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.
I Only Have Eyes For You
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
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I can't see anyone but you
Sha bop sha bop
Are the stars out tonight
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright
I only have eyes for you dear
But I can't see a thing in the sky
I only have eyes for you
I don't know if we're in a garden
Or on a crowded avenue
You are here and so am I
Maybe millions of people go by
But they all disappear from view
And I only have eyes for you
The song 'For No One', originally recorded in 1934 by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin, was covered by Caetano Veloso and Enéas Costa in a Portuguese rendition featuring the harmonies of Moacyr Albuquerque, Perinho Albuquerque, Perna Froes, Silva Bira Da, and Tuzé Ábr. The song is an evocative expression of romantic devotion, describing the extent to which the singer's love for their beloved consumes all of their attention and focus. The line "My love must be a kind of blind love" suggests that the singer's devotion is so great that they cannot see or appreciate anything else but their beloved.
The second verse, "Are the stars out tonight / I don't know if it's cloudy or bright / I only have eyes for you dear," further emphasizes the depth of the singer's love, as they seem unaware of any external matter outside of their relationship. The third verse, "I don't know if we're in a garden / Or on a crowded avenue / You are here and so am I" speaks to the transcendent quality of love, indicating that the singer's love for their partner is so all-consuming that it transcends any physical context or location.
Line by Line Meaning
My love must be a kind of blind love
My infatuation towards you is so intense that it has blinded me to everything else around us.
I can't see anyone but you
I am so engrossed in my feelings for you that I cannot notice or acknowledge the presence of others.
Sha bop sha bop
This phrase is a meaningless interjection, used here to fill in the gap between the previous and next lines in the song.
Are the stars out tonight
I am not aware of my surroundings, but I wonder if the stars are visible at the moment.
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright
I have lost touch with my environment to such an extent that I cannot even tell whether it's cloudy or sunny outside.
I only have eyes for you dear
My complete focus is on you, and all that I see or perceive is related to you and your presence.
The moon may be high
Although there may be other significant occurrences or phenomena, such as the high moon, I am unaware of them as my attention is only on you.
But I can't see a thing in the sky
My feelings for you have blinded me completely, and I am unable to see or acknowledge anything other than you.
I only have eyes for you
My focus and attention are exclusively on you, and it seems that everything around me, except you, is insignificant and unremarkable.
I don't know if we're in a garden
Such is the intensity of my attraction towards you that I am oblivious to our location or setting, and I am not even able to tell whether we are in a garden or a crowded avenue.
Or on a crowded avenue
My awareness of my environment is so limited that I am uncertain whether we are in an open garden or in the midst of a crowd on a busy avenue.
You are here and so am I
The only thing that matters to me at the moment is that you and I are together, and our presence in each other's company is enough to fulfill me.
Maybe millions of people go by
There may be countless people passing by around us, but my attention is solely focused on you, and they don't exist in my world at the moment.
But they all disappear from view
The presence of others is immaterial to me at the moment as they all fade away in the background and lose significance in the face of my feelings for you.
And I only have eyes for you
The only thing that concerns me is you, and it seems that everything else around me ceases to exist in my world.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: AL DUBIN, HARRY WARREN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind