Songs of Solidarity
The role of the artist,
what can we be doing?
It is a responsibility that we mobilize to bring a sentiment of union,
with the people around us,
with those who search with us
---
O papel do artista,
o que a gente pode estar fazendo?
É uma responsibilidade que a gente mobilizar em trazer esse sentimento de união,
com as pessoas que estao próximas da gente,
com quem faz busca com a gente,
(Found poem based on interview, 2025)
Songs of Solidarity is a collaborative artistic research project exploring the contemporary sociopolitical context of Brazil and the role of artists to promote critical hope, imagination and solidarity to grow more equitable futures that value diversity.
The journey started from a historical study of the multimedia show, Opinião (1964), in the project, Songs of the Oppressed, where Emily Yamamoto examined how the artists collaboratively expressed, through theatre and music, their understanding the sociopolitcal oppression experienced during the early military dictatorship in the mid-1960s. Learning from the artists of the show, Yamamoto designed a multi-arts research method that encourages dialogue and reflection through found poetry, paintings and collaborative music-composition.
Yamamoto's collaborative artistic praxis aims to stimulate personal and collective action through art-making, to build communities of care while making sense of how we function within and contribute to existing oppressive systems. Although the process may place some participants in uncomfortably vulnerable places, it helps us to expose injustices, and more importantly, promote collective imagination of better futures where voices are heard. This work is only possible with critical hope and radical love.
In 2025, Yamamoto and four Brazilian musicians gathered in Paraná, Brazil, to dialogue about lived experiences and imagined futures. Many important themes arose, including racial and gendered violence, poverty, the margins, inequality in general and how capitalism has transformed the concept of solidarity into assistentialism or something transactional. We reflected and collaborated in composing five original songs that express these themes.
By engaging in collaborative artistic praxis centred on minoritised peoples, we are reclaiming solidarity as mutual care and love with all peoples.
Watercolour sketches of the collaborative artistic process
During the collaborative artistic process, Yamamoto painted a number of watercolour sketches based on the composition sessions and visualisations of themes that arose in the dialogues. The watercolour sketches were vital as they fed back into the process of sense-making and song-writing.
Songs of Solidarity - the songs
AGAINST THE CURRENT
To hear
To see
To go with the wind, as a falling leave
Like a jelly
moving back and forth with the waves till it hits the shore
It almost felt like I was free
To feel
To be
against the wind
it’s not easy
No, it’s not easy,
To push against the current in the stream you swim
But I want to feel what’s true liberty
Why is there a colour, to the place we belong?
It makes no sense within this song.
But no one will hear or care with my grammar oh so poor
Yes, I want to know what’s true liberty
SAMBA DE PRETO VELHO
Alfredo, cé sacumé
Fui tocar no bar
daquela mulher
Não sei se cê tá ligado
Naquela do Jorge Ben
Do nada vem ela e diz
Que essa não pega bem
Alfredo cé bota fé?
Mente estreita
Coração que não dá pé
Um samba ser maltratado
Censurado por alguém
Só pode que ela tem medo
De querer sambar também
Alfredo, eu não arrego
Mas também não argumento
Tem coisa que não compensa,
Tem coisa que eu só lamento
Mr Ferreira, you're clearly messing with her
When she said she's black, you sternly lectured her
No, you are not a Black girl, you're simply a moreninha
Just choose any other colour
But do not say you're black
Mas ô, Alfredo, cê sacumé
Sexta que vem toco no bar
Daquela mulher
Os boleto têm chegado
E tocar me faz feliz
Dessa vez vou preparado
Com uns versos que eu fiz
O amor é amarelo
A liberdade, azul
O elo de toda cor
É um samba de preto velho
O elo de toda cor
É um samba de preto tu
o
The masks and the costumes, an illusion of who we are
..don't be afraid
... it's time to see
... your beautiful soul beneath the skin.
TRANSLATION:
Alfredo, you know what I mean
I went to play at the bar
of that woman
I don't know if you're aware
Of that Jorge Ben song
Out of nowhere she comes and says
That this one doesn't go down well
Alfredo, do you believe it?
Narrow mind
Heart that can't stand it
A samba being mistreated
Censored by someone
She must be afraid
Of wanting to samba too
Alfredo, I don't back down
But I don't argue either
Some things aren't worth it,
Some things I just lament (2x)
But hey, Alfredo, you know what I mean
Next Friday I'm playing at the bar
of that woman
The bills have been arriving
And playing makes me happy
This time I'm prepared
With some verses that I wrote
Love is yellow
Freedom, blue
The link of all colors
Is a samba of preto velho
The link of all colors
Is a samba of a Black you (2x)
CIRCULAR
Circular, circular
Cirandar de olhar pra fora
Não perder quem está à margem
O valor de outras histórias
Viemos só de passagem
Movimento, envolvimento
Circular
TRANSLATION:
Circle dance looking outwards
Without losing sight of those at the margins
The value of other stories
We come only in passing
Movement, involvement
Circular
FREVINHO DE NADA
Para escrever livros interessantes
e colorir a prateleira da estante do apartamento decorado
Pra grafitar paredes elegantes,
inflar as redes e as caixas de alto falante do comércio descolado
Compor canções que ajudam no sound branding,
dançar balé pra avivar o happy ending,
tocar o violino da elegância no barquinho a afundar
E embalar a batida memorável de uma rave,
sonorizar seu vídeo pra entrar nas trends,
distrair a criança que ninguém tem paciência de escutar
Confundir os otimistas,
iludir os realistas,
animar os pessimistas
Esta é a utilidade dos artistas
(De nada)
Unha encravada
Cueca furada
Paixão sofrida
Saudade danada
Vento virado
Humor bagunçado
Espinhela caída
Coiso coisado
Para isso e muito mais
Chama o artista, chama
Para acender a chama...
TRANSLATION:
To write interesting books
and color the bookshelf of the decorated apartment
To graffiti elegant walls,
inflate the nets and speaker boxes of the trendy shops
To compose songs that help with sound branding,
to dance ballet to liven up the happy ending,
to play the violin of elegance
in the sinking boat
And to set the memorable beat of a rave,
to provide the soundtrack for your video
to get into the trends,
to distract the child that noone has the patience to listen to
To confuse the optimists,
to deceive the realists,
to cheer up the pessimists
This is the usefulness of artists
(You're welcome)
Ingrown toenail
Hole in your underwear
Suffering passion
Terrible longing
Turned wind
Messy mood
Fallen spine
Something messed up
For this and much more
Call the artist, call
To light the flame...
Call
SONGS OF HOPE
Can you hear our stories of hope?
We, hand in hand, are singing of hope
And too the sabiá sings of hope
The strength of voices singing, for hope
There is no way
We are silenced no more
The suffering, hunger, the thirst and the violence, the deaths and the poor
Our stories of hope for tomorrow
The love we have yet to discover
The bright light that helps us stand tall
The gentle beauty, mother’s blessed us all
the mountains, the skies and the ocean, the fauna the flora and more
Yes, in our core, with courage and strength
We know who we are
You will not write our own stories
We stand till the end