It is such a huge shame that you have to understand Portuguese to appreciate those songs... this is yet another great evil outcome of having more than one natural language is bad for the world.
The good songs stopped before of just after Ciro Santilli was born, they were originally heard by his parent's generation. Those young new kids are boring.
The place to start is definitely the Holy Trinity of popular brazilian music:
- Caetano Veloso is arguably Ciro Santilli's favorite MPB artist, he has just too many amazing songs, best ones at: Section "The best Caetano Veloso songs"
- Chico Buarque. Ciro's second favorite.
- Gilberto Gil. Perhaps Ciro likes him third because he is the most lighthearted one, although not always: Section "The best Gilberto Gil songs"
Non trinity songs and artists:
Video 1. Asa Branca by Luiz Gonzaga. Source. Written in 1947 Video 2. "O vento" by Dorival Caymmi (1949) Source. Video 3. "Panis et Circenses" from the Tropicália: ou Panis et Circencis (1968). Source. Composed by Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso and performed by Os Mutantes Video 4. "Mistério do Planeta" from the Acabou Chorare album by Novos Baianos (1972) Source. Video 5. "Senhor Cidadão" from the Se O Caso É Chorar album by Tom Zé (1972) Source. Anti-Military dictatorship in Brazil song, appears to reuse terms used by the dictatorship propaganda in the song. Video 6. "Marimbondo" from the "Pirão de Peixe com Pimenta (1977)" album by Sá & Guarabyra (1977) Source. Video 7. Romaria by Renato Teixeira. Source. Title track of the 1978 album. Video 8. Atrás da Porta performed by Elis Regina. Source. Composed by Francis Hime and Chico Buarque. Video 9. Águas de março performed by Elis Regina. Source. From the 1972 eponymous album. Composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim. Video 10. Metamorfose Ambulante by Raul Seixas (1973) Source. From the album Krig-ha, Bandolo! Video 11. Ouro de Tolo by Raul Seixas (1973) Source. This dude should be a scientist. But well, he went for mystic/artist. Close enough. Video 12. Gita by Raul Seixas (1974) Source. From the album: Gita. Video 13. Maluco Beleza by Raul Seixas (1977) Source. From the album O Dia em que a Terra Parou
- Tom Jobim
Video 14. A Felicidade by Tom Jobim (1958) Source. Composed for the Black Orpheus (1958) film. "Tristeza não tem fim, felicidade sim" (Sadness never ends, but happiness does). The movie itself is OK. Appeals to Ciro's Buddhist sensibilities. Video 15. Jorge da Capadócia by Jorge Ben Jor (1975) Source. From the Solta o Pavão (1975) album. The Caetano interpretation is better however, poor Jorge. - Jair Rodrigues
Video 16. Disparada by Jair Rodrigues (1968) Source. This song is simply amazing. Not exactly MPB, a bit more towards country, but close enough. This was as the track of some soap opera. Video 17. Deixa Isso Pra Lá by Jair Rodrigues (1964) Source. Fantastic early example of early rap music!!! This is regocnized example at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfnDEuuPq4Q which builds upon the 1964 song. Amazing. An amazing live performance at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3E1uHdrJws, only not using that as the default link as it is not from the official channel. - Vinicius de Moraes. Many of his lyrics are poetry. Notably, he has some "children" songs that you think about as an adult and go "oh fuck". For some reason, Ciro can't help but think that he looks like a pedophile, but he doesn't have any scandals apparently, poor dude. He was a drunkard for sure though.
Video 18. A Casa by Vinicius de Moraes (1972) Source. Children song. Video 19. Tarde em Itapuã by Vinicius de Moraes (1971) Source. www.dicionariotupiguarani.com.br/dicionario/itapua/ gives the meaning of "Itapuã". It originates from the Tupi Guarani language, and is the name of a beach in Salvador (Praia de Itapuã), to which the song presumably refers:Figure 1. Itapuã beach in Salvador. Source. Video 20. Aquarela by Toquinho (1983) Source. This is a mega childhood hit, and it never gets old. Amazing. One of the most brutal memento moris ever? Video 21. Xô Saudade by Alceu Valença. Source. From the 1980 album "Coração Bobo" Video 22. Carcará by João Do Vale (1981) Source. From the eponymous album.Video 23. Carcará by Maria Bethânia (1981) Source. This very good interpretation likely did much to popularize the song. Figure 2. A carcará bird. Source. Video 24. Carcará by Planeta Aves (2020) Source. A Brazilian bird watcher channel. Interestingly he mentions that the carcará actually knows how to scour post wildfire ares searching for dead animals, as mentioned in the song "it even eats burnt snakes". Video 25. Na Rua, Na Chuava, Na Fazenda by Hyldon (1974) Source. Video 26. Tudo o que você podia ser from the Clube da Esquina album by Milton Nascimento (1972) Source. Anti-Military dictatorship in Brazil song, using the common "you means the dictatorship" technique. Video 27. Caçador De Mim from the eponymous album by Milton Nascimento (1981) Source.
Honorable mentions:
Video 28. As Curvas da Estrada de Santos by Roberto Carlos (1969) Source. Roberto Carlos makes Ciro cringe, it brings back memories of pre-New Year television Galas in the early 2000s at his great aunt's home in Santos, São Paulo, Brazil.This is the only bearable song by the artist, as it talks about going down to Ciro's beloved Santos, São Paulo, Brazil from the city of São Paulo, which lies on a plateau of about 700 meters above sea level, a trip that takes you down through the spectacular Serra do Mar tropical rainforest.The mountainous roads of the older road, Rodovia Anchieta there are very curvy, and can be very dangerous when there is fog. The heavy truck traffic to/from the port of Santos makes this even worse.But it also makes everything much more spectacular, as you get closer to the forest, and at slower speeds, with occasional panoramic views of the city.The newer road, Rodovia dos Imigrantes is a straighter, safer and boring alternative to it.Ciro did this many times on bus when he was studying at the university of São Paulo and going back home for the weekend from time to time.Figure 3. A typical view going down Via Anchieta. Source. Video 29. Going down the Via Anchieta by Silvanio Bus Driver (2022) Source. Video 30. Dança Da Solidão by Paulinho da Viola. Source. Released 1972.