O relógio

The opening riff of O relógio doesn’t sound like a regular clock: it kicks off with Os Mutantes blending mechanical ticking with distorted guitars and a drumbeat that seems to spin in circles. This isn’t a track that invites you to dance, but to stand still, listening as time unravels in layers of psychedelic rock. The song doesn’t follow a traditional 4/4 meter; instead, the bass and drums weave a rhythm that stretches and contracts, as if the clock were marking different hours at once. That said, at the 2:15 mark, everything cuts abruptly: silence, then a clean chord that falls like a sigh before returning to controlled chaos.Recorded in 1968 at Record studios, the track emerged at a time when Os Mutantes shared billing with TV shows like O Pequeno Mundo, just before the rise of Jovem Guarda.

The album it belongs to, their self-titled debut, was first released on vinyl by Polydor Records and later on CD in 1992 and 2006, the latter under Universal Records. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it 9th among the 100 best Brazilian albums, but the most fascinating part isn’t that recognition: it’s how Os Mutantes made a clock sound like the future in an era when the future still smelled of plastic and experimentation.