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 Grande Borboleta
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
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Leve numa asa a lua
E o sol na outra
E entre as duas a seta
A grande borboleta
Seja completa-
The lyrics of "A Grande Borboleta" by Caetano Veloso are both simple and complex. This song can be interpreted in so many ways, as it speaks to different audiences on different levels. At the most basic level, this song is about the freedom that one can attain in life. The butterfly acts as a metaphor for a person who can travel freely, without any constraints or limitations, simply by flapping its wings. The moon and the sun in the lyrics represent the yin and yang that govern our universe. The seta is the pointer that we follow through life. The message of this song is to embrace this sense of freedom, and to follow your own path in life, regardless of what others may say or think.
On a deeper level, however, there is an element of sadness in this song, as the butterfly seems to be flying away from something. It is unclear what it is, but the sense of longing and uncertainty is palpable. The lyrics can also be interpreted as being about the inevitability of change, and the fact that everything in life has a beginning and an end. The butterfly may be free now, but it will soon face its own mortality.
Line by Line Meaning
A grande borboleta
This magnificent butterfly
Leve numa asa a lua
Carries the moon on one wing
E o sol na outra
And the sun on the other
E entre as duas a seta
And between the two, an arrow
A grande borboleta
This magnificent butterfly
Seja completa-mente solta
Should be completely free
Contributed by Olivia E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.