Maculele is a Brazilian dance/mock-fight performed with sticks. I’m not going into detail about the dance, but if you’re interested, there are plenty of videos available on Youtube.  Several of the stories of its origins tell of a boy named Maculele who died fighting an enemy tribe that invaded his village. Several years ago, when I wrote the lyrics to this song,  I had heard a basic version of the story but was unable to find many details, so I made them up. Now that there is more info about the dance available on the internet, I see I got some of my details wrong, but lets just call that artistic license. The music in this song borrows some elements from the music used for the dance, but the tempo and instrumentation give it more of a hip-hop feel.  Lyrics are after the break.

Maculele
lyrics and music by Ahd Child

Verse 1
His people came first
He was ready to move the earth
If that’s what it took
To help the tribe of his birth
They were a product of the earth
But developed and diverged
Producing beautiful examples
Of when many minds merge
Every single hut
Each cultivated piece of land
Was one more instance
Of the fruit of work of man
They built it all with their hands
And had a strong sense pride
And they built each other up
So they all had strong minds
A total stranger
Will feel like a relative
After a lifetime
Of shared work and experience
It’s thicker than water
Consistency of blood
Hard to wash away
Though it may rain and it may flood
They were too strong to be undone
Linked by strength of their hearts
And the power of the whole
Outstripped the sum of its parts
His neighbors were his life
Because he was theirs to them
So he was prepared to die
If he was called on to defend

Chorus
He jumps and he dances but this is not game
Or at least if it is it’s a deadly way to play
They attacked the tribe of the bravest of the brave
They made a big mistake, Maculele

Verse 2
They had a peaceful way of living
Didn’t mess with other tribes
They lived and let live
And loved how they lived their lives
They were far from warriors
Always avoided fights
But life is constant change
And things changed one night
A group of invaders
With malicious intent
Surrounded the tribe
While they all slept
Most met death
Without waking from their sleep
But one invader was slow
And one victim got to scream
Maculele woke from dreams
And saw what was going down
The blood of his family
Covered the ground
He was the last left alive
They had killed his whole tribe
He was so full of grief
That he couldn’t even cry
He could have snuck away to hide
And tried to build a new life
Or avenge the lost lives
But if he did he knew he’d die
But there was nothing to decide
They had destroyed all he treasured
The desperation he felt
Called for desperate measures

Chorus

Verse 3
This peaceful young man
Had never been a fighter
But anger does much
And his heart was on fire
He grabbed two wooden sticks
And walked out in the open
Paused, looked around
Continued on after a moment
One invader noticed
And he chose to kill this no one
But Maculele was quick
And he left his skull broken
Two more tried to engage him
But they didn’t even faze him
He killed them both quickly
As the rage overcame him
The moon lit the bloody night
It was an incredible sight
One man defeating many
It was the most amazing fight
He jumped so often and so high
That it seemed that he could fly
When the invaders died
They saw death from the sky
But Maculele
Was just a human being
And as he got cut
He grew weaker from the bleeding
As he killed his last foe
He fell to his knees
Too weak to stand
And then too weak to breathe

Chorus

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