"Alagados" is a song written by Bi Ribeiro, João Barone, and Herbert Vianna, which are the three members from Os Paralamas do Sucesso.
[1] The song describes the reality of Brazilian slums, more specifically in the city of Rio de Janeiro (specifically the verse "a cidade que tem braços abertos num cartão-postal" meaning "the city with open arms on a postcard") during the economic crisis that hit the nation in the 1980s, the "lost decade".
[1] The song portrays Rio de Janeiro as a place with "fists" which denies its poorest residents.
[citation needed] In the background, the band used images of large pockets of poverty on beaches around the world—the slums of Alagados in Salvador, Trenchtown in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica and at Maré in Rio[1]—to show the contrast between the cities' joy (these three cities were synonymous with the party) and sadness (mostly situated in its poor residents in the slums).
[citation needed] The music video follows the song closely, showing scenes of slums in horrible conditions, garbage pick ups, street vendors and homelessness.