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.
La Flor de la Canela
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Déjame que te diga la gloria
Del ensueño que evoca la memoria
Del viejo puente
Del río y la alameda
Déjame que te cuente limeño
Ahora que aún perfuma el recuerdo
El viejo puente, el río y la alameda
Jazmines en el pelo y rosas en la cara
Airosa caminaba la flor de la canela
Derramaba lisura y a su paso dejaba
Aromas de mistura
Que en el pecho llevaba
Del puente a la alameda
Menudo pie la lleva
Por la vereda que se estremece
Al ritmo de su cadera
Recogía la risa de la brisa del río
Y al viento la lanzaba
Del puente a la alameda
Déjame que te cuente limeño
Ay, deja que te diga, moreno, mi pensamiento
A ver si así despiertas del sueño
Del sueño que entretiene, moreno, tu sentimiento
Aspira de la lisura que da
La flor de la canela
Adornada con jazmines
Matizando su hermosura
Alfombra de nuevo el puente
Y engalana la alameda
Que el río acompasará
Su paso por la vereda
Y recuerda que
Jazmines en el pelo y rosas en la cara
Airosa caminaba la flor de la canela
Derramaba lisura y a su paso dejaba
Aromas de mistura que en el pecho llevaba
Del puente a la alameda menudo pie la lleva
Por la vereda que se estremece
Al ritmo de su cadera
Recogía la risa de la brisa del río
Y al viento la lanzaba
Del puente a la alameda
The song La Flor De La Canela, written by Peruvian composer Chabuca Granda and popularized by Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso, is a nostalgic tribute to Lima, the city where the composer was born. The opening verse invites the listener to let the singer recount the glory of the memories associated with the old bridge and the grove (alameda) that lines the riverbanks. The singer evokes the scents, sounds, and sights of this bygone era, when the city was still filled with jasmine and roses, and the air was perfumed with the mixture of natural fragrances and the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
The song describes the graceful and alluring presence of a woman known as the "flower of cinnamon" (flor de la canela). With her jasmine-adorned hair and rose-colored cheeks, she moves with lightness and grace, leaving a trail of subtle aromas that evoke the spices and blends of the local cuisine. As she walks from the bridge to the alameda, her movements are captured by the swaying rhythm of her hips, which seem to harmonize with the laughter of the river breeze. The song ends with the invitation to breathe in the essence of these memories again, to adorn the bridge and the grove once more, and to remember the beauty of the flower of cinnamon that brought delight to these streets.
Line by Line Meaning
Déjame que te cuente limeño
Let me tell you, my friend from Lima
Déjame que te diga la gloria
Let me tell you about the glory
Del ensueño que evoca la memoria
The dream that brings back memories
Del viejo puente
Of the old bridge
Del río y la alameda
Of the river and the boulevard
Ahora que aún perfuma el recuerdo
Now that the memory still smells fresh
Ahora que aún se mece en un sueño
Now that it still sways in a dream
Jazmines en el pelo y rosas en la cara
Jasmines in the hair and roses on the face
Airosa caminaba la flor de la canela
The cinnamon flower walked gracefully
Derramaba lisura y a su paso dejaba
It poured smoothness and left behind
Aromas de mistura
A blend of aromas
Que en el pecho llevaba
That it had in its chest
Del puente a la alameda
From the bridge to the boulevard
Menudo pie la lleva
With a small foot it walked
Por la vereda que se estremece
On the sidewalk that trembles
Al ritmo de su cadera
To the rhythm of its hips
Recogía la risa de la brisa del río
It collected the laughter of the river breeze
Y al viento la lanzaba
And threw it to the wind
Ay, deja que te diga, moreno, mi pensamiento
Oh, let me tell you, my dark-skinned friend, my thoughts
A ver si así despiertas del sueño
So that you may wake up from your dream
Del sueño que entretiene, moreno, tu sentimiento
Of the dream that entertains your feelings
Aspira de la lisura que da la flor de la canela
Breathe in the smoothness that the cinnamon flower offers
Adornada con jazmines, matizando su hermosura
Adorned with jasmines, adding to its beauty
Alfombra de nuevo el puente y engalana la alameda
The bridge becomes a new carpet and the boulevard is embellished
Que el río acompasará su paso por la vereda
The river will match its pace on the sidewalk
Contributed by Jonathan N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@camilafinamora8767
Déjame que te cuente limeño
Déjame que te diga la gloria
Del ensueño que evoca la memoria
Del viejo puente, del río y la alameda
Déjame que te cuente limeño
Ahora que aún perfuma el recuerdo
Ahora que aún se mece en un sueño
El viejo puente, el río y la alameda
Jazmines en el pelo y rosas en la cara
Airosa caminaba la flor de la canela
Derramaba lisura y a su paso dejaba
Aromas de mistura que en el pecho llevaba
Del puente a la alameda menudo pie la lleva
Por la vereda que se estremece al ritmo de su cadera
Recogía la risa de la brisa del río
Y al viento la lanzaba del puente a la alameda
Déjame que te cuente limeño
Ay, deja que te diga, moreno, mi pensamiento
A ver si así despiertas del sueño
Del sueño que entretiene, moreno, tu sentimiento
Aspira de la lisura que da la flor de la canela
Adornada con jazmines matizando su hermosura
Alfombra de nuevo el puente y engalana la alameda
Que el río acompasará su paso por la vereda
Y recuerda que
Jazmines en el pelo y rosas en la cara
@DerechoAptoparaTodoPublico
Sin dudas, una de las versiones extranjeras más bellas que podremos escuchar.
@jorgecherna6953
Caetano simplemente maravilloso, hermosa versión y su amor por la música de nuestro continente
@giovannimesquita9232
Acho sempre lamentável que não se coloque o nome dos autores das música nessas postagem. Chabuca Granda a maravilhosa compositora peruana, que tem o mesmo tamanho de uma Violeta Parra, merecia essa consideração.
@viniciusdiniz9497
Amo muito essa versao do Caetano s2
@brendapalani7300
Caetano.... que voz tan dulce y melodiosa te amo por cantar nuestra musica. Maravilloso!!!
@juliomoreno8452
Su música nos canta a todos. Chabuca es sublime.
@heartches
Muito emocionante..Caetano:arquiteto da música popular
@williehernandez2435
Preciosa cancion gracias Peru desde Mexico
@amparodemolina8452
Es una delicia escucharle es armonioso y enamora su música
@CIRCESHU1
HERM0SA J0YA 9ERUANA EN LA MARAVILLA DE BRASIL