Faroeste Caboclo
| "Faroeste Caboclo" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Legião Urbana | ||||
| from the album Que País É Este | ||||
| Released | 1987 | |||
| Genre |
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| Length | 9:03 | |||
| Label | EMI-Odeon | |||
| Songwriter | Renato Russo | |||
| Producer | Mayrton Bahia | |||
| Legião Urbana singles chronology | ||||
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"Faroeste Caboclo" (English: Caboclo Western) is a song composed by Renato Russo and recorded by Brazilian rock band Legião Urbana. Written in 1979, the song was released in 1987 in the album Que País É Este.
The song is a lengthy ballad that depicts the story of João de Santo Cristo, a poor man from the Brazilian Northeast who moves to Brasília in search of a better life, gets involved in drug trafficking, briefly abandons the life of crime to pursue a woman and is finally murdered by a rival.
Despite its unusual characteristics for a folk song (168 different lines, no chorus and 9 minutes of playing time), "Faroeste Caboclo" was acclaimed by critics.
It is widely regarded as a Brazilian rock classic, as well as one of the greatest Brazilian rock songs of all time. A film adaptation was released in 2013.