Book, Just for today and forever: diary of new beginnings[LS]

“I lost twenty out of twenty-nine friendships/ because of a stone in my hands”, read the opening verses of the album O Descobrimento do Brasil, released by Legião Urbana in November 1993. Less than six months earlier, in April of the same year , Renato Russo entered the Vila Serena rehabilitation clinic, in Rio de Janeiro, not only to get rid of alcohol and drugs, but also to delve into a deep reflection on his life. The twenty-nine days that the musician spent interned there would leave a profound mark on him, both in his personal trajectory and in his artistic production, as revealed by the various subsequent lyrics which, like “Vinte e nove”, refer to this radical experience of seclusion. “I spent twenty-nine months on a ship/ and twenty-nine days in prison,” the song goes, “and at twenty-nine, with the return of Saturn,/ I decided to start living.” Perfectionist and demanding in all stages of his creative process, from composition to performance in front of the public, the man who was at the head of Legião Urbana - one of the most successful bands in the history of Brazilian music - faced the Program of Twelve Steps offered by the clinic, strictly following the proposed therapeutic writing exercises. It is this unpublished material that comes to light after more than twenty years in Just for Today and Forever, fulfilling the author's desire to have his work published posthumously. Interweaving Renato's memories with passages of self-analysis and a hopeful look at the future, this account offers his fans, in addition to being a valuable historical document, an intimate contact with the artist and a decisive example of overcoming. “And twenty-nine angels greeted me/ And I had twenty-nine friends again.” More than twenty years later, an unprecedented account of the days that the leader of Legião Urbana spent in a rehabilitation clinic to combat drug addiction and find his way back to life has come to light. the balance.