Paranaue is arguably the most popular and well known song in Capoeira, and it's probably the most well known Capoeira song to people outside of the art. It’s the song people sing as a joke when they can tell the people around them don't know the song they’re singing. But what is it that we are actually singing about? If you take a cursory look at the lyrics, it honestly isn’t really clear. The verses are often improvised for situational relevance, and even the “standard” verses seem at best oblique references to something. For those who have asked the question of “what is this even about” in the past, you were probably told that it had to do with a War with Paraguay that Capoeiristas fought in. But what do we really know about this war with Paraguay, why is it so relevant, and why has this song of all others become so well known? Those are the questions that I want to dig into in this episode.
The research for this episode took me far deeper into South American history than I expected, and there were some really surprising turns and revelations along the way, so I hope you enjoy as we take a dive into Paranaue and the War of the Triple Alliance.