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.
Como 2 E 2
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Me ouvir cantar
Venha não creia eu não corro perigo
Digo não digo não ligo, deixo no ar
Eu sigo apenas porque eu gosto de cantar
Tudo vai mal, tudo
Tudo é igual quando eu canto e sou mudo
Mas eu não minto não minto
Sinto alegrias tristezas e brinco
Meu amor
Tudo em volta está deserto tudo certo
Tudo certo como dois e dois são cinco
Quando você me ouvir chorar
Tente não cante não conte comigo
Falo não calo não falo deixo sangrar
Algumas lágrimas bastam pra consolar
Tudo vai mal, tudo
Tudo mudou não me iludo e contudo
A mesma porta sem trinco, o mesmo teto
E a mesma lua a furar nosso zinco
Meu amor
Tudo em volta está deserto tudo certo
Tudo certo como dois e dois são cinco
Meu amor
Tudo em volta está deserto tudo certo
Tudo certo como dois e dois são cinco
Meu amor
Tudo em volta está deserto tudo certo
Tudo certo como dois e dois são cinco
Cinco
"Como 2 E 2" by Caetano Veloso is a song about the contradictions and ambiguities of life, love, and communication. The first verse emphasizes the singer's love of singing and how he is not afraid of danger. He is honest with his emotions and expresses them freely through his music. The phrase "tudo vai mal, tudo / tudo é igual quando eu canto e sou mudo" (everything is going wrong, everything is the same when I sing and am mute) suggests that while things may not be going well in life, music provides a refuge from these troubles. Furthermore, the line "estou longe e perto / sinto alegrias tristezas e brinco" (I am far away and close / I feel joys, sadness, and play) suggests that the feelings evoked by music are complex and not easily categorized.
The second verse deals with the pain of love and the inability to rely on others for comfort. The phrase "tudo mudou não me iludo e contudo / a mesma porta sem trinco, o mesmo teto / e a mesma lua a furar nosso zinco" (everything has changed, I'm not fooled and yet / the same door without a lock, the same roof / and the same moon piercing our tin) suggests that while the world may be changing and unpredictable, some things remain constant. Love, however, is not one of those things, as indicated by the line "quando você me ouvir chorar / tente não cante não conte comigo" (when you hear me crying / try not to sing, don't count on me).
Line by Line Meaning
Quando você
When you
Me ouvir cantar
Hear me sing
Venha não creia eu não corro perigo
Come, don't believe, I am not in danger
Digo não digo não ligo, deixo no ar
I say and don't say, don't care, leave it in the air
Eu sigo apenas porque eu gosto de cantar
I only follow because I love to sing
Tudo vai mal, tudo
Everything is going bad, everything
Tudo é igual quando eu canto e sou mudo
Everything is the same when I sing and am silent
Mas eu não minto não minto
But I don't lie, don't lie
Estou longe e perto
I am far and near
Sinto alegrias tristezas e brinco
I feel joys, sorrows, and play
Meu amor
My love
Tudo em volta está deserto tudo certo
Everything around is empty, everything is fine
Tudo certo como dois e dois são cinco
Everything's correct like two and two making five
Quando você me ouvir chorar
When you hear me cry
Tente não cante não conte comigo
Try not to sing, don't count on me
Falo não calo não falo deixo sangrar
I speak, don't stop, speak and let it bleed
Algumas lágrimas bastam pra consolar
Some tears are enough to console
Tudo vai mal, tudo
Everything is going bad, everything
Tudo mudou não me iludo e contudo
Everything has changed, I don't delude myself, and still
A mesma porta sem trinco, o mesmo teto
The same door without a lock, the same roof
E a mesma lua a furar nosso zinco
And the same moon piercing our zinc
Cinco
Five
Contributed by Caroline R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Luiz De Almeida
A musica Brasileira em pessoa.... Maravilhoso!!
Beatriz Echenique
Me encanta Caetano, lo adoro.Espero que tenga un feliz cumpleaños Saludos desde Chile
Alvaro Borges
essa e uma das suas melhores fases, uma das minhas favoritas
San S
que groso que es este tipo. Eterno, sublime.
André Hoefling
O Caetano não tem palavras, o cara é muito bom, não?!
Vinicius Moura
Esta na minha lista das melhores muscas de todos os tempos!
Adriano Nunes
Salve Caetano Veloso, a expressão máxima da música brasileira! Adriano Nunes
Marcelo
Se alguém souber pode me dizer que guitarra é essa? Marca e modelo. Valeu! Essa música me lembra a infância, meu tio cantava e curtia muito.
Mara Rúbia Souza
Sou suspeita para falar de Caetano.......tenho tudo dele...recomendo Ele e Maria Gadú... juntos em dvd....maravilha........
Natália Rosa
Ele é sensacional.