A geography test back in my school days when we had to break down the lyrics of this song and make an analysis of Brazilian society was
the key factor that conquered me in becoming a fan of Paralamas, even though I knew some of their songs at the time. From there, I followed their
career and even got the chance to see them live some years ago. "Alagados" is one of the masterful songs from the acclaimed "Selvagem?", one of the
top 1986 albums that defined the rock movement in Brazil. As promotional material, they had this music video, made some years before MTV Brazil
got here so this is the best thing available at the time.
In between some amusing moments of the trio visiting the poor communities of Rio de Janeiro or performing the song, there's this crazy
paradox between images and lyrics where the band presents the challenges faced by people living in poverty and their realities of suffering, fights
and misery but instead we have kids laughing, people laughing while living on those conditions. It's a wild combination that creates an explosion
of feelings on viewers - some will understand, others will say there's irony involved, you name it. But it's a strange combination.
On the other hand there's a curious thought of mine and those who lived the era will know it better than me: which came first? This one
or "Revanche" by Lobão? The songs aren't so far apart from each other when it comes to dealing with the reality of people in Brazil and such, but
take a good look at the videos made and see how strangely similar they are. Difference being that Lobão has an acting part towards the ending
and it's a very dramatic song while Paralamas have those small humored moments.
Well, it's not your typical music video where the images speak thousands of volumes but at least the main thing to be sold is actually sold
with perfection and that is the song, the music, a true classic from the classic from the 80's still worthy of praise and always relevant. It just
doesn't get old. 8/10.