According to experts,São Paulo is the most sung about city in the country, ahead of Rio de Janeiro. Amid lyrics that speak of the difficulties but also the beauties of the land of drizzle, around three thousand songs about São Paulo have been written in total. We’ve put together a list of the best known. Hit play!
trem das Onze’, Adoniran Barbosa
First of all, we have by far the greatest classic among the songs that talk about São Paulo. It is Adoniran Barbosa‘ s best-known work, a symbol of the capital. The lyrics, which tell of a young man who needs to leave for Jaçanã before he misses the last train of the day, made the neighborhood known everywhere.
‘Sampa Midnight’, Itamar Assumpção
The well-known composer Itamar Assumpção was the artist who made the most songs about São Paulo. There were 25 songs in total, one more than Adoniran Barbosa. In ‘Sampa Midnight’, he recounts a night of drunken friends crossing Avenida Paulista.
‘Sampa’, Caetano Veloso
The capital’s most famous street corner, where Ipiranga and São João avenues meet, appears in the first verses of the song by Caetano Veloso. ‘Sampa’ became the city’s signature song, always played at celebrations, and the word became SP’s official nickname.
‘Weekend in the Park’, Racionais MCs
São Paulo also has its flaws, and the inequality between rich and poor has inspired many singers. Mano Brown, leader of the Racionais MCs, has already told the reality of the periphery in some songs, and ‘Fim de Semana no Parque’ is one of the ones he dedicates right away to “every poor community in the South Zone”.
‘Não Existe Amor em SP’, Criolo
Although it’s not a tribute per se, this song is about a real São Paulo. For rapper Criolo, in São Paulo, “the bars are full of such empty souls”. But according to him, in the midst of the rubble you can see the clouds. Criolo shows that although things have improved, for those who live on the periphery the reality is still the same (another song of his, ‘Grajauex’, is an example of this).
‘In the South Zone’, Sabotage
Next we have ‘Da Zona Sul’, where the three rappers on our list came from. We couldn’t fail to mention Sabotage, who was born and raised in São Paulo. Despite his early death, Sabotage became an icon of São Paulo and Brazilian rap. He too, like Criolo and the Racionais, sang about the harsh (but also beautiful) reality of the periphery.
‘São, São Paulo’, Tom Zé
Like Criolo, Tom Zé didn’t ignore the problems in his tribute to the city. For the singer, the song has one of the most beautiful verses he’s ever written: “When I saw that Largo dos Aflitos wasn’t wide enough to fit my affliction / I went to live in Luz station because everything was dark inside my heart”. Although the song was written in the 1960s, it’s still very relevant today.
cohab city’, Negritude Junior
Pagode paulista, or romantic pagode, emerged in the 1990s in São Paulo. With him, groups like Negritude Junior arrived and brought the joy of the pagode rodas from the outskirts of São Paulo to the radio. The São Paulo Popular Housing Company became famous at the time when Netinho de Paula sang “tô chegando na Cohab, pra curtir minha galera”.
‘The mines of Sampa’, Rita Lee
Rita Lee is the face of São Paulo, and baptized Ibirapuera as the beach of the Paulistas. Although she herself is from São Paulo, Vila Mariana, Rita Lee provokes the women of the city who, for her, are eternal dondocios in search of good parties to marry.
‘São Paulo’, 365
An example of rock music couldn’t be missing in a city that even has a gallery just for this style of music. The song ‘São Paulo’ by the group 365 is still a radio hit today. In 1986, when the song was written, lead singer Finho had no idea that he was creating the anthem of the stone jungle in the form of punk rock.
‘Modão de Pinheiros’, Maurício Pereira
Next, singer-songwriter Maurício Pereira recounts a passion he had for a girl from the famous ZO neighborhood, with several references to the region: “It was in the Pinheiros neighborhood that I gave myself entirely / To a beautiful girl walking down Rebouças”. The song also features a version by São Paulo band O Terno.
‘Luzes de São Paulo’, Fernando and Sorocaba
Finally, we have ‘Luzes de São Paulo’ to round off our compilation of songs about São Paulo. Gone are the days when the sertanejo was linked to the image of the interior of the state. For a long time now, the capital of São Paulo has become a meeting point with bars and parties for those who love the sound of music. The song by Fernando and Sorocaba is a passionate serenade to the city.