“Help Your Brother”

Abstract

This chapter examines foothills forró as a form of environmental protest, voiced through the strategic use of nostalgia, through dancing bodies and occupied spaces, and through explicit requests aimed at the government and the Brazilian populace alike. Much scholarship on foothills forró understands the genre as either a kitschy regional caricature or as an authentic channel from the city to the backlands. Instead, this chapter considers it a deliberate effort to generate sympathy and aid for northeasterners, for whom it also offered comfort and a musical space-time of their own.