The overpass that never fell down: city as loss in Adoniran Barbosa

The apparent lack of meaning between the improvement of Santa Efigênia overpass and the sadness unfolded in Adoniran Barbosa’s song is the starting and ending point of this article. The study of the song, which thematizes the unrealized demolition of a historical building in São Paulo, guides our attempt to interpret Adoniran’s work around the effort to make visible the loss as the core of the experience of those who inhabit the city.

KEYWORDS
Adoniran Barbosa; samba; popular music