O Medo do Louco

Lyrics#

[Intro]
(Slow, dissonant Viola notes)
(Sound of footsteps echoing)
(Heavy breathing)

[Verse 1]
(Low voice, narrating with suspicion)
Cheguei na Rua Garay, o portão tava encostado
O primo me esperava, com o olho revirado
Me ofereceu um conhaque, num copo sujo de pó
Bebi pra criar coragem... desceu queimando o gogó
Ele apontou pro chão, pra uma porta de alçapão
"É lá embaixo, Borges, que vive a revelação"

[Verse 2]
A escada era estreita, cheiro de mofo e passado
Cada degrau que eu descia, me sentia mais fechado
A umidade subia, grudava na minha pele
Eu pensei: "Meu Deus do céu, a loucura dele expele"
Ele trancou a porta? Eu ouvi a chave girar?
Será que é hoje o dia que eu vou me acabar?

[Chorus]
(Tense, slightly louder)
Tô num porão escuro com um louco varrido
Enterrado vivo, sem ter nem pedido
Aquele conhaque tinha um gosto amargo...
Será veneno? Será letargo?
Vim ver um milagre, mas sinto o perigo
O medo é o único que desceu comigo

[Bridge]
(Spoken/Whispered - mimicking Carlos' instructions)
"Deita no chão, primo! Deita de costas!"
"Olha pro décimo nono degrau!"
"Não mexe a cabeça, aguenta o mau cheiro!"
"O Aleph não gosta de quem é ligeiro!"

[Verse 3]
(Singing again, panic rising)
Ele colocou um saco embaixo da minha nuca
Eu ali estirado, nessa posição maluca
O escuro era tanto que pesava no peito
Carlos saiu correndo, me deixou desse jeito
"Se eu gritar ninguém ouve", o pensamento ecoou
E no silêncio da terra... o tempo parou.

[Outro]
(Very slow fading viola)
Sozinho.
No escuro.
Esperando a morte... ou a luz.
(Silence)

Composer Notes#

This is the track that should come before “O Aleph” — the narrator’s perspective descending to the cellar, not as a mystic in search of revelation, but as a man with reasonable fear of having been poisoned by a madman. The original story has this dimension and it is frequently ignored in philosophical readings: Borges-the-character lies down on the fetid floor of a dark cellar, drinks a cognac of bitter taste offered by Carlos Argentino, hears the key turn in the lock, and waits. The fear is completely justified. The vision of the Aleph, when it comes, is almost a surprise after the terror.

I wanted the instrumentation of the Pantanal to carry that weight: viola de cocho with dissonance, rabeca like a rusted door hinge, heavy bordões from the acoustic guitar. This is not decorative folklore — it’s folklore as the material of anguish. Suno delivered exactly the atmosphere of tension I asked for, the viola appearing and disappearing like held breath. The vocal instructions in the text — “narrating with suspicion,” “panic rising” — were respected in the track’s progression: the narrator begins with distrust and ends with silence pressing down.

The line that matters most to me is in the chorus: “Vim ver um milagre, mas sinto o perigo / O medo é o único que desceu comigo” — “I came to see a miracle, but I feel the danger / Fear is the only thing that came down with me.” That captures the epistemological situation of anyone who descends in search of something they don’t know exists. You bring curiosity, you bring a willingness to believe — but what actually accompanies you is fear. And fear isn’t weakness here; it’s the only available instrument of reading in a dark cellar with a cognac of dubious taste. The narrator still doesn’t know whether what follows is revelation or hallucination. This track exists precisely in that interval.