Football, Music and Narcisism: Some Speculations on “Brazil, Tell me How it Feels”

Abstract

During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Argentina fans traveled in large numbers and flooded the streets (even more than the stadiums) unanimously singing a song of encouragement, renowned for its first verse: “Brazil, tell me how it feels”. The song, based on an old melody of the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, was quickly adopted by hundreds of thousands of fans in Brazil and also millions in Argentina, becoming viral by social networks. From this phenomenon, the article analyzes the song, the musical and political traditions on which works, and the relationship between music and nationality that can be followed from that analysis; in the same sense, debates that relationship in the history of the World Cup. The performance of the Argentine fans then becomes in a centrally musical performance, in which it is possible to read the Argentina football culture, organized by narcissism and the logic of aguante.