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.
Pecado
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Si no tiene perdón
Si me lleva al abismo
sólo sé que es amor
Yo no sé si este amor es pecado que tiene castigo
Si es faltar a las leyes honradas
Del hombre y de Dios
Como un torbellino
Que me arrastra, y me arrastra
A tus brazos en ciega pasión
Es más fuerte que yo
Que mi vida, mi credo y mi sino
Es más fuerte que todo el respeto
Y el temor de Dios
Aunque sea pecado
Te quiero, te quiero lo mismo
Y aunque todo me niegue el derecho
Me aferro a este amor
Caetano Veloso's song "Pecado" explores the idea of love being a sin in the eyes of society and religion. The lyrics express the singer's confusion as to whether their love is wrong or right. The first verse starts with the singer acknowledging their lack of knowledge about whether their love is prohibited or not, and if it is unforgivable. However, they confess that they only know that it is love that leads them to the cliff's edge.
The second verse delves deeper into the singer's uncertainty as to whether their love is sinful or not. They don't know if it is breaking any laws of a just society or the divine. The singer says that life is like a whirlwind, and their love is overwhelming, pulling them towards their lover in a blind passion. The love they feel is more potent than their life, creed, and fate. It supersedes the respect and fear they have of God.
The chorus reflects the contradictory nature of the singer's feelings as they acknowledge that they love their partner, even if it is a sin. They love the person, regardless of the society's rules and their own conscience's doubts. They cling to this love, even if everything around them denies them the right to it.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo no sé si es prohibido
I am unsure if this is prohibited
Si no tiene perdón
If it is unforgivable
Si me lleva al abismo
If it leads me to the brink of disaster
sólo sé que es amor
I only know that it is love
Yo no sé si este amor es pecado que tiene castigo
I am uncertain if this love is sinful and punishable
Si es faltar a las leyes honradas
If it goes against honorable laws
Del hombre y de Dios
Of both man and God
Sólo sé que me aturde la vida
I only know that it makes my life whirl
Como un torbellino
Like a whirlwind
Que me arrastra, y me arrastra
That keeps dragging me down
A tus brazos en ciega pasión
Into your arms in a blind passion
Es más fuerte que yo
It is stronger than me
Que mi vida, mi credo y mi sino
Stronger than my life, my beliefs, and my destiny
Es más fuerte que todo el respeto
Stronger than all the respect
Y el temor de Dios
And the fear of God
Aunque sea pecado
Even if it is a sin
Te quiero, te quiero lo mismo
I love you, I love you the same
Y aunque todo me niegue el derecho
Even if everything denies me the right
Me aferro a este amor
I hold on to this love
Contributed by Claire T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Cathy Moore
Caetano, eres el mejor interprete de tantas canciones amadas...
cb0477
Qué maravillosa voz! Este concierto es uno de los mejores que existe de la música latinoamericana. Gracias por este regalo
Sandra Piga
Y qué carajo te importa si no sos Dios
JEHM 76
Totalmente de acuerdo con usted. Este recital es un regalo para los oídos. Digno de disfrutar con una excelente compañía o por qué no? Tal vez en soledad, con un vino delicioso y unos bocadillos, viendo el atardecer llegar a su fin y contemplar a la dama de blanco que ilumina la noche.
Aled Montecristo
EL GIGANTE UNIVERSAL EN UNA MAGISTRAL E INIGUALABLE INTERPRETACION CON UN ACOMPAÑÀMIENTO SURREALISTA QUE CONVIRTIO ESTE BOLERO EN UNA OBRA MAESTRA INOLVIDABLE
Maurício Gil
É que Caetano é isso: G I G A N T E !!!!
Deus!!!
manuel fernandez
La letra nos habla de la confesión del que siente que tanto amor no puede estar permitido, del que presume que un placer tan intenso debe estar prohibido por las leyes del hombre, que no quiere congéneres dichos, o de la religión, que lo reserva sólo al camino a su dios. Pero es una fuerza poderosa que acaba con su prudencia, que le libera de la obediencia, que vence su devoción al ser superior, porque para él no hay más deidad que la que hace nacer en su interior una pasión que barre morales y creencias. Y aunque no se lo permitan, su amor no podrá serle arrebatado.
Claudia Aedo
si no me lo explicas jamas me habría enterado jaja
Enzo Rivas
En dos palabras, es gay
Gabriela Escala
El es increíble!!pero la banda es perfecta!!sublime!