They went viral on TikTok. Mid baile funkmi pagoda, the choreographies performed by the Seleção during the World Cup in Qatar remind us how much, if need be, samba and football are inseparable. Many Brazilians have sung regarding their passion for football, but if there is one who dominates his opponents with his head and verses, it is Jorge Duilio Lima Menezes, alias Jorge Ben.
The native of the northern districts of Rio knows his subject. He, who dreamed of being a footballer, joined the Flamengo junior team as a child, the most popular football club in the city, the mengãofrom which he takes up the hymn immortalized by Lamartine Babo, and to which he proclaims loud and clear his irreducible attachment in the famous Tropical country : I have a VW Beetle and a guitar, I’m from Flamengo and I have a girl called Tereza (I have a ladybug and a guitar, my club is Flamengo and my girlfriend’s name is Tereza). A title composed in 1969 for the album of all hits (Tropical country, What a pity, Charles Angel 45, Take it Easy My Brother Charlesetc) and the psychotropicalist cover on which the club pennant adorns the guitar of the carioca.
Jorge Ben’s loyalty to Flamengo is omnipresent in his discography, even in The Emerald Tablethis most mystical album launched in 1974, and the title I will cheer (I will support). She owes a lot to her crack Zico, the number 10 par excellence, whose reflexes, amazing dribbles and mischievous shots he describes with precision in the formidable Gavea shirt number 10. on Africa Brazil in 1976. This is what makes the difference: at the Maracanã, which he frequents assiduously, Jorge Ben makes us experience football from the inside. In the stands, with the supporters, whose heart rate is accelerating during the action, but especially on the pitch, following the players throughout the game, like a commentator igniting at the slightest of their movements. , going so far as to discuss the referee’s decisions, as in where is the penalty (where is the penalty), taken from the understated The Band of Zé Pretinha from 1978.
The piece Wonder Thread, nickname given to João Batista de Sales, Flamengo artificer who combined inspiration, emotion and explosion in front of goal, is in this, a model of the genre. The match is friendly and opposes Flamengo to Benfica of Lisbon. We are at 33e minute of the second half, 1 everywhere between the two teams, the situation seems frozen when suddenly the star striker finds the fault, dribbles unpredictably the defenders one by one, then the Portuguese goalkeeper, and scores. Great art. The song ends in the stands with the exaltation of the red and black supporters who thank the striker and who want more: Fio Maravilha, we love you, Fio Maraviha, make one more for us to see (Fio Maravilha we love you, Fio Maravilha do us another one).
With Jorge Ben, every position is honoured: the center forward who wets the jersey and whom the whole city comes to see play in African Spearhead (Umbabarauma), still on Africa Brazilbut also the rear, “the guardian angel of defence” for whom the song Defenderopening the album Unleash the Peacock (1975), is only a series of precious advice: Defender has to be a trickster / When there’s danger with the ball on the ground / Think fast and low / Either go out playing or throw the ball to the bush / Because it’s a championship game (A defender must be trickster / When there will be danger with the ball on the ground / Think fast and low to the ground / Or go out or clear / Because it’s a championship game).
In his album 23in reference to April 23, feast of Saint Jorge, the musician, renamed Jorge Ben Jor since 1989 so as not to be confused with George Benson, this time addresses the goalkeeper his precious recommendations: I’ll warn you / Goalkeeper can’t fail / Can’t be hungry / When it’s time to play / Otherwise a chicken here, a chicken there, a chicken there (Attention / a keeper cannot fail / He cannot be hungry / At the time of play / Otherwise, a mistake here, a mistake there, a mistake here and there) – Goalkeeper (I’ll let you know). For Jorge Ben, it’s clear, knowledge takes precedence over the technical gesture. It is the action in front of the goal and its realization that reveal the soul of the player and his qualities, including spiritual ones.
Finally, for the carioca, it does not matter whether we play in a club in Rio, São Paulo or at the other end of Brazil. To be part of his Seleção, you must first be a follower of beauty, a beautiful game, giving the flesh of the pool to the supporters or making history by making an entire stadium vibrate; such as Falcão, prodigy of Porto Alegre who moved to AS Roma, during the memorable World Cup of 82, for which he composed the following year and in Italian per favore a title forgotten by all: The Eighth King of Rome. « I have always loved going to the stadium to see great playershe admitted in an interview with TV Cultura in 1995. Top players, good midfielders, great goalkeepers, even if they’re not part of my favorite team. »
However, we will have to wait until 2004 and Love Is Reactive (Throw of Philosophers)his last studio album to date, so that the aging samba rocker finally dares to tackle the idol of an entire nation, King Pelé, who died at the end of December 2022. The result is unfortunately not very convincing and is content to go into review an unparalleled career, as if the crossbar this time was too high to really be able to frame. The King’s Name is Pele boils down to a series of +++ numbers and an enumeration in all positions of the performances that have made the kid from Minas Gerais the most revered footballer in the entire history of football.
Mete Goal, Ben Jor’s latest title launched on the platforms in 2018, shows how this ball has established itself throughout the swing master’s career. Nobody else than him will have captured the tension capable of transforming a game of football into pure ecstasy, including in the moments preceding the penalty. Dryly eliminated on penalties in the quarter-finals, the Seleção had obviously forgotten all his advice.
