Charamba

The 'charamba' is often sung in a challenge between two or more individuals, who compose improvised verses and take the lives of those present as the theme, making allusions that can be either amiable, spicy, or even offensive. If the spirits are already altered by frequent libations during the amusement and the verses are too irritating, it may happen that the singing ends in disorder, with the singers even breaking their own instruments over each other's heads. In the interesting book by Carlos Santos, entitled 'Tocares e Cantares da Ilha' and published in Funchal in the year 1937, there is a chapter entitled 'The Charamba,' which extensively discusses this popular Madeiran song.