With rock'n'roll and with, you know, pop music, with the Beatles and everything, we thought that we should just be sounding national, sounding Brazilian, but sounding global as well. Because of the dictatorship, we needed a strong reaction from the society, in terms of, of enduring for freedom, for liberty, for freedom of speech, for circulation of ideas. 

 

  The Tropicalia movement included Gal Costa and Tom Ze, also from Bahia, along with poets, film directors and artists, all determined to create a new Brazilian style. Their philosophy involved cultural cannibalism, devouring different influences to create a new style. Those influences / included western pop, represented by the Beatles, pop art, the glamour and kitsch of Brazil's Hollywood star of the '40s, Carmen Miranda, music from the Brazilian regions and the country songs of Luiz Gonzaga to Bahia's Dorival Caymmi and the classic samba of Paulinho Da Viola, who sometimes appeared at Tropicalia events, as did yet another major Tropicalia hero and influence, the songwriter, Jorge Ben.