Acrilic On Canvas

Legião Urbana's song 'Acrilic On Canvas' is a poignant exploration of longing, regret, and the art of memory. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a love that never fully materialized, using the metaphor of creating a painting to express the depth of the narrator's emotions. The song begins with the narrator expressing a deep sense of saudade, a Portuguese word that conveys a profound sense of longing and nostalgia. This feeling is channeled into the creation of a perfect drawing of a love that never was, with the narrator copying the lines of events that never happened and mixing colors from invented paints.

The imagery in the song is rich and evocative, with the narrator describing how they prepared their canvas with pieces of sheets that were never dirtied and made a frame from the wood of the lover's window and gate. This meticulous process of creating art from the remnants of a relationship that never fully blossomed highlights the narrator's deep sense of loss and the lengths they go to preserve the memory of what could have been. The use of the lover's hair to make brushes and lipstick to create charcoal further emphasizes the intimate connection between the art and the lost love.

Throughout the song, there is a recurring theme of apologies and broken promises, with the narrator repeatedly assuring that they never meant to cause sadness or hurt. This cycle of regret and unfulfilled promises underscores the emotional turmoil and the difficulty of moving on from a love that was never fully realized. The song ends with the narrator questioning why they continue to believe in their own inventions, acknowledging that none of it happened as they imagined. The final lines reveal that it is the lover who provokes this empty longing, as the narrator tries to paint flowers named 'love-in-idleness' and 'forget-me-not,' symbolizing the enduring and unfulfilled nature of their feelings.