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.
O império da lei
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
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O império da lei há de chegar no coração do Pará
O império da lei há de chegar lá
O império da lei há de chegar lá
Quem matou meu amor tem que pagar
E ainda mais quem mandou matar
Virar jaguar
O império da lei há de chegar no coração do Pará
O império da lei há de chegar no coração do Pará
The lyrics of Caetano Veloso's song "O império da lei" speak to the desire for justice and the rule of law in the region of Pará, Brazil, where violence and corruption have historically been rampant. The repeated refrain of "O império da lei há de chegar no coração do Pará" - "The empire of law will arrive in the heart of Pará" - is a declaration of hope and determination. Veloso sings of the need to hold accountable those responsible for the murder of his loved one, and even more so, those who ordered the killing. He evokes the image of the jaguar, a powerful and fearsome symbol of the region's natural beauty and wildness, and calls on the people to confront their oppressors with the same unyielding strength.
The song's message is one of resistance and defiance, but also of faith in the power of justice to triumph. It calls on the people of Pará to demand accountability and to refuse to be cowed by those who would abuse their power. By invoking the idea of an "empire of law", Veloso suggests that justice can be a force powerful enough to bring about radical social and political transformation.
One interesting fact about "O império da lei" is that it was written and recorded in 1997, a time when Veloso was actively involved in social justice activism and criticism of Brazil's political establishment. The song was part of the soundtrack to the Brazilian film "O Homem Nu" (The Naked Man), which dealt with themes of political corruption and the fight for justice in Pará. Another notable fact is that Veloso drew inspiration for the song from the real-life murder of environmental activist Chico Mendes, who was killed in Xapuri, Acre in 1988. Mendes was a leading advocate for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and the rights of local communities, and his death had a profound impact on the environmental and social justice movements in Brazil and around the world.
Line by Line Meaning
O império da lei há de chegar lá
The rule of law will reach there
Quem matou meu amor tem que pagar
Whoever killed my love must pay
E ainda mais quem mandou matar
And even more so whoever ordered the killing
Ter o olho no olho do jaguar
To have the eye-to-eye of the jaguar
Virar jaguar
To become a jaguar
O império da lei há de chegar no coração do Pará
The rule of law will reach the heart of Pará
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: CAETANO EMMANUEL VIANA TELES VELOSO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Zefi Iro
El imperio de la ley ha de llegar en el corazón del Pará
El imperio de la ley ha de llegar en el corazón del Pará
El imperio de la ley ha de llegar allí
El imperio de la ley ha de llegar allí
Quien mató mi amor tiene que pagar
Y aún más quién mandó matar
Tener ojo en el ojo del jaguar
Convertirse en jaguar
El imperio de la ley ha de llegar en el corazón del Pará
El imperio de la ley ha de llegar en el corazón del Pará
Alfredo Ríos
Virar = convertirse en
Alfredo Ríos
Pará es un estado del norte de Brasil
Rodrigo
corazon del Pará
Ednaldo Amancio de Lima
Que profundo! Toca a alma! kkkkkkkkkkkkkk. Depois que se consolida como cantor e compositor qualquer coisa vira música.