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.
Coisa Assassina
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Então vai tudo bem, agora
Se tá tudo dominado, quer dizer, drogado
Então vai tudo pro além
Antes da hora, antes da hora
Maldita seja essa coisa assassina
Que se vende em quase toda esquina
E no entanto é só doença, monotonia da loucura, e
Morte
Monotonia da loucura e morte
The lyrics to "Coisa Assassina" by Caetano Veloso lament the dominance of a dangerous and deadly force that pervades society. The opening lines suggest that if everything is controlled by love, then things are going well. However, if the control is instead in the hands of a drug addiction, then everything is headed towards destruction. The following lines speak to the insidious nature of this force, which can be found on almost every street corner and yet masquerades as something else entirely--a belief system, an ideology, a cultural activity. Despite these disguises, what lurks behind them is actually a disease that leads to the monotony of insanity and ultimately, death. The repetition of the word "morte" at the end is a stark reminder of the inevitable consequence of succumbing to this force.
The song is a powerful indictment of the devastating impact of drug addiction, which can be seen not only in individual lives, but also in larger societal structures that perpetrate and profit from it. Veloso's lyrics are also a critique of the way in which this force can hide in plain sight, cloaking itself in the trappings of accepted norms and values. By exposing this cloak, Veloso unapologetically calls out the destructive power that lurks beneath, the "coisa assassina" that must be named and shamed if society is to overcome it.
Line by Line Meaning
Se tá tudo dominado pelo amor
If everything is ruled by love,
Então vai tudo bem, agora
Then everything is alright now
Se tá tudo dominado, quer dizer, drogado
If everything is ruled, meaning, drugged
Então vai tudo pro além
Then everything goes beyond
Antes da hora, antes da hora
Before the time, before the time
Maldita seja essa coisa assassina
Cursed be this killing thing
Que se vende em quase toda esquina
That is sold in almost every corner
E que passa por crença, ideologia, cultura, esporte
That passes for belief, ideology, culture, sport
E no entanto é só doença, monotonia da loucura, e
While, in reality, it is just a disease, monotony of madness, and
Morte
Death
Monotonia da loucura e morte
Monotony of madness and death
Contributed by Gabriella N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.