Caetano Emanoel Viana Teles Veloso (born August 7, 1942 in Santo Amaro, Bah… Read Full Bio ↴Caetano Emanoel Viana Teles Veloso (born August 7, 1942 in Santo Amaro, Bahia, Brazil), professionally known as Caetano Veloso, is a singer, composer, musician, producer, arranger, writer and political activist, being one of the most popular and influential Brazilian MPB artists of all time. With a career that exceeds five decades, Caetano has built a musical work marked by renewal and widely considered to possess great intellectual and poetic value.

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.

Jeito De Corpo
Caetano Veloso Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Eu tô fazendo saber
Vou saber fazer tudo de que eu sou a fins
Logo eu cri que não crer era o vero crer
Hoje oro sobre patins
Sampa na Boca do Rio
O meu projeto Brasil
Perigas perder você
Mas mesmo na deprê

Chama-se um Gilberto Gil
Bode não dá pra enterder
Torna a repetir
Transcende o marco dois mil
Barco desvela esse mar
Delta desvenda esse ar
Não me digam que eu estou louco
É só um jeito de corpo
Não precisa ninguém me acompanhar

Eu sou Renato Aragão, santo trapalhão
Eu sou Muçum, sou Dedé
Sou Zacarias, carinho
Pássaro no ninho
Qual tu me vê na tevê
Falta aprender a mentir
Entro até numas por ti
Minha identificação, registro geral
Carece de revisão
Cara, careta, dedão
Isso não é legal em frase de transição
Sou celacanto do mar
Adolescendo solar
Não pensem que é um papo torto

É só um jeito de corpo
Não precisa ninguém me acompanhar

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Caetano Veloso's song "Jeito De Corpo" convey a sense of self-discovery and exploration. The first verse talks about learning to do things that one is capable of doing and believing in oneself. The line "Logo eu cri que não crer era o vero crer" can be translated to "Soon I believed that not believing was the true belief." This suggests that the singer has come to the realization that trusting in oneself is key to achieving success and happiness.

In the second verse, the song moves towards a broader focus on Brazilian society, with the line "O meu projeto Brasil" meaning "My Brazil project." The singer talks about how they may lose sight of important things (represented by the line "Perigas perder você"), but they can always turn to someone like Gilberto Gil for help. The lyrics also reference the confusing nature of life, represented by the line "Bode não dá pra enterder" which roughly translates to "Goat cannot be understood." The song ultimately concludes by repeating the phrase "É só um jeito de corpo" which means "It's just a way of being" - indicating that the singer is comfortable in their own skin and does not need anyone to follow them.

Overall, "Jeito De Corpo" is a song that encourages self-expression and individualism, with hints towards broader societal issues in Brazil. The lyrics suggest that it is important to believe in oneself and accept one's unique qualities.

Line by Line Meaning

Eu tô fazendo saber
I am letting people know

Vou saber fazer tudo de que eu sou a fins
I will learn to do everything that I am interested in

Logo eu cri que não crer era o vero crer
I used to believe that not believing was true belief

Hoje oro sobre patins
Today I pray on skates

Sampa na Boca do Rio
São Paulo in Boca do Rio

O meu projeto Brasil
My project Brazil

Perigas perder você
You might be in danger of losing me

Mas mesmo na deprê
But even when I am depressed

Chama-se um Gilberto Gil
I call Gilberto Gil

Bode não dá pra enterder
I can't understand the goat

Torna a repetir
Repeat again