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.
Ia
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
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Te chamar mas não vou mais
O dia
Já vem vindo lá de trás
Da barra do mar da baía do Rio
Tão só
Vendo a curva de Copa
Cabana da melancolia
Te chamar mas meu peito está frio.
Ah
Os braços de Iemanjá
O mar
Quem há
De procurar seu lugar
Em Iá
Seu dia?
Num som
Surdo o mundo quebra em mim
Sem fim
Esse instante seria
Ia
Desistir mas agora eu te chamo aqui.
The song "Ia" by Caetano Veloso is a deep and introspective piece about longing, regret, and the power of the ocean to heal and comfort. The lyrics begin with the singer saying they will not call out to someone they miss, even though they can see the day coming from behind the sea. The ocean is a constant presence in the song, from the "barra do mar" (the edge of the sea) to the mention of the goddess Iemanjá, who is associated with the ocean in Brazilian mythology.
The singer sings about feeling alone and melancholy, represented by the "cabana da melancolia" (cabin of melancholy) that they can see from Copa, a beach in Rio de Janeiro. They admit that their heart is cold and that they initially hesitate to call out to the person they miss. However, the song ends on a more hopeful note, with the singer deciding to try and call out to them after all.
The song's use of water imagery and references to Brazilian mythology add layers of meaning to the lyrics, making it a rich and complex piece of music.
Line by Line Meaning
Te chamar mas não vou mais
I won't call you anymore
O dia
The day
Já vem vindo lá de trás
Is already coming from behind
Da barra do mar da baía do Rio
From the mouth of the sea in the bay of Rio de Janeiro
Tão só
So lonely
Vendo a curva de Copa
Watching the curve of Copacabana
Cabana da melancolia
Cabin of melancholy
Ia
I was going
Te chamar mas meu peito está frio.
To call you, but my heart is cold
Ah
Oh
Os braços de Iemanjá
The arms of Iemanjá
O mar
The sea
Quem há
Who will
De procurar seu lugar
Search for its place
Em Iá
In Iá
Seu dia?
Its day?
Num som
In a sound
Surdo o mundo quebra em mim
Deaf, the world breaks in me
Sem fim
Endlessly
Esse instante seria
This moment would be
Ia
I was going
Desistir mas agora eu te chamo aqui.
To give up, but now I call you here.
Contributed by Logan F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.