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.
A Bossa Nova É Foda
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Quem terá tido essa fazenda de areais?
Fitas cassete, uma ergométrica, uns restos de rabada
Lá fora o mundo ainda se torce para encarar a equação
Pura invenção
Dança da moda
A bossa nova é foda
O magno instrumento grego antigo
Diz que quando chegares aqui
Que é um dom que muito homem não tem
Que é influência do jazz
E tanto faz se o bardo judeu romântico de Minnesota
Porqueiro Eumeu o reconhece de volta a Ítaca
A nossa vida nunca mais será igual
Samba de roda, neo-carnaval, rio São Francisco
Rio de Janeiro, Canavial
A bossa nova é foda
O tom de tudo comanda as ondas do mar
Ondas sonoras com que colore no espacial
Homem cruel, destruidor, de brilho intenso, monumental
Deu ao poeta, velho profeta a chave da casa de munição
O velho transformou o mito das raças tristes
Em Minotauros, Júnior Cigano, em José Aldo, Lyoto Machida
Vítor Belfort, Anderson Silva e a coisa toda
A bossa nova é foda
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
A bossa nova é foda
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
A bossa nova é foda
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
A bossa nova é foda
Deu ao poeta, velho profeta a chave da casa de munição
O velho transformou o mito das raças tristes
Em Minotauros, Júnior Cigano, em José Aldo, Lyoto Machida
Vítor Belfort, Anderson Silva e a coisa toda
A bossa nova é foda
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
A bossa nova é foda
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
A bossa nova é foda
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
A bossa nova é foda
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
A bossa nova é foda
The song "A Bossa Nova É Foda" by Caetano Veloso is a tribute to the Bossa Nova genre and its continued influence on Brazilian music. The lyrics paint a picture of a mystical figure, "the wizard of Juazeiro" who resides in a cave surrounded by the scent of laurel. The location of this cave is unknown, as is the possession of an estate in the barren lands. The outside world is described as struggling to comprehend the "pure invention" that is the dance of the Bossa Nova. The song mentions different musical influences such as Greek mythology, jazz, and even a "romantic Jew from Minnesota," while emphasizing that the Bossa Nova revolution is at the center of it all. The lyrics also reference the Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, and the river São Francisco. The song ends with a repetitious chant of "A Bossa Nova É Foda" which roughly translates to "Bossa Nova is awesome."
Overall, the song celebrates the legacy of Bossa Nova and its many cultural influences. Its lyrics acknowledge the global context and musical evolution of the genre while emphasizing the impact that it continues to have on Brazilian music.
Line by Line Meaning
O bruxo de Juazeiro numa caverna do louro francês
The sorcerer of Juazeiro in a cave made of French Laurel
Quem terá tido essa fazenda de areais?
Who could have owned this sandy farm?
Fitas cassete, uma ergométrica, uns restos de rabada
Cassette tapes, an exercise bike, some leftover oxtail
Lá fora o mundo ainda se torce para encarar a equação
The world outside still struggles to face the equation
Pura invenção dança da moda
Pure invention, a dance of fashion
A bossa nova é foda
Bossa nova is awesome
O magno instrumento grego antigo
The ancient Greek magnificent instrument
Diz que quando chegares aqui
It says that when you arrive here
Que é um dom que muito homem não tem
That is a gift that not many men possess
Que é influência do jazz
That is an influence from jazz
E tanto faz se o bardo judeu
And it doesn't matter if the Jewish bard
Romântico de Minnesota
From Minnesota romantic
Porqueiro Eumeu
Swineherd Eumaeus
O reconhece de volta a Ítaca
Recognizes him back in Ithaca
A nossa vida nunca mais será igual
Our life will never be the same
Samba de roda, neo-carnaval, rio São Francisco
Circle samba, neo-carnival, São Francisco river
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Canavial
Sugarcane field
A bossa nova é foda
Bossa nova is awesome
O tom de tudo
The tone of everything
Comanda as ondas
Commands the waves
Do mar
Of the sea
Ondas sonoras
Sound waves
Com que colore no espacial
With which it colors the spatial
Homem cruel
Cruel man
Destruidor, de brilho intenso, monumental
Destroyer, of intense shine, monumental
Deu ao poeta, velho profeta
Gave to the poet, old prophet
A chave da casa
The key to the house
De munição
Of ammunition
O velho transformou o mito
The old man transformed the myth
Das raças tristes
Of the sad races
Em Minotauros, Júnior Cigano
Into Minotaurs, Junior Cigano
Em José Aldo, Lyoto Machida
Into Jose Aldo, Lyoto Machida
Vítor Belfort, Anderson Silva
Vitor Belfort, Anderson Silva
E a coisa toda
And the whole thing
A bossa nova é foda
Bossa nova is awesome
A bossa nova é foda
Bossa nova is awesome
A bossa nova é foda
Bossa nova is awesome
A bossa nova é foda
Bossa nova is awesome
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Caetano Emmanuel Viana Teles Veloso
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mari's Golden Hour
Just heard this on Patriot. Really digging this song and definitely the show so far.
Laila Rocha
O Caetano é foda
Bob Lablah
Awesome tune...
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records releases Caetano Veloso’s album Abraçaço in North America on March 25, 2014. Abraçaço is the final installment of a trilogy with the youthful trio of 2007’s Cê and 2009’s zii e zie. A fusion of Tropicália and the indie pop of contemporary Rio, Abraçaço includes 11 original songs written by Veloso. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include instant downloads of the tracks "A Bossa Nova É Foda," heard here, and "Um Abraçaço." Preorder: http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/abracaco
landdcollection
wow, I really wasn't expecting this here!
Dough Naughty
Patriot brought me here
darkfeffy
That scene was hilarious and awesome
GandalfWisdom
same, amazing show
Stevie 2.0
@darkfeffy not to mention utterly depressing.
Silvana Vucic
Very Sorry I missed you in Bari, Italy :-(