The Latin American protest music of Milton Nascimento

Abstract

In this article, we bring the perspective of protest music from the 1970s by Milton Nascimento in Latin America. Revisiting the book "Milton Nascimento nos trilhos da América Latina: a viagem musical dos anos 1970" by Marques (2023), we seek to analyze how Milton Nascimento created music against Latin American dictatorships, contributing to new interpretations and understandings of what is considered protest music. The reflections are based on the songs "Canto Latino" (1970), "San Vicente" (1972), "Os Escravos de Jó" (1973), "Promessas do Sol" (1976), and finally, "Canción por la Unidad Latinoamericana" (1978). We aim to show that there are other forms of resistance through music, such as narratives about love as revolution, hope, silence, and noise, which differ from the canons.