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From album
Os Mutantes
Os Mutantes · 1968 · Track 1
Details
Duración3:39
ÁlbumOs Mutantes
Año1968
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The story behind
Os Mutantes recorded Panis et circenses in 1968, as the first track of the album Os Mutantes, their debut disc. The song was performed by Rita Lee, Arnaldo Baptista and Sérgio Dias Baptista, with an arrangement in a psychedelic rock style by the master Rogério Duprat. The title has two versions: on the back cover of the album Tropicalia ou Panis et Circencis it appears as "Panis et Circencis", but on the disc label it is written as "Panis et Circenses". This latter form is also used on the back cover of the album Os Mutantes.
The title derives from the Latin phrase "panem et circenses", which literally means "pão e circos", and refers to the criticism of a society that is satisfied with entertainment and basic benefits, rather than with real freedoms. The song was released during the Brazilian military dictatorship, and is interpreted as a criticism of the cultural values of the time that repressed the transformations desired by the youth.