“Se oriente, rapaz ...”: mysticism, duality and anomie in the song “Oriente” (Gilberto Gil, LP Expresso 2222, 1972)

Abstract

The long-playing Expresso 2222 (Phonogram/Philips, 1972), released by Gilberto Gil after returning from exile in London, displays a graphic design whose form and content establish a close dialogue with the song “Oriente”, the last track on the disc. From an appreciation of the long-playing, I identify, in the song, not only aspects related to the mystical attitude of the composer, but also historical and socio-cultural issues that characterized the early 1970’s in Brazil. The lyrics of “Oriente”, self-referential, capture the countercultural
climate experienced by Gilberto Gil in Europe, while also insinuate the exhaustion of that experience. The verses, the rhythm, the harmony and the melody reinforce the duality present in the title of the song. The opposites, although complementary, not culminate in a synthesis. Unstable, “Oriente” focuses on the “subject” and incorporates, in its own musical and poetic structure, certain state of anomie leveraged by the military dictatorship.