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.

Outras Palavras
Caetano Veloso Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Nada dessa cica de palavra triste em mim na boca
Travo trava mãe e papai, alma buena dicha loca
Neca desse sono de nunca jamais nem never more
Sim, dizer que sim pra Cilu, pra Dedé pra Dadi e Dó
Crista do desejo o destino deslinda-se em beleza:
Outras palavras

Tudo seu azul tudo céu tudo azul e furtacor

Tudo meu amor tudo mel tudo amor e ouro e sol
Na televisão na palavra no átimo no chão
Quero essa mulher solamente pra mim mas muito mais
Rima pra que faz tanto mas tudo dor amor e gozo:
Outras palavras

Nem vem que não tem vem que tem coração tamanho trem
Como na palavra palavra a palavra estou em mim
E fora de mim quando você parece que não dá
Você diz que diz em silêncio o que eu não desejo ouvir
Tem me feito muito infeliz mas agora minha filha:
Outras palavras

Quase João Gil Ben muito bem mas barroco como eu
Cérebro máquina palavras sentidos corações
Hiperestesia Buarque voilá tu sais de cor
Tinjo-me romântico mas sou vadio computador
Só que sofri tanto que grita porém daqui pra a frente:
Outras palavras

Parafins gatins alphaluz sexonhei la guerrapaz
Ouraxé palávoras driz okê cris espacial
Projeitinho imanso ciumortevida vivavid
Lambetelho frúturo orgasmaravalha-me Logun

Homenina nel paraís de felicidadania:
Outras palavras

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Caetano Veloso's song "Outras Palavras" are a mix of Portuguese and English lines that create a feeling of confusion and displacement. The first stanza talks about not wanting to express sadness verbally and instead opting for joy, using the names of various people as an example. The second stanza describes a desire for a woman and the beauty of simple things in life. The third stanza talks about the difficulty of communication and how it can make one unhappy, but the singer is optimistic about finding a new way to express himself. The final stanza is a mishmash of seemingly random words that paint a picture of a chaotic world, but the last line suggests that there is still hope for happiness.

The song's lyrics are an example of Caetano Veloso's experimental style, which combines elements of bossa nova, rock, and avant-garde music. Veloso is known for his influence in the Tropicalia movement, which rejected traditional Brazilian music and sought to create a new, modern sound.

"Outras Palavras" was released in 1981 as part of Veloso's album "Outras Palavras." The album was well-received by critics and featured collaborations with prominent musicians such as Gilberto Gil and Chico Buarque.

Line by Line Meaning

Nada dessa cica de palavra triste em mim na boca
I don't want to speak sad words anymore

Travo trava mãe e papai, alma buena dicha loca
I'm stuck between my parents, trying to find my place in the world

Neca desse sono de nunca jamais nem never more
I don't want to be stuck in an endless sleep

Sim, dizer que sim pra Cilu, pra Dedé pra Dadi e Dó
I want to say yes to the people I love

Crista do desejo o destino deslinda-se em beleza:
The peak of my desires reveals itself in beauty