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.
Ana de Amsterdam
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
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Da compra, da venda, da troca das pernas
Dos braços, das bocas, do lixo, dos bichos, das fichas
Sou Ana das loucas
Até amanhã
Sou Ana, da cama
Da cana, fulana, bacana (sacana)*
Sou Ana de Amsterdam
Eu cruzei um oceano
Na esperança de casar
Fiz mil bocas pra Solano
Fui beijada por Gaspar
Sou Ana de cabo a tenente
Sou Ana de toda patente, das Índias
Sou Ana do Oriente, Ocidente, acidente, gelada
Sou Ana, obrigada
Até amanhã, sou Ana
Do cabo, do raso, do rabo, dos ratos
Sou Ana de Amsterdam
Arrisquei muita braçada
Na esperança de outro mar
Hoje sou carta marcada
Hoje sou jogo de azar
Sou Ana de vinte minutos
Sou Ana da brasa dos brutos na coxa
Que apaga charutos
Sou Ana dos dentes rangendo
E dos olhos enxutos
Até amanhã, sou Ana
Das marcas, das macas, das vacas, das pratas
Sou Ana de Amsterdam
The lyrics to Caetano Veloso's song Ana de Amsterdam are about a woman named Ana and her experiences in the city of Amsterdam. Ana describes herself as a woman of the docks and trades, with all of the dirty and gritty experiences that come with it. She is Ana of the crazy ones, and she is just passing through until tomorrow. Ana then continues to describe herself as a woman of many facets, including pleasure and pain. She has crossed an ocean in the hopes of marriage, but has only been kissed by men named Solano and Gaspar. She is a woman of different ranks and regions, and is thankful for each experience. Finally, Ana details her risks and vulnerabilities as a person who tried to navigate the waters of life in the hopes of finding something more, but ultimately has become a marked card in the game of life.
The lyrics of Ana de Amsterdam speak to the human experience of taking risks and encountering the gritty parts of life. Ana is a woman emblematic of the wounded, the risk-takers, and the survivors of life. The use of specific names and references throughout the song grounds the listener in a specific time and place but also adds to the emotional realism of Ana's story.
Line by Line Meaning
Sou Ana do dique e das docas
I am Ana of the quay and the docks
Da compra, da venda, da troca das pernas
Of buying, selling, and changing legs
Dos braços, das bocas, do lixo, dos bichos, das fichas
Of arms, mouths, garbage, animals, and chips
Sou Ana das loucas
I am Ana of the crazy
Até amanhã
Until tomorrow
Sou Ana, da cama
I am Ana of the bed
Da cana, fulana, bacana (sacana)*
Of sugar cane, cool girl, cool guy (scoundrel)*
Sou Ana de Amsterdam
I am Ana of Amsterdam
Eu cruzei um oceano
I crossed an ocean
Na esperança de casar
In the hope of marrying
Fiz mil bocas pra Solano
I made a thousand kisses for Solano
Fui beijada por Gaspar
I was kissed by Gaspar
Sou Ana de cabo a tenente
I am Ana from cabo to tenente
Sou Ana de toda patente, das Índias
I am Ana of all rank, from the Indies
Sou Ana do Oriente, Ocidente, acidente, gelada
I am Ana of the East, West, accident, frozen
Sou Ana, obrigada
I am Ana, thank you
Do cabo, do raso, do rabo, dos ratos
Of the cape, the shallow, the tail, the rats
Sou Ana de Amsterdam
I am Ana of Amsterdam
Arrisquei muita braçada
I risked many strokes
Na esperança de outro mar
In the hope of another sea
Hoje sou carta marcada
Today I am a marked card
Hoje sou jogo de azar
Today I am a game of chance
Sou Ana de vinte minutos
I am Ana of twenty minutes
Sou Ana da brasa dos brutos na coxa
I am Ana of the strong embers on the thigh
Que apaga charutos
That extinguishes cigars
Sou Ana dos dentes rangendo
I am Ana of the gnashing teeth
E dos olhos enxutos
And the dry eyes
Até amanhã, sou Ana
Until tomorrow, I am Ana
Das marcas, das macas, das vacas, das pratas
Of marks, stretchers, cows, and silver
Sou Ana de Amsterdam
I am Ana of Amsterdam
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Melissa Martins
Sou Ana do dique e das docas
Da compra, da venda, das trocas de pernas
Dos braços, das bocas, do lixo, dos bichos, das fichas
Sou Ana das loucas
Até amanhã
Sou Ana
Da cama, da cana, fulana, sacana
Sou Ana de Amsterdam
Eu cruzei um oceano
Na esperança de casar
Fiz mil bocas pra Solano
Fui beijada por Gaspar
Sou Ana de cabo a tenente
Sou Ana de toda patente, das Índias
Sou Ana do oriente, ocidente, acidente, gelada
Sou Ana, obrigada
Até amanhã, sou Ana
Do cabo, do raso, do rabo, dos ratos
Sou Ana de Amsterdam
Arrisquei muita braçada
Na esperança de outro mar
Hoje sou carta marcada
Hoje sou jogo de azar
Sou Ana de vinte minutos
Sou Ana da brasa dos brutos na coxa
Que apaga charutos
Sou Ana dos dentes rangendo
E dos olhos enxutos
Até amanhã, sou Ana
Das marcas, das macas, da vacas, das pratas
Sou Ana de Amsterdam