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.

Maracatu Atômico
Caetano Veloso Lyrics

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Atrás do arranha-céu
Tem o céu, tem o céu
E depois tem outro céu
Sem estrelas
Em cima do guarda-chuva
Tem a chuva, tem a chuva
Que tem gotas tão lindas
Que até dá vontade

De comê-las

No meio da couve-flor
Tem a flor, tem a flor
Que além de ser uma flor
Tem sabor
Dentro do porta-luva
Tem a luva, tem a luva
Que alguém de unhas negras
E tão afiadas
Se esqueceu de por

No fundo do pára-raio
Tem o raio, tem o raio
Que caiu da nuvem negra
Do temporal
Todo quadro-negro
É todo negro, é todo negro
E eu escrevo o seu nome nele
Só pra demonstra o meu apego

O bico do beija-flor
Beija a flor
Beija a flor
E toda a fauna aflora
E grita de amor
Quem segura
O porta-estandarte
Tem arte, tem arte
E aqui passa

Com raça eletrônico
Maracatu atômico

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Caetano Veloso's "Maracatu Atômico" are filled with imaginative and surreal imagery, almost as if the singer is in a dream state. The first lines describe the cityscape, stating that behind the skyscrapers is the sky, and beyond that, another sky without stars. This could be interpreted as the singer feeling trapped in the concrete jungle and yearning for the freedom of the natural world.

The next lines describe the rain on an umbrella, with its beautiful droplets that are so tempting to eat. The lyrics then move to the middle of a cauliflower, which has a flower that not only looks beautiful but is also edible. This could be seen as a metaphor for finding beauty and sustenance in unexpected places.

Next, the lyrics mention a forgotten glove in the glove compartment with a sinister twist: someone with sharp, black nails left it there, perhaps hinting at danger or deceit. The song then shifts to a thunderbolt that struck from a dark cloud during a storm, before highlighting the blackboard where the singer writes the name of their loved one to demonstrate their affection.

The final lines of the song mention the hummingbird kissing the flower and how their love is so powerful it causes the rest of the animal kingdom to "aflora" (come alive). The lyrics then talk about the parade of the "porta-estandarte," the flag bearer, who passes by with electronic energy. Overall, the song is a celebration of life and vitality, even in unexpected places.

Line by Line Meaning

Atrás do arranha-céu
Beyond the skyscraper

Tem o céu, tem o céu
There's the sky, there's the sky

E depois tem outro céu
And then there's another sky

Sem estrelas
Without stars

Em cima do guarda-chuva
Above the umbrella

Tem a chuva, tem a chuva
There's the rain, there's the rain

Que tem gotas tão lindas
That has drops so beautiful

Que até dá vontade
That it even makes you feel like

De comê-las
Eating them

No meio da couve-flor
In the middle of the cauliflower

Tem a flor, tem a flor
There's the flower, there's the flower