festa zoomnina! Esse foi massa.

Audio: Sammy Bananas, “Transcontinental Baião (Carioca Remix)”

JCV: Massa is written, produced and edited by Schuyler Whelden and me, Juliana Cantarelli Vita. Special thanks to Julinho Mendes. For episode transcripts and links to further reading, please visit our website, essefoimassa.com. That’s E-S-S-E-F-O-I-M-A-S-S-A dot com. You can email us at essefoimassa@gmail.com. Follow us @essefoimassa on Instagram and Twitter. Our intro music is by Som da Massa and our outro music is by Sammy Bananas. Please join us in two weeks for our discussion of the dance rhythm known as xote. Until then, esse foi massa.  

*Cover photo by Janine Moraes/MinC

**Translations of Julinho Mendes voiced by João Paulo Rechi Vita.