Construção (song)

"Construção" narrates the events of the last day of a construction worker's life, who is killed in the course of his daily activities. The song tells the story from the beginning of his day until his death. Over three sections of verses (stanzas), the narrator observes, organizes and communicates the daily activities that took place in a circular narration, sung in reiterative melody and poetic structure, modifying the viewing angle in each section by changing the placement of the last word. This replacement process creates strong imageries denoting the disposable nature of labor in a cut-throat capitalistic system that dehumanizes and disempowers workers and sees as disposable commodities. All three stanzas conclude in the worker's death with different semantic impact and imagery of powerful intensity.

As stated before, the lyrics are seen as a strong critique of the alienation of the worker in a modern, urban capitalist society, reduced to a mechanical condition, especially intensified in the third stanza. When the worker eventually falls to his death, the lyrics revealing that his body "smashed on the street" is a nuisance to "the traffic," "the crowd," and "the Saturday" (of the public), respectively.

The lyrics are constructed in order to add effective pathos incrementally, building a tour de force in meaning and image piece by piece, verse by verse. The song is known for its interchangeable last word of each line, which Buarque described as being put together "as if they were pieces of a board game."[5]