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.

No Dia Em Que Eu Vim-me Embora
Caetano Veloso Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

No dia em que eu vim-me embora
Minha mãe chorava em ai
Minha irmã chorava em ui
E eu nem olhava pra trás
No dia que eu vim-me embora
Não teve nada de mais
Mala de couro forrada com pano forte brim cáqui
Minha vó já quase morta

Minha mãe até a porta
Minha irmã até a rua
E até o porto meu pai
O qual não disse palavra durante todo o caminho
E quando eu me vi sozinho
Vi que não entendia nada
Nem de pro que eu ia indo
Nem dos sonhos que eu sonhava
Senti apenas que a mala de couro que eu carregava
Embora estando forrada
Fedia, cheirava mal
Afora isto ia indo, atravessando, seguindo
Nem chorando nem sorrindo
Sozinho pra Capital
Nem chorando nem sorrindo
Sozinho pra Capital
Sozinho pra Capital

Sozinho pra Capital
Sozinho pra Capital

Overall Meaning

The song "No Dia Em Que Eu Vim-me Embora" by Caetano Veloso tells the story of a young man leaving his hometown and his family behind to go to the capital city. It is a tale of departure, independence and self-discovery.

In the first verse, the singer describes the scene of his departure. He is leaving without looking back, while his mother and sister are crying. The second verse further illustrates the emotional turmoil of leaving home, with the singer feeling disconnected and unsure of the future. He is alone, carrying a bag with a strong, unpleasant smell.

The repetition of the phrase "Sozinho pra Capital" (Alone to the Capital) adds to the feeling of loneliness and uncertainty. Despite feeling lost and overwhelmed, the singer must face his new reality and carry on with his journey.

The song is a reflection on the experience of leaving home and starting a new chapter in life, away from family and familiarity. It conveys the complexity of emotions involved in such a significant life transition, from excitement and curiosity to fear and doubt.

Line by Line Meaning

No dia em que eu vim-me embora
On the day I left

Minha mãe chorava em ai
My mother was crying loudly

Minha irmã chorava em ui
My sister was crying softly

E eu nem olhava pra trás
And I didn't even look back

Não teve nada de mais
There was nothing more to it

Mala de couro forrada com pano forte brim cáqui
A leather suitcase lined with strong khaki fabric

Minha vó já quase morta
My grandmother was already close to death

Minha mãe até a porta
My mother escorted me to the door

Minha irmã até a rua
My sister walked with me to the street

E até o porto meu pai
And my father accompanied me all the way to the port

O qual não disse palavra durante todo o caminho
He didn't say a word the entire way