Grândola, Vila Morena
50 years ago today, the Estado Novo dictatorship in Portugal came to an end through a military coup. To signal that the coup was underway, the song “Grândola, Vila Morena” by José Afonso was played on the radio in the early hours of April 25.1 It instantly became a symbol of freedom (“We’re doing this so that people don’t have to leave the country for what they write, say or think,”2) and to this day, it defies polarization among Portuguese: last night, after we had dinner near Terreiro do Paço, a friend of mine from across the pond witnessed an impromptu and electrifying performance of it on a metro train carriage as one passenger started singing and everybody joined her.
There is an interesting Zapruder World article on the history of “Grândola Vila Morena”, tracing how it came to be called the “freedom song or revolution anthem” and its author the “poet of the revolution.”3
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Two songs were used as radio signals: “E depois do Adeus” by Paulo de Carvalho was played at around 11pm on the evening of April 24. “Grândola, Vila Morena” was the second signal that would confirm the coup. ↩︎
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Salgueiro Maia’s reply to journalist and old school friend Adelino Gomes—surrounded by a battalion of soldiers and later a flood of civilians—when Gomes asked him which side he was on (as he recalls in an event for Mais Ribatejo; there is also a BBC interview). Captain Salgueiro Maia, only 29 at the time, led the army that marched into Lisbon and eventually arranged for the Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano’s surrender to General Spínola. Maia subsequently refused any further involvement and disappeared from public life. (He is still considered the face of the revolution.) At his request, “Grândola, Vila Morena” would be played at his funeral a mere 20 years later. ↩︎
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“Grândola, Vila Morena: uses and meanings of a song throughout the years,” by João Madeira, Ricardo Andrade and Hugo Castro in Zapruder World. ↩︎