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.
Este Amor
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Boiando à flor do sol
Se alguém, seu arquipélago, seu rei
Seu golfo e seu farol
Captasse a cor das cores da razão do sal da vida
Talvez chegasse a ler o que este amor tem como lei
Se alguém, judeu, iorubá, nissei, bundo,
Rei na diáspora
Sem ter nem precisar
E o mundo abrisse já, por sua vez,
Asas e pétalas
Não é bem, talvez, em flor
Que se desvela o que este amor
(Tua boca brilhando, boca de mulher,
Nem mel, nem mentira,
O que ela me fez sofrer, o que ela me deu de prazer,
O que de mim ninguém tira
Carne da palavra, carne do silêncio,
Minha paz e minha ira
Boca, tua boca, boca, tua boca, cala minha boca)
Se alguém, cantasse mais do que ninguém
Do que o silêncio e o grito
Mais íntimo e remoto, perto além
Mais feio e mais bonito
Se alguém pudesse erguer o seu Gilgal em Bethania...
Que anjo exterminador tem como guia o deste amor?
Se alguém, nalgum bolero, nalgum som
Perdesse a máscara
E achasse verdadeiro e muito bom
O que não passará
Dindinha lua brilharia mais no céu da ilha
E a luz da maravilha
E a luz do amor
Sobre este amor
The lyrics of Caetano Veloso's song "Este Amor" are a romantic ode to the power of love and the deep connection it creates between two individuals. The song speaks of the possibility of someone understanding the essence of this love if they could capture the essence of life's colors and the reasons for the existence of salt. The imagery of a Jewish, Iorubá, Nissei, or Bundo king in the diaspora opening their wings over the world and the world reciprocating speaks to the all-encompassing nature of love.
The song also speaks of the pain and pleasure that love can cause, referencing the singer's lover's mouth as a source of both joy and suffering. The final stanza of the song speaks of the power of love to reveal truth and beauty, even in the most unlikely places. The image of the moon shining brighter in the sky and the light of wonder and love shining on this love speak to the transformative and transcendent nature of love.
Overall, the lyrics of "Este Amor" are a beautiful tribute to the power of love and the connection it creates between two individuals, transcending any societal boundaries and revealing truth and beauty.
Line by Line Meaning
Se alguém pudesse ser um siboney
If someone could be like a siboney floating under the sun
Boiando à flor do sol
Drifting on the surface of the sun
Se alguém, seu arquipélago, seu rei
If someone, your archipelago, your king
Seu golfo e seu farol
Your gulf and your lighthouse
Captasse a cor das cores da razão do sal da vida
Capturing the color of the colors of the reason for the salt of life
Talvez chegasse a ler o que este amor tem como lei
Perhaps they could read what this love has as its law
Se alguém, judeu, iorubá, nissei, bundo,
If someone, Jewish, Yoruba, Nissei, and Bantu
Rei na diáspora
Kings in diaspora
Abrisse as suas asas sobre o mundo
Opened their wings over the world
Sem ter nem precisar
Without having or needing to
E o mundo abrisse já, por sua vez,
And the world already opened, in turn,
Asas e pétalas
Wings and petals
Não é bem, talvez, em flor
Maybe, it's not exactly a flower
Que se desvela o que este amor
That unveils what this love is
(Tua boca brilhando, boca de mulher,
(Your shining mouth, woman's mouth,
Nem mel, nem mentira,
Neither honey nor lie,
O que ela me fez sofrer, o que ela me deu de prazer,
What she made me suffer, what she gave me pleasure,
O que de mim ninguém tira
What nobody can take from me
Carne da palavra, carne do silêncio,
Flesh of the word, flesh of silence,
Minha paz e minha ira
My peace and my anger
Boca, tua boca, boca, tua boca, cala minha boca)
Mouth, your mouth, mouth, your mouth, silence my mouth)
Se alguém, cantasse mais do que ninguém
If someone sang more than anyone
Do que o silêncio e o grito
About silence and screaming
Mais íntimo e remoto, perto além
More intimate and remote, closer beyond
Mais feio e mais bonito
More ugly and more beautiful
Se alguém pudesse erguer o seu Gilgal em Bethania...
If someone could raise their Gilgal in Bethany...
Que anjo exterminador tem como guia o deste amor?
Which exterminating angel has this love as their guide?
Se alguém, nalgum bolero, nalgum som
If someone, in some bolero, in some sound
Perdesse a máscara
Lost their mask
E achasse verdadeiro e muito bom
And found it true and very good
O que não passará
What won't pass
Dindinha lua brilharia mais no céu da ilha
Auntie Moon would shine brighter in the island's sky
E a luz da maravilha
And the wonder's light
E a luz do amor
And the love's light
Contributed by Hunter D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Joceli De Souza Aupperle
musica linda que amo muito !*
Leonardo Barcelos
Belo como sempre!
Alicia Car
Maestro .....