In memoriam Victor Hugo Pt1 - a brief interpretation of the song 'Foi-se Embora' by Tiago Maia as played in the André Fernandes' Quartet

This is a song released in André Fernandes' latest album, and one which I've seen rendered live quite a few times.

One can interpret the lyrics of Foi-se Embora as an account of suicide. This is a frequent subject in pop-rock and alternative music lyrics. Another recent song about the suicide of a friend that I know of is Arcana 1996's Song of Mourning. The thing with Arcana is that they seem to take more of a Catholic approach to suicide, and so the chorus goes something like 'is it really the solution / to all our problems?'.

There are several hints that Jacob's song is an account of suicide in verses like 'para lá de tudo' or 'ninguém pode ir / para onde ele foi' (these I didn't actually find recorded, and are probable artifacts of my subsequent interpretation).

But then one can always ask: is suicide really the solution? A way of solving the puzzle?

One sure way of trying to solve problems in life is by trying to strip all things down. That's probably the hardest thing one ought to do: analyse things, reduce them... or rather expand them to the core.

So Jacob Maia conceived this very simple song with a basic 4/4 beat and plain simple harmonics. It is construed Nirvana style: as bare-bone as can be (it is interesting to hear it played by such advanced players - something which we have already witnessed in projects of André Fernandes like Spill, including In Bloom presented with the voice of Marta Hugon).

It has a kinda chorus, like Nirvana songs have, so you can easily sing and remember it out. It even has a beatiful simple hook you can hum to.

So this is probably the best way to get people thinking about the problem: present things as straight as they are. Things are objects. Life can be an object you can object to, but it is the object of yourself. Of course this last period is only pseudo-philosophical bullshit, so I'd better get things going, and start talking again of real things.

There is a kind of peace emanating from Maia's song. This is a peace you can identify with people who have suffered so much through life that you think they're really better off with the angels. And yes, there's the famous quote presented in Morthound's Spindrift which goes like:

If you've made your peace
Then the Devils are really angels
Freeing you from the Earth

This is a quote taken from an interesting film by Adrian Lyne called Jacob's Ladder which most people seem unable to grasp, including meself. Obviously it was not borne out of the mind of Bruce Joel Rubin, the script writer, but it is a nice quotation of Master Eckhart.

So the last question today is whether suicidal people have made their peace. Catholic accounts say they do not. It is sin.

Is suicide an accomplishment or is it just an escape, like the escapes you have in Levada dos Balcões in case it just gets unbearable?

Well, I don't know. The only thing I know is that I miss my good friend. And I recollect in grievance some moments we had such as the first time we did Levada dos Balcões together: how unbearable it was on the way in and how we achieved that feeling of resolve on the way back. I sure wish we would pass that way again.

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This is the first part of a long series of texts in which I pay tribute to the memory of Victor Hugo, who has decided to depart from us on the summer of 2006.

REQUIESCAT IN PACE

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E um dia
Foi-se embora, foi
Para muito longe, ele foi e foi
Para não voltar, ele foi e foi
Ninguém o viu, foi como foi

Quando partiu
Ninguém esperava
Não se esperava
Que fosse assim

Foi, ele partiu
Ninguém esperava
Nada o esperava
Foi-se e ninguém o viu

[humming]

Para lá de tudo
Foi e foi
Sem nunca olhar para trás
Ele foi

Seguiu [o] caminho, foi para onde foi
Para outro lado, ele foi e foi

Quando partiu
Ninguém esperava
Não se esperava
Que fosse assim

Foi, ele partiu
Ninguém esperava
Nada o esperava
Foi-se e ninguém o viu

E um dia
Foi-se embora, foi
Para muito longe, ele foi e foi
Para não voltar, ele foi e foi
Ninguém o viu, foi como foi

[solo: Fernandes 2:26-3:33]

E um dia
Foi-se embora, foi
Para muito longe, ele foi e foi
Para não voltar, ele foi e foi
Ninguém o viu, foi como foi

[humming]