Sue us!

The Brazilian courts have forbidden the publication and public utterance of the lyrics below. Let us see just how long are Brazil's Justice arms.

Emerson Luís

The Paralamas do Sucesso had their share of success in Brazil and overseas, but they have become internationally famous since their song Luiz Inácio (300 picaretas) was censored by the Brazilian justice and forbidden to be played on radio and public shows. The band itself couldn't have thought of a better plot to boost their sagging career.

Everybody in Brazil -- and newspaper have been calling from other countries including Japan -- seems to be interested now in listening to the condemned lyrics. Since the dictatorship times there wasn't such a fuss about a song. Censorship against Chico Buarque's "Apesar de Você" ("Is Spite of You") in 1971, made that song an anthem against the military regime.

The 300 picaretas (charlatans) referred to in the tune were inspired by a comment made in 1993 by then presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula said that there were 300 picaretas in Congress. The Paralamas were ready to start their show in Brasília when they were presented with a writ of prevention forbidding them from singing the song.

The order calling the lyrics "offensive to the honor of the congressmen" came from federal judge Ionilda Maria Carneiro Pires, but it was requested by Bonifácio de Andrada, the House of Representative's general prosecutor. "I'm a democrat and against censorship," declared Andrada soon after the measure was taken against the band. "All I've done was to preserve the House's image and I intend to bring criminal suit against the song's authors."

Herbert Vianna, crooner, guitarist, leader of the band and author of the song, called the measure completely arbitrary, adding, "All we say in the song has been said and written before". Check by yourself.

The lyrics

Herbert Vianna

Luiz Inácio falou, Luiz Inácio avisou
São 300 picaretas com anel de doutor
Eles ficaram ofendidos com a afirmação
Que reflete na verdade o sentimento da nação
É lobby, é conchavo, é propina e jetom
Variações do mesmo tema sem sair do tom
Brasília é uma ilha, eu falo porque eu sei
Uma cidade que fabrica sua própria lei
Aonde se vive mais ou menos como na Disneylandia
Se essa palhaçada fosse na Cinelândia
Ia juntar muita gente pra pegar na saída
Pra fazer justiça uma vez na vida
Eu me vali deste discurso panfletário
Mas a minha burrice faz aniversário
Ao permitir que num país como o Brasil
Ainda se obrigue a votar, por qualquer trocado
Por um par de sapatos, por um saco de farinha
A nossa imensa massa de iletrados
Parabéns coronéis, vocês venceram outra vez
O congresso continua a serviço de vocês
Papai quando eu crescer quero ser anão
Pra roubar, renunciar, voltar na próxima eleição
E se eu fosse dizer nomes a canção era pequena
João Alves, Genebaldo, Humberto Lucena
De exemplo em exemplo aprendemos a lição
Ladrão que ajuda ladrão ainda recebe concessão
De rádio FM e de televisão


Luiz Inácio has said, Luiz Inácio has warned
They are 300 charlatans with a doctor's ring
They were offended with the statement
Which in reality reflects the nation's feelings
It's lobby, it's hanky-panky, it's bribe and gratuities
Variations on the same themes and on the same tone
Brasília is an island, I say that because I know
It's a town that fabricates its own law
A place where we live more or less as in Disneyland
If this buffoonery was at Cinelândia [downtown Rio]
There would be a lot of people waiting outside
To do justice once a in a lifetime
I have used this pamphletary discourse
But my stupidity celebrates its anniversary
By allowing that in a country like Brazil
People are forced to vote, for just a dime
A pair of shoes, a bag of flour
Our immense mass of illiterate people
Congratulations, colonels, you have won again
Congress continues at your beck and call
Daddy, when I grow up I want to be a dwarf
To steal, resign, come back in the next election
And if I were to tell names the song would be too short
João Alves, Genebaldo, Humberto Lucena
From every example we learn the lesson
Thief who steals from thief still gets a concession
For an FM radio and a television station

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