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.
Feelings
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
trying to forget my feelings of love.
Teardrops rolling down on my face,
trying to forget my feelings of love.
Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it.
I wish I've never met you, girl; you'll never come again.
wo-o-o, feel you again in my arms.
Feelings, feelings like I've never lost you
and feelings like I've never have you again in my heart.
Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it.
I wish I've never met you, girl; you'll never come again.
Feelings, feelings like I've never lost you
and feelings like I've never have you again in my life.
Feelings, wo-o-o feelings,
wo-o-o, feelings again in my arms.
Feelings...
(repeat & fade)
Caetano Veloso's song "Feelings" is a heart-wrenching ballad about the burden of love and the pain it can bring even after it has departed. The repeated line "Feelings, nothing more than feelings" highlights the singer's despair as they try to forget the feelings of love they once had. The lyrics speak to the intense emotions that can accompany love and how difficult it can be to let those feelings go. The teardrops rolling down the face are symbolic of the emotional weight that the singer is carrying, and their desire to forget the source of their pain.
However, even as they try to forget, they acknowledge that the feelings will stay with them for the rest of their life. The line "Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it" emphasizes the all-consuming nature of love and the lingering impact it can have. The singer wishes they had never met the object of their affection, knowing that they will never come again, yet they still long to feel those emotions again.
The chorus "Feelings, wo-o-o feelings, wo-o-o, feel you again in my arms" encapsulates the conflicting emotions that the singer is feeling. They want to hold onto the intense love they once had while simultaneously wishing they could forget it entirely. The final verse mirrors the first, emphasizing the cyclical nature of these emotions and the difficulty of escaping them.
Overall, "Feelings" is a poignant exploration of love and the weight it can carry long after it has gone.
Line by Line Meaning
Feelings, nothing more than feelings, trying to forget my feelings of love.
I am overwhelmed with emotions but they are just temporary and I am trying to forget my love for someone.
Teardrops rolling down on my face, trying to forget my feelings of love.
I am crying because of the pain caused by my love for someone and trying to forget these feelings.
Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it. I wish I've never met you, girl; you'll never come again.
I will carry these feelings for the rest of my life and I regret meeting the person who caused them.
Feelings, wo-o-o feelings, wo-o-o, feel you again in my arms.
My emotions are intense and I wish I could feel the person I love in my arms again.
Feelings, feelings like I've never lost you and feelings like I've never have you again in my heart.
My feelings for you are like you never left my heart and at the same time, I will never have you again.
Feelings, feelings like I've never lost you and feelings like I've never have you again in my life.
Even though we are separated, my feelings for you haven't changed and it's like you are not in my life anymore.
Feelings, wo-o-o feelings, wo-o-o, feelings again in my arms.
I crave to feel the person I love again in my arms and my emotions are intense.
Feelings...
The theme of my emotions and true feelings are reiterated again and again.
Contributed by Victoria V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.