Atheists are a rarity in Brazil, where Christian religions, those of African descent, believers in white, spirit speakers and religious syncretism are commonplace. Singer Caetano Veloso, 80, one of those who publicly declared himself an atheist and one of the greats of Brazilian pop music, has just recorded a Christian song, a hit in the evangelical world but totally unknown to him, along with the singer and pastor Kleber Lucas, 54. Veloso is thus building bridges to a social phenomenon that is changing Brazil.
They both presented a new version of Deus cuida de mim (God takes care of me) on Sunday night in one of the most watched TV programs of Brazilian families. When journalist Veloso asked the reasons that led him to contemplate this new horizon at this point in his prolific career, his reply was brief: “I think it was God. That’s the only thing I can answer,” said the singer, who is still very active. Veloso (Santo Amaro da Purificação, Bahia) is currently on a tour to promote the album released after the pandemic. But on Friday he had to pause it and suspend several concerts in Rio de Janeiro after being diagnosed with Covid.
Caetano Veloso and Kleber Lucas in the studio during the recording.
The artist, who in the late 1960s brought Tropenism to life with Gilberto Gil, explained in various strokes in the aforementioned interview how his relationship with beliefs and convictions had evolved. “I’m not really religious, I grew up in a Catholic family, but then I turned away (from religion),” he said, before adding, in a self-confessed tone, “I was anti-religious growing up.” As the Brazilian press recalls, he declared himself an atheist in interviews just over a decade ago. A few years ago he told this newspaper in an interview: “I’ve become more left-wing with age.”
Despite the fact that bossa nova and MPB (Brazilian folk music) are the major international showcases of Brazilian culture, the styles most commonly heard within their borders are sertanejo (a country song sung by couples in Portuguese) and gospel (an integral part of evangelical worship). Lucas is a true phenomenon in this final universe. Pastor and founder of Soul Baptist Church, he is an artist with a career spanning three decades, a Grammy for Best Christian Music Album and millions of albums sold.
Veloso has seen evangelical strength and syncretism in his own homeland. His two youngest sons, Zeca and Tom, were raised in the evangelical faith by their father, who took them to church services. One of them remains loyal to Universal Church – a commercial hub that includes a TV station and party – the other has drifted away over the years. And the artist has also said that the firstborn follows a combination of Catholicism, Candomble and Hinduism. According to the author of Tropicalia, while his generation had to grapple with an imposed religion, his children’s had to “regain their lost religiosity”.
Veloso has long had an interest in evangelicals, who already make up a third of the population. A community that is growing fast, especially among poor and black women from the periphery. Your social and political role is growing. Despite being ignored by the majority for decades, in the next Parliament there will again be more lordships declaring themselves evangelical than women. For the Bahians, this is a phenomenon “of immeasurable importance in the life of contemporary Brazil”.
In addition to being a prominent Christian singer, Lucas is one of the few evangelical figures to have sided with leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the recent election to help defeat President Jair Bolsonaro. For the pastor, recording this music means trying to rebuild broken bridges. Brazil is more polarized than ever in its history. The newspaper Folha reports that he and Veloso met at a dinner in the last phase of the campaign, which ended in a musical party. There the germ of this first collaboration was born. Kleber Lucas is one of the many performers who will be attending the big party that Lula’s wife is throwing for the January 1st inauguration.
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