Caetano Emanoel Viana Teles Veloso (born August 7, 1942 in Santo Amaro, Bah… Read Full Bio ↴Caetano Emanoel Viana Teles Veloso (born August 7, 1942 in Santo Amaro, Bahia, Brazil), professionally known as Caetano Veloso, is a singer, composer, musician, producer, arranger, writer and political activist, being one of the most popular and influential Brazilian MPB artists of all time. With a career that exceeds five decades, Caetano has built a musical work marked by renewal and widely considered to possess great intellectual and poetic value.

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.

Coimbra
Caetano Veloso Lyrics

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Coimbra é uma lição
De sonho e tradição
O lente é uma canção
E a lua a faculdade
O livro é uma mulher
Só passa quem souber
E aprende-se a dizer saudade

Coimbra do choupal
Ainda és capital
Do amor em Portugal, ainda
Coimbra onde uma vez
Com lágrimas se fez
A história dessa Inês tão linda

Coimbra das canções
Coimbra que nos põe
Os nossos corações, à luz
Coimbra dos doutores

Pra nós os seus cantores
A fonte dos amores és tu

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Caetano Veloso's song "Coimbra" are a tribute to the city of Coimbra in Portugal, which is known for its rich history and cultural traditions. The first verse sets the scene by describing Coimbra as a lesson in dreams and traditions. The professors are like songs and the moon is the university. The book is compared to a woman, only those who know how to pass through can learn to express longing.

The second verse speaks directly to the city of Coimbra, calling it the capital of love in Portugal. The song references the story of Inês de Castro, a tragic figure in Portuguese history who became a symbol of eternal love. The singer refers to Coimbra as a city that still makes people cry for Inês de Castro's love. The final verse describes Coimbra as a place that inspires songs and ignites passion. Coimbra is also known for its prestigious university and its distinguished faculty, who are regarded as the source of love and knowledge.

Overall, the song "Coimbra" is a poignant tribute to the vibrant and dynamic city of Coimbra, a place that continues to inspire people with its rich history, traditions, and cultural contributions.

Line by Line Meaning

Coimbra é uma lição
Coimbra serves as a lesson

De sonho e tradição
Of dreams and tradition

O lente é uma canção
The professor is a song

E a lua a faculdade
And the moon the university

O livro é uma mulher
The book is a woman

Só passa quem souber
Only those who know can pass

E aprende-se a dizer saudade
And one learns to say 'saudade'

Coimbra do choupal
Coimbra of the willow grove

Ainda és capital
You are still the capital

Do amor em Portugal, ainda
Of love in Portugal, still

Coimbra onde uma vez
Coimbra where once