The song finished last in Eurovision but was the first song that started a revolution. We are in Portugal, April 24, 1974, 10:55 PM sharp and the first notes This is what you do (“And After Farewell”) echoes on the antenna of the Emissores Associados de Lisboa.
A few weeks ago, on April 6, Paulo de Carvalho represented Portugal with this song on the Eurovision stage, held in Brighton (United Kingdom). He only had three points. Red Lantern In this edition, this poem was not identical to the song Waterloo by ABBA, the unforgettable winner of the competition, but that didn't stop her from making history.
In the spring of 1974, winds of rebellion blew in the Portuguese air. The dictatorship that has been strangling the country since 1933, under first Salazar and then Marcelo Caetano, is living its final days. The people are thirsty for freedom, and the colonial wars in which Portugal is involved cause increasing disapproval. Foreign Ministry soldiers (Armed Forces Movement) prepare for a coup.
Do not attract censorship attention
To start things off without arousing suspicion, they chose two songs as a cue. Firstly This is what you do, The Blue Flower is a lament for a broken heart, far from being subversive. This is intentional: above all, we must not attract the attention of oversight bodies responsible for validating software. The radio on which the program is broadcast does not broadcast more than 150 kilometers from Lisbon. This especially allows officers based in the Portuguese capital to be ready.
To signal to the military that it is time to take action, it is time Grandola, Villa Morena (“Grandola, the brown city”) Which was kept. Signed by José Afonso, artist activist and declared opponent of the Salazar regime, it is a hymn to friendship and brotherhood.
The song was broadcast at twenty minutes after midnight on April 25, 1974 on Radio Renaissance, broadcasting throughout the country. Now is not the time to turn back. The troops took their places, and what would soon be called the Carnation Revolution, in reference to the flowers slipped into the barrels of Foreign Office rifles, marked the beginning of Portugal's transition toward democracy.
The singer was awarded the Medal of Freedom
I mainly remembered history books Grandola, Villa MorenaPerhaps because this piece was the real start of the revolution and because it has since joined the list of protest songs alongside… Bella Ciao or to Astaka. But we should not underestimate the role it plays This is what you doa popular success at the time, which served as the first wake-up call.
Paolo de Carvalho, who will celebrate his 77th birthday in May, continued his professional career, devoting himself to fado. In 2009, he was honored with the Medal of Freedom. This medal, awarded to people who have contributed to the defense of democracy and human rights, was created in 1976. It was originally used to recognize those who participated in the Carnation Revolution.
