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.
Chega De Saudade
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Vai, minha tristeza
e diz a ela
que sem ela nao pode ser
diz-lhe numa prece
que ela regresse
Chega de saudade
a realidade é que sem ela nao há mais paz, nao há beleza
é só tristeza e melancolia que nao sai de mim, nao sai de mim, nao sai
Mas, se ela voltar
se ela voltar
que coisa linda,
que coisa louca
Pois há menos peixinhos
A nadar no mar
do que os beijinhos que eu darei na sua boca
Dentro dos meus braços
os abraços hão de ser milhões de abraços
apertado asimm
colado assim
calado assim
abraços e beijnhos
e carinhos sem ter fim
que é acabar com esse negócio
de você viver sem mim
Nao quero mais esse negócio
de você tao longe assim
vamos deixar esse negócio de você longe de mim.
"Chega De Saudade" is a classic bossa nova song by Brazilian musicians Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, famously performed by Caetano Veloso. The song describes the singer's longing for his lost love and his plea for her to return. The opening lines, "Go, my sadness, and tell her that without her it cannot be, tell her in prayer that she should return because I can no longer suffer," establish the tone of the song. The chorus "Enough of longing, the reality is that without her there is no peace, no beauty, only sadness and melancholia that won't leave me," further emphasizes the desperation of the singer's plea.
The second half of the song takes a hopeful turn as the singer imagines the possibility of his love returning. The lines "But if she returns, oh what a beautiful, crazy thing, for there are fewer fish in the sea than the kisses I will give her," demonstrates the intensity of the singer's longing. The final lines, "Let's leave behind this business of you being so far away, let's leave behind this business of you living without me," express the singer's determination to reunite with his love.
Line by Line Meaning
Vai, minha tristeza
My sadness, please go away
e diz a ela
And tell her
que sem ela nao pode ser
That without her, it can't be
diz-lhe numa prece
Tell her in a prayer
que ela regresse
That she comes back
porque eu nao posso mais sofrer
Because I can't suffer anymore
Chega de saudade
Enough of missing
a realidade é que sem ela nao ha mais paz, nao ha beleza
The reality is that without her, there is no peace, no beauty
é só tristeza e melancolia que nao sai de mim, nao sai de mim, nao sai
It's just sadness and melancholy that don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave
Mas, se ela voltar
But, if she comes back
se ela voltar
If she comes back
que coisa linda,
What a beautiful thing
que coisa louca
What a crazy thing
Pois há menos peixinhos
For there are fewer fishes
A nadar no mar
Swimming in the sea
do que os beijinhos que eu darei na sua boca
Than the little kisses I will give on her lips
Dentro dos meus braços
Inside my arms
os abraços hão de ser milhões de abraços
The hugs will be millions of hugs
apertado assim
Hugged tightly
colado assim
Stuck together like this
calado assim
Silent like this
abraços e beijnhos
Hugs and kisses
e carinhos sem ter fim
And endless affection
que é acabar com esse negócio
That will end this matter
de você viver sem mim
Of you living without me
Nao quero mais esse negócio
I don't want this matter anymore
de você tao longe assim
Of you being so far away
vamos deixar esse negócio de você longe de mim.
Let's leave this matter of you being far away from me.
Contributed by Gavin T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Takezo Miyamoto
best version ever... to me, at least.
María C AC
Vai
Minha tristeza
E diz a ela
Que sem ela
Não pode ser
Diz-lhe numa prece
Que ela regresse
Porque eu não posso
Mais sofrer
Chega de saudade
A realidade
É que sem ela
Não há paz
Não há beleza
É só tristeza
E a melancolia
Que não sai de mim
Não sai de mim
Não sai
Mas se ela voltar
Se ela voltar
Que coisa linda
Que coisa louca
Pois há
Menos peixinhos
A nadar no mar
Do que
Os beijinhos
Que eu darei
Na sua boca
Dentro
Dos meus braços
Os abraços
Hão de ser
Milhões
De abraços
Apertado assim
Colado assim
Calado assim
Abraços
E beijinhos
E carinhos
Sem ter fim
Que é pra acabar
Com esse negócio
De você
Viver sem mim
Francesc Roca
Gràcies per compartir.