Monte Castelo (song)
"Monte Castelo" is a song by Brazilian rock band Legião Urbana, released on As Quatro Estações. Written by vocalist and acoustic guitarist Renato Russo, the song brings verses by Portuguese poet Luís de Camões and sections of the Bible.[1]
| "Monte Castelo" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Legião Urbana | |
| from the album As Quatro Estações | |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Released | October 26, 1989 |
| Genre |
|
| Length | 3:49 |
| Label | EMI Odeon |
| Songwriter(s) | Renato Russo |
| Producer(s) | Mayrton Bahia |
Writing
The first versions of the song was based on the acoustic guitar and a keyboard synthezising an accordion, over which Russo tried to sing. He struggled to find a melody line and ended up occupying many channels with his voice, making the base and the lyrics chaotic. The text became so scary guitarist Dado Villa-Lobos and his wife fled from the studio after they saw it written on a piece of paper.[1]
The mixing was also difficult, since Russo would never be satisfied with producer Mayrton Bahia's work. The situation reached a point in which Russo turned off the sound and Bahia threatened to finish the album without him. Russo didn't say a word and said he liked the final result. Villa-Lobos, on the other hand, cried when he listened to the song's final version.[1]
Noteworthy covers
- 1999 - Singer Jerry Adriani recorded an Italian version of the song on the album Forza Sempre, featuring only Legião Urbana's songs in Italian.
- 2009 - Jay Vaquer took part in the TV special "Som Brasil", a program by Rede Globo de Televisão which paid tribue to Russo and in which he covered "Pais e Filhos", "Monte Castelo" and "Será".[2]
- 2012 - Priest Reginaldo Manzotti covered the song for his DVD Paz e Luz, which was filmed at Igreja da Candelária in Rio de Janeiro.
References
- Fuscaldo, Chris (2016). Discobiografia Legionária. LeYa. ISBN 978-85-441-0481-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)