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.
Genipapo Absoluto
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
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Com olhos de areia quem viu
Praias, paixões fevereiras
Não dizem o que Junhos de fumaça é frio
Onde e quando é genipapo absoluto
Meu pai, seu tanino, seu mel
Prensa, esperança, sofrer prazeria
Promessa, poesia, Mabel
Cantar é mais do que lembrar
É mais do que ter tido aquilo então
Mais do que viver do que sonhar
É ter o coração daquilo
Tudo são trechos que escuto, vêm dela
Pois minha mãe é minha voz
Como será que isso era este som
Que hoje sim, gera sóis, dói em dós
Aquele que considera
A saudade de uma mera contraluz que vem
Do que deixou pra trás
Não, esse só desfaz o signo
E a rosa também
The lyrics of "Genipapo Absoluto" question the passage of time and memories. The opening lines describe how the flames of the past, the summers full of passion, cannot warm up the coldness that arises from the smoke-filled June. Then, the singer wonders about the ultimate essence of the genipapo fruit, a tropical plant symbolizing wisdom, that is intertwined with his father's life (its tannin and honey), pride, and suffering, creating a concoction of desire, hope and poetry ('Prensa, esperança, sofrer prazeria, Promessa, poesia, Mabel').
The second part of the song becomes more introspective and it addresses the power of singing, which goes beyond a mere recollection of memories but rather a manifestation of the heart. The singer states that his mother is his voice, and he ponders about the melodies that resonate within him as he recalls his past. As he tries to understand the emotions behind his own sounds, he concludes that our feelings cannot be solely based on what we left behind; instead, they are born of a new existence, and it is through singing that we connect what we were and what we become.
Line by Line Meaning
Como será pois se ardiam fogueiras
What was it like when fires burned?
Com olhos de areia quem viu
With eyes of sand who saw it?
Praias, paixões fevereiras
Beaches, fiery passions
Não dizem o que Junhos de fumaça é frio
They don't tell how cold June smoke is
Onde e quando é genipapo absoluto
Where and when is absolute genipapo?
Meu pai, seu tanino, seu mel
My father, his tannin, his honey
Prensa, esperança, sofrer prazeria
Press, hope, suffer pleasure
Promessa, poesia, Mabel
Promise, poetry, Mabel
Cantar é mais do que lembrar
Singing is more than remembering
É mais do que ter tido aquilo então
It's more than having had that then
Mais do que viver do que sonhar
More than living or dreaming
É ter o coração daquilo
It's having the heart of it
Tudo são trechos que escuto, vêm dela
All are fragments I hear, come from her
Pois minha mãe é minha voz
Because my mother is my voice
Como será que isso era este som
What must this sound have been like?
Que hoje sim, gera sóis, dói em dós
That today generates suns, hurts in C's
Aquele que considera
He who ponders
A saudade de uma mera contraluz que vem
The longing for a mere back-light that comes
Do que deixou pra trás
From what was left behind
Não, esse só desfaz o signo
No, it only dissolves the symbol
E a rosa também
And the rose too
Lyrics © TERRA ENTERPRISES, INC.
Written by: CAETANO EMMANUEL VIANA TELES VELOSO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind