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.
Chão Da Praça
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Olhos negros cruéis, tentadores das multidões sem cantor
Meu amor quem ficou nessa dança meu amor tem pé na dança
Nossa dor meu amor é que balança nossa dor o chão da praça
Vê que já detonou som na praça porque já todo pranto rolou
Olhos negros cruéis, tentadores das multidões sem cantor ...
Olhos ne gros cruéis, tentadores das multidões sem cantor
Eu era menino, menino um beduíno com ouvido de mercador Ô ô ô ôô ô ô
Tem que dançar a dança que a nossa dor balança o chão da praça ôuôuô(2x)
Meu amor quem ficou nessa dança meu amor tem pé na dança
Nossa dor meu amor é que balança nossa dor o chão da praça
Vê que já detonou som na praça porque já todo pranto rolou
Olhos negros cruéis, tentadores das multidões sem cantor ...
Olhos negros cruéis, tentadores das multidões sem cantor
Eu era menino, menino um beduíno com ouvido de mercador Ô ô ô ôô ô ô
Lá no oriente tem gente com olhar de lança na dança do meu amor(2x)
Tem que dançar a dança que a nossa dor balança o chão da praça ôuôuô(2x)
Balança o chão da praça Ô u ô u ô balança o chão da praça
Ô u ô u ô balança o chão da praça Ô u ô u ô b a l a n ç a o c h ã o
The lyrics to Caetano Veloso's song Chão Da Praça are a poetic expression of the emotional turmoil caused by the excruciating pain of a broken heart, and how the sheer depth of this pain can cause it to reverberate throughout a public space like a plaza or square. The singer sings about how the black, cruel eyes of the beloved can be enticing to many, but only serve to deepen the collective, unspoken pain of the masses without a voice or song. The singer, aligning his own pain to that of the masses, describes how his heartache also sways the ground beneath his feet, making the plaza shake and reverberate with the rhythm of his sorrowful dance. The somber mood of the song is accentuated by the use of repetition, particularly in the description of the beloved's eyes and the refrain of "balança o chão da praça", which means "shake the ground of the plaza".
The second verse of the song is somewhat more upbeat, with the singer reminiscing about his childhood and a place in the east where people danced with a lance-like gaze. However, this momentary relief from the pain is short-lived, as he soon returns to the theme of the collective pain that unifies people beyond differences of age, gender, or ethnicity.
Overall, Chão Da Praça is an evocative and passionate exploration of the nature of pain, and how it can unite people, even across cultural boundaries.
Line by Line Meaning
Olhos negros cruéis, tentadores das multidões sem cantor
Black cruel eyes, tempting the crowds without a singer
Meu amor quem ficou nessa dança meu amor tem pé na dança
My love who stayed in this dance has a foot in the dance
Nossa dor meu amor é que balança nossa dor o chão da praça
Our pain, my love, is what shakes the ground of the square
Vê que já detonou som na praça porque já todo pranto rolou
See that there's already sound in the square because all the tears have rolled
Eu era menino, menino um beduíno com ouvido de mercador Ô ô ô ôô ô ô
I was a boy, a boy like a Bedouin with a keen ear Ô ô ô ôô ô ô
Lá no oriente tem gente com olhar de lança na dança do meu amor(2x)
In the East, there are people with spear-like glances in the dance of my love (2x)
Tem que dançar a dança que a nossa dor balança o chão da praça ôuôuô(2x)
We must dance the dance that our pain shakes the ground of the square ôuôuô (2x)
Balança o chão da praça Ô u ô u ô balança o chão da praça
Shake the ground of the square Ô u ô u ô shake the ground of the square
Ô u ô u ô balança o chão da praça Ô u ô u ô b a l a n ç a o c h ã o
Ô u ô u ô shake the ground of the square Ô u ô u ô shake the ground
Contributed by Savannah F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Luan Guilherme Basler Pereira
Veveta, Claudinha, Dani Mercury e Maga deveriam fazer um álbum juntas. Rainhas S2
Rodrigo Mesquita
Esse sim é o verdadeiro show das poderosas!
Double dance df
verdade
Girassol
Falou pouco mas, falou bonito 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Elaih 1977
Yesssss
Elaih MMS
Seu comentário foi phoda!!!
Marco Anthas
Belíssima Margareth, arrasou com seu vozeirão e sensualidade, mas isso sem tirar o brilho de Ivete. Nós baianos mui bem representados.
Izabel Coelho
Duas cantora poderosa e pra respeitar arrebentando são as raízes ❤❤❤👏👏😘😘 quarentena
Marcelo Messias
O respeito por todos artístias das antigas. E um saudoso suave aos mestres dessa massa ARMANDINHO, DÔDO , OSMAR 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Júlia Gaspar
Quem tá vendo esse dueto em 2019? Ivete tem que colocar essa no repertório 😍😍