Polícia

Titãs recorded Polícia in the midst of a complicated moment. The song was born right after Tony Bellotto and Arnaldo Antunes were arrested for heroin trafficking in 1985. The album Cabeça Dinossauro, where it was included, reflects that tension: bassist Branco Mello said much of the frustration from that experience was captured in the record. But the most curious part is how Sérgio Britto ended up singing the track instead of Paulo Miklos, as Bellotto had imagined when composing it. Britto recorded his vocals on the first take, almost by accident, while eavesdropping on a conversation between producer Liminha and Evandro Mesquita about deep-sea fishing, which put him in a bad mood. Though he wanted to redo it, his bandmates convinced him the first take already had the right energy. The recording time was tight: just three minutes to get everything in one go.

The song was released as a single in 1986, part of an album that marked a turning point in the band’s sound. Cabeça Dinossauro was recorded between March and April that year at the Nas Nuvens studio in Rio, with Liminha producing. The album, which earned them their first gold record months later, blended punk with other influences—a direction the Titãs pursued after the relative failure of their previous work, Televisão. The song, which criticizes the police, was later covered by Sepultura in 1997 and featured in soundtracks like Elite Squad, the Rede Globo series Força-Tarefa, and even Tales from the Crypt presents: Demon Knight in 1995. At just 2 minutes and 7 seconds, Polícia became a short but powerful track, recorded live in one take.