Caetano Emanoel Viana Teles Veloso (born August 7, 1942 in Santo Amaro, Bah… Read Full Bio ↴Caetano Emanoel Viana Teles Veloso (born August 7, 1942 in Santo Amaro, Bahia, Brazil), professionally known as Caetano Veloso, is a singer, composer, musician, producer, arranger, writer and political activist, being one of the most popular and influential Brazilian MPB artists of all time. With a career that exceeds five decades, Caetano has built a musical work marked by renewal and widely considered to possess great intellectual and poetic value.

Veloso is the fifth of the seven children born to José Telles Veloso ("Seu Zezinho") and Claudionor Vianna Telles Veloso ("Dona Canô"). His younger sister Maria Bethânia, another popular and renowned artist in Brazil, preceded him to fame as a singer in the mid-1960s. He began his career around 1965 singing bossa nova and he has cited his greatest musical influences from his early period as João Gilberto and Dorival Caymmi. (João Gilberto would say later about Caetano's contribution that it added an intellectual dimension to brazilian popular music.) But with such musical collaborators Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Tom Zé, Chico Buarque, and Os Mutantes, and greatly influenced by the later work of The Beatles, developed tropicalismo, which fused Brazilian pop with rock and roll and avant garde art music resulting in a more international, psychedelic, and socially aware sound. Veloso's politically active stance, unapologetically leftist, earned him the enmity of Brazil's military dictatorship which ruled until 1985; his songs were frequently censored, and some were banned. Veloso was also alienated from the socialist left in Brazil becasue of his acceptance and integration of non-nationalist influences (like rock and roll) in his music. Veloso and Gilberto Gil spent several months in jail for "anti-government activity" in 1968 and eventually exiled themselves to London. Caetano Veloso's work upon his return in 1972 was often characterized by frequent appropriations not only of international styles, but of half-forgotten Brazilian folkloric styles and rhythms as well. In particular, his celebration of the Afro-Brazilian culture of Bahia can be seen as the precursor of such Afro-centric groups as Timbalada.

In the 1980s, Veloso's popularity outside Brazil grew, especially in Israel, Portugal, France and Africa. By 2004, he was one of the most respected and prolific international pop stars, with more than fifty recordings available, including songs in soundtracks of movies such as Pedro Almodovar's Hable con Ella (Talk to Her), and Frida. In 2002 Veloso published an account of his early years and the Tropicalia movement, Tropical Truth: A Story of Music and Revolution in Brazil.

His first all-English CD was A Foreign Sound (2004), which covers Nirvana's "Come as You Are" and compositions from the Great American Songbook. Five of the six songs on his third eponymous album, released in 1971, were also in English.

Épico
Caetano Veloso Lyrics

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Ê, saudade

Todo mundo protestando contra a poluição
Até as revistas de Walt Disney
Contra a poluição

Ê, Hermeto

Smetak, Smetak e Musak e Smetak
E Musak e Smetak e Musak
E Razão

Ê, cidade

Sinto calor, sinto frio
Nor-destino no Brasil?
Vivo entre São Paulo e Rio
Porque não posso chorar

Ê, começo

Destino eu faço não peço
Tenho direito ao avesso
Botei todos os fracassos
Nas paradas de sucessos

Ê, João

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Caetano Veloso's "Épico" are imbued with a deep sense of longing and a reflection on the complexities of human existence. The recurring "ê, saudade" ("longing"), is a nod to the Portuguese concept of saudade, a melancholic yearning for something or someone that is now gone or distant. Throughout the song, Veloso also explores themes of pollution, city life, and personal achievement.

The first verse mentions how even Disney magazines are protesting against pollution, highlighting how pervasive and pressing the environmental issue is. The reference to Hermeto Pascoal, a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist and composer known for his experimental and avant-garde music, underscores Veloso's own musical experimentation and willingness to push boundaries. The use of repetitive phrases such as "Smetak, Smetak e Musak e Smetak" builds a sense of urgency and chaos.

Veloso's personal experiences and struggles also shine through in the lyrics. He sings about feeling both hot and cold, a metaphor perhaps for feeling both passion and numbness. He mentions being a Nordestino in Brazil, which adds a layer of regional identity and pride. Veloso also acknowledges the difficulty of life between São Paulo and Rio, two major Brazilian cities, where he cannot freely cry as he desires.

In the final verse, Veloso speaks of destiny, asserting that he makes his own path and doesn't rely on others. He flips the idea of failure into success by turning his "failures" into hits. Overall, the song captures the contradictions and complexities of modern life, highlighting the struggle to find balance amidst chaos.

Line by Line Meaning

Todo mundo protestando contra a poluição
Everyone is protesting against pollution

Até as revistas de Walt Disney
Even Walt Disney's magazines

Contra a poluição
Against pollution

Smetak, Smetak e Musak e Smetak
Smetak, Smetak and Musak and Smetak

E Musak e Smetak e Musak
And Musak and Smetak and Musak

E Razão
And reason

Sinto calor, sinto frio
I feel hot, I feel cold

Nor-destino no Brasil?
North-eastern region of Brazil?

Vivo entre São Paulo e Rio
I live between São Paulo and Rio

Porque não posso chorar
Because I cannot cry

Destino eu faço não peço
I make my own destiny, I don't ask for it