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.
Gelsomina
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
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Tu che amar non puoi
Sei stregata dall'amor
Sono gli occhi tuoi
Freddi più che mai
Ma che febbre nel tuo cuor
Che non dai e che non vuoi
Nel desiderio che giammai si spegnerà.
The lyrics of Caetano Veloso's "Gelsomina" speak of a woman who is captivated by love but is unable to reciprocate the feeling. She is described as someone who cannot love or be loved, yet she is bewitched by the concept of love. The first two lines of the song translate to "You who do not know how to love / You who cannot love / Are bewitched by love."
The following lines describe the woman's eyes as cold, yet there is a fever in her heart. She carries ungiven kisses on her lips, but she refuses to grant them to anyone. The final line of the stanza translates to "In the desire that will never be extinguished."
Overall, the song speaks to the complexity of love and how it can bewitch even those who cannot fully engage with it. The woman in the song is both fascinated and repelled by love, making it a bittersweet and poignant story.
Line by Line Meaning
Tu che amar non sai
You who do not know how to love
Tu che amar non puoi
You who cannot love
Sei stregata dall'amor
You are bewitched by love
Sono gli occhi tuoi
It's your eyes
Freddi più che mai
Colder than ever
Ma che febbre nel tuo cuor
But what fever in your heart
Hai sulle labbra quei baci
You have those kisses on your lips
Che non dai e che non vuoi
That you do not give and do not want
Nel desiderio che giammai si spegnerà.
In the desire that will never fade away
Contributed by Caden C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.