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.
Drume Neguinha
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
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Que eu te transo uma nova caminha
Que venha ter muito axé
Que tenha gosto d'ocê
Drume pretinha
Que eu te trago de toda Bahia
Tudo que der pra trazer
Se tu drume eu te descolo um araçá
Cor do céu de lá
Se não drume esse mandu de carnaval
Não vai pegar
The lyrics to Caetano Veloso's song "Drume Neguinha" describe the desire to create a new path for a black girl, filled with joy and energy. The first verse opens with an invitation to drift into a deeper slumber and be transported to a new place, where there is much "axé" (a term that refers to the energy and spirit found in Afro-Brazilian culture), something that the singer hopes will come to her easily because it will have her own unique flavor. The second verse similarly invites the girl to rest and promises to bring her everything he can from Bahia, as long as it is with pleasure.
The final lines of the song suggest that if she rests deeply enough, a "araçá" (a fruit native to Brazil with a sky-colored exterior) will be revealed to her, something that she will miss if she doesn't allow herself to truly rest. The final line, "se não drume esse mandu de carnaval, não vai pegar" suggests that if she does not surrender to her rest and the song's rhythm of the carnival ("mandu de carnaval"), she will miss out on something important.
Line by Line Meaning
Drume negrinha
Sleep, little black girl
Que eu te transo uma nova caminha
So that I can give you a new bed
Que venha ter muito axé
One that will be filled with good vibes and energy
Que tenha gosto d'ocê
And that tastes like you
Drume pretinha
Sleep, little dark-skinned girl
Que eu te trago de toda Bahia
So I can bring you things from all over Bahia
Tudo que der pra trazer
Everything that can be taken
Com quase todo prazer
With almost all pleasure
Se tu drume eu te descolo um araçá
If you sleep, I'll pick you an araçá fruit
Cor do céu de lá
The color of the sky from there
Se não drume esse mandu de carnaval
If you don't sleep, the carnival beat won't catch you
Não vai pegar
You won't catch it
Contributed by Xavier G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.