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.
Chuvas De Verão
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Coisas do amor nunca mais
Amores do passado, do presente
Repetem velhos temas tão banais
Ressentimentos passam como o vento
São coisas de momento
São chuvas de verão
Trazer uma aflição dentro do peito.
Que se extingue com a razão
Estranha no meu peito
Estranha na minha alma
Agora eu tenho calma
Não te desejo mais
Podemos ser amigos simplesmente
Amigos, simplesmente, nada mais
Podemos ser amigos simplesmen...te
Coisas do amor nunca mais
Amores do passado, do presente
Repetem velhos temas tão banais
Ressentimentos passam como o vento
São coisas de momento
São chuvas de verão
Trazer uma aflição dentro do peito.
É dar vida a um defeito
Que se extingue com a razão
Estranha no meu peito
Estranha na minha alma
Agora eu tenho calma
Não te desejo mais
Podemos ser amigos simplesmente
Amigos, simplesmente, nada mais
The lyrics of Chuvas De Verão by Caetano Veloso are about moving on from past loves and choosing to remain friends instead of trying to hold onto something that has already ended. The song talks about how the feelings of resentment and heartache are temporary and comparing them to passing summer rains. The singer acknowledges that these emotions may initially bring pain, but ultimately they will fade away with reason.
The lyrics also suggest a sense of growth and maturity, as the singer reflects on the changes in their own feelings towards the person they have parted ways with. The song implies that while it may be difficult to let go at first, it is important to recognize when something has come to its natural end and to move on with grace.
Overall, the lyrics of Chuvas De Verão celebrate the strength and resilience of the human spirit, and the power of friendship to heal old wounds.
Line by Line Meaning
Podemos ser amigos simplesmente
We can just be friends
Coisas do amor nunca mais
Things of love won't happen anymore
Amores do passado, do presente
Loves from the past and present
Repetem velhos temas tão banais
Repeat old and banal themes
Ressentimentos passam como o vento
Resentments pass like the wind
São coisas de momento
They are things of the moment
São chuvas de verão
They are summer rains
Trazer uma aflição dentro do peito.
Bringing distress within the chest
É dar vida a um defeito
Giving life to a defect
Que se extingue com a razão
That is extinguished by reason
Estranha no meu peito
Strange in my chest
Estranha na minha alma
Strange in my soul
Agora eu tenho calma
Now I am calm
Não te desejo mais
I don't desire you anymore
Podemos ser amigos simplesmente
We can just be friends
Amigos, simplesmente, nada mais
Friends, simply nothing more
Contributed by Keira K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.