With different classics songs, "Vida" showcases an artist in an exuberant phase, inspired by lyrics, music, and singing. At 36 years old, even while recording songs that had already been hits on classic albums, such as "Bastidores" (which revived Cauby Peixoto's career) and "Morena de Angola" (which became a hit with Clara Nunes), Chico Buarque proves himself an excellent interpreter of his own work. Released in December 1980, when, amid bombs and attacks, Brazil was rehearsing its redemocratization, the album features an artist less targeted by censorship. In the irresistible dance hall samba "Deixa a Menina," he has fun, fitting in a feminist response to Geraldo Pereira's syncopated classic "Sem Compromisso": "Behind a sad man, there's always a happy woman/ And behind that woman, a thousand men, always so kind." The Cuban-accented title track was composed for the play "Geni" by Marilena Ansaldi and reveals a character who, near death, makes a bittersweet assessment, but get attached to his love for life. "Light, I want light," sings Chico, paraphrasing Goethe's famous last words ("light, more light"), amidst the sublime orchestration of Francis Hime. "Vida" consolidates the golden period of his synergy with his partner Francis. He is the one who creates the masterful arrangements on ten of the twelve songs, expanding the delicacy of anthological gems like "Mar e lua" and "Qualquer canção", and lending the appropriate grandeur to "Fantasia." In the masterpiece "Eu Te Amo," written with Tom Jobim for Arnaldo Jabor's film of the same name, the arrangement and piano are by Tom himself. Another classic track is "Bye Bye, Brasil," co-written with Roberto Menescal for Cacá Diegues' film. It's a bolero influenced version, unlike the funky recording released as a single in 1979, with Menescal's classy arrangement. In the lyrics, with pop humor, Chico unravels the profound transformation of Brazil in the decade that was ending. A treasure of the affective memory of several generations of MPB fans, makes "Vida" a undebatable classic.
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