"Guiné-Bissau, Moçambique e Angola Racional" was originally written and performed by Brazilian artist Tim Maia. His music and charisma helped to build the Black Rio movement, a new Afro-Brazilian music culture influenced by the U.S. civil rights struggle.
The song appears on Vol. 2 of his Racional album series, which Maia released under his own independent record label named Seroma in 1976, due to frustrations with his contract label. Many of the albums' songs' lyrics, including this song's, are heavily influenced by the book Universo em desencanto (Universe in disenchantment), written by Manoel Jacinto Coelho, leader of a cult known as "Cultura Racional" (Rational Culture). Maia found the book at his friend's house, and soon after joined the cult for 1-2 years, during which time many of his concert-goers and album purchasers were other cult members. Maia eventually got fed up with the cult, left it, and denounced it, and returned to his more carefree lifestyle he had before joining. Even though they bring up complicated memories for Maia, all three volumes of his Racional album series are considered classics and are highly revered in the Brazilian music scene today.
Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Angola are three countries on the continent of Africa who have defeated Portuguese colonial efforts. Most recently, the people of Guinea-Bissau gained their independence in September 1973, which Portugal officially recognized the following year. Freedom fighters in all three countries did not view their struggles in isolation, and built coalitions of solidarity with each other via the Carnation Revolution in order to defeat Portugal, Europe's oldest dictatorship at the time. Of course, Tim Maia's country of origin, Brazil, is also a country founded on Portuguese colonialism. Maia tips his hat to Pan-Africanism in some of his other songs as well, such as "Rodésia."
Rude Mechanical Orchestra's version of this song, which we most often abbreviate to "GBMA" out of convenience, was arranged and is often performed by Orquestra Voadora in Brazil. RMO stands in solidarity with everyone around the world who is in the struggle for decolonization in any form. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
NOTE: RMO members log into this site for the practice sound file.
Written and popularized by Tim Maia, arranged by Orquestra Voadora
