Police (by Titãs), is to who needs police


The majority of the members of the band Titãs met at Colégio Equipe in São Paulo at the end of the seventies and, after their first live performance at the school itself in 1981, the band began to play shows in several night clubs in the city. The first formation was: Arnaldo Antunes (vocals), Branco Mello (vocals), Marcello Fromer (guitar), Nando Reis (bass guitar), Paulo Miklos (sax and vocals), Sergio Britto (keyboards and vocals), Tony Bellotto (guitar), Ciro Pessoa (vocals) and André Jung (drums). It was a pop/new wave-styled band, with a rather conventional sound and odd looks, with tender and little ball neckties. In 1984, without Ciro Pessoa, who left over a disagreement about Andre Jung's drumming skills, the band signed with the WEA label to record their first album, Titãs, produced by Pena Schimdt. Although poorly promoted and hardly a success, the band spawned their first hit: "Sonífera Ilha"(Sleepy Island), later recorded by singer Moraes Moreira. In 1985, with Charles Gavin replacing André Jung on drums (the latter going on to Ira!), their second album, Televisão (Television), produced by Lulu Santos, was released with tighter arrangements than their debut album. Not only was the title track their greatest hit to date, the album was more heavily promoted than the first one and brought more opportunities to the group. In November 1985, Tony Bellotto and Arnaldo Antunes were arrested for heroin traffic and transportation. The episode made so much of an impact in the band, the next album, Cabeça Dinossauro, released in June 1986, contained a lot of tracks criticizing the public institutions ("Estado Violência"(Violence State) and "Polícia"(Police)), as well as other "pillars" of the Brazilian society and indeed society in general ("Igreja" (Church) and "Família" (Family)). The heavy and punk-influenced rhythms and the forceful lyrics, characteristic of the band in this phase, are fully represented in this album which is considered by the critics one of the best works of the group and one of the landmarks of the Brazilian rock.

(Portuguese lyrics for Policia)

Dizem que ela existe pra ajudar
Dizem que ela existe pra proteger
Eu sei que ela pode te parar
Eu sei que ela pode te prender

Policia! Para que precisa?
Policia! Para que precisa de policia?

Dizem pra você obedecer
Dizem pra você responder

Dizem pra você cooperar
Dizem pra você respeitar

(My English version)
They say that it exists to help
They say that it exists to protect
I know that it can stop you
I know that it can arrest you

Police! To what needs?
Police! To what needs police?

They say for you to obey
They say for you to answer

They say for you to cooperate
They say for you to respect