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.
Cobra Coral
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
a fim de que eu copie as cores com que te adornas,
a fim de que eu fa�a um colar para dar � minha amada,
a fim de que tua beleza
tua eleg�ncia
reinem sobre as cobras n�o corais
The lyrics to Caetano Veloso's "Cobra coral" speak of a desire to capture the beauty and allure of a coral snake. The singer implores the snake to stop its undulating movements so that he can copy the colors of its skin and create a necklace for his beloved. The goal is for the beauty, languor, and elegance of the snake to reign over other non-coral snakes.
The imagery of the snake is used as a metaphor for both danger and beauty. The coral snake is known for its dangerous venomous bite, but it also has striking and alluring colors. The singer desires to capture this perilous and enchanting essence in order to impress his loved one. The act of creating the necklace also represents a kind of conquest or triumph over the fear associated with the snake, as the singer seeks to tame and possess its beauty.
Overall, the lyrics of "Cobra coral" express a complex mix of desire, danger, and beauty, with the singer striving to capture and possess the essence of the coral snake to win the heart of his beloved.
Line by Line Meaning
P�ra de ondular, agora, cobra coral:
Stop your movements now, coral snake,
a fim de que eu copie as cores com que te adornas,
So that I may copy the colors with which you adorn yourself,
a fim de que eu fa�a um colar para dar � minha amada,
So that I can make a necklace to give to my beloved,
a fim de que tua beleza
So that your beauty,
teu langor
Your languor,
tua eleg�ncia
Your elegance,
reinem sobre as cobras n�o corais
May reign over the non-coral snakes
Contributed by Oliver M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mateus Uchôa
Essa é uma canção Tupinambá registrada pelo filósofo Michel de Montaigne, no séc. XVI. Os mesmos versos aparecem ao final do ensaio filosófico Os Canibais, onde Montagine colhe relatos de 2 indígenas Tupinambá que haviam aportado na cidade de Roen na França a convite da coroa francesa. Todo o texto expressa a relativização dos valores culturais eurocêntricos através da visão indígena. Muito tempo depois o poeta Waly Salomão colocou a canção como poema em um de seus livros. Foi a partir daí que Caetano se inspirou pra fazer a canção. Vejam o caminho de mais de 5 séculos desse en-canto indígena. Só Caetano para reviver isso!
Lukaas Adler Seth
Incrível. Não sabia.
MrZiizie
O trecho do ensaio de Montaigne: “Cobra, para, para, cobra, a fim de que minha irmã tire do molde da tua pintura a forma e o feitio de um rico cordão que darei à minha amada; assim, sejam para sempre tua beleza e teu porte preferidos aos de todas as outras serpentes”
Fernando Lobos
Hermosa cancion para dia domingo
Fabio Baruffolo
Semplizmente Caetano
Filipe Algodão
Genial... ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
syncopath
Beleza !!! 10x.
전현주
어쩜..너무 좋아...♥
Luiz Lobo Oficial
Zélia Duncan no backing vocal!