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.
Eclipse Oculto
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gargalhadas e lágrimas
De perto fomos quase nada
Tipo de amor que não pode dar certo na luz da manhã
E desperdiçamos os blues do Djavan (uh)
Demasiadas palavras
Fraco impulso de vida
E o corpo não agia
Como se o coração tivesse antes que optar
Entre o inseto e o inseticida
Não me queixo
Eu não soube te amar
Mas não deixo
De querer conquistar
Uma coisa qualquer em você
O que será?
Como nunca se mostra
O outro lado da lua
Eu desejo viajar
Pro outro lado da sua
Meu coração galinha de leão
Não quer mais amarrar frustração
O eclipse oculto na luz do verão (uh)
Mas bem que nós fomos muito feliz
Só durante o prelúdio
Gargalhadas e lágrimas
Até irmos pro estúdio
Mas na hora da cama nada pintou direito
É minha cara falar
Não sou proveito, sou pura fama
Não me queixo
Eu não soube te amar
Mas não deixo
De querer conquistar
Uma coisa qualquer em você
O que será?
Nada tem que dar certo
Nosso amor é bonito
Só não disse ao que veio
Atrasado e aflito
E paramos no meio
Sem saber os desejos
Aonde é que iam dar
E aquele projeto
Ainda estará no ar? (ih)
Não quero que você
Fique fera comigo
Quero ser seu amor
Quero ser seu amigo
Quero que tudo saia
Como o som de Tim Maia
Sem grilos de mim
Sem desespero, sem tédio, sem fim (uhm)
Não me queixo
Eu não soube te amar
Mas não deixo
De querer conquistar
Uma coisa qualquer em você
O que será?
The song "Eclipse Oculto" by Caetano Veloso tells the story of a love that did not work out. It describes the laughter and tears they shared and their relationship that was almost nonexistent when they were together. The lyrics suggest that they were together only during the prelude of their relationship and that their love could not survive in the light of day. The line "Tipo de amor que não pode dar certo na luz da manhã" (Type of love that cannot work in the morning light) highlights the ephemeral nature of their relationship, as they were unable to sustain it in the real world.
The lyrics also speak about the challenges that come with ideologies and beliefs that prevent one from being true to oneself. The singer talks about the conflict between the heart and mind and the inability of the body to act accordingly. The line "Como se o coração tivesse antes que optar entre o inseto e o inseticida" (As if the heart had to choose between the insect and the insecticide) highlights the singer's struggle to choose between two undesirable options.
The song also talks about the idea of wanting to explore the other side of someone, to understand and connect with them on a deeper level. The singer talks about the hidden side of the moon and his desire to travel to the other side of the loved one. The song also talks about the singer's desire to conquer something in the loved one and his uncertainty about what that might be.
Line by Line Meaning
Nosso amor não deu certo
Our love did not work out
Gargalhadas e lágrimas
Laughs and tears
De perto fomos quase nada
Up close we were almost nothing
Tipo de amor que não pode dar certo na luz da manhã
Type of love that cannot work in the morning light
E desperdiçamos os blues do Djavan (uh)
And we wasted Djavan's blues (uh)
Demasiadas palavras
Too many words
Fraco impulso de vida
Weak impulse of life
Travada a mente na ideologia
Mind stuck on ideology
E o corpo não agia
And the body didn't act
Como se o coração tivesse antes que optar
As if the heart had to choose first
Entre o inseto e o inseticida
Between the insect and the insecticide
Não me queixo
I don't complain
Eu não soube te amar
I didn't know how to love you
Mas não deixo
But I don't stop
De querer conquistar
Wanting to conquer
Uma coisa qualquer em você
Something in you
O que será?
What could it be?
Como nunca se mostra
As it never shows
O outro lado da lua
The other side of the moon
Eu desejo viajar
I desire to travel
Pro outro lado da sua
To the other side of yours
Meu coração galinha de leão
My heart is a lion chick
Não quer mais amarrar frustração
Doesn't want to tie frustration anymore
O eclipse oculto na luz do verão (uh)
The hidden eclipse in the summer light (uh)
Mas bem que nós fomos muito feliz
But we were very happy
Só durante o prelúdio
Only during the prelude
Até irmos pro estúdio
Until we went to the studio
Mas na hora da cama nada pintou direito
But nothing went right when we were in bed
É minha cara falar
It's my thing to say
Não sou proveito, sou pura fama
I'm not useful, just pure fame
Nada tem que dar certo
Nothing has to work out
Nosso amor é bonito
Our love is beautiful
Só não disse ao que veio
Just didn't say what it came for
Atrasado e aflito
Late and worried
E paramos no meio
And we stopped in the middle
Sem saber os desejos
Without knowing the desires
Aonde é que iam dar
Where were they going to lead
E aquele projeto
And that project
Ainda estará no ar? (ih)
Will it still be in the air? (ih)
Não quero que você
I don't want you
Fique fera comigo
To get angry with me
Quero ser seu amor
I want to be your love
Quero ser seu amigo
I want to be your friend
Quero que tudo saia
I want everything to go
Como o som de Tim Maia
Like Tim Maia's sound
Sem grilos de mim
Without worries from me
Sem desespero, sem tédio, sem fim (uhm)
Without despair, without boredom, without end (uhm)
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Caetano Emmanuel Viana Teles Veloso
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind