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.
Tempestades Solares
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tempestades solares no meu coração
Com as mucosas venenosas de sua alma de mulher
Você faz o que quer
Você me exasperou
Você não sabe viver onde eu sou
Então adeus
ou seja outra
In Caetano Veloso's song Tempestades Solares, the singer is expressing the tumultuous emotions he is going through after being with a woman who has stirred up his heart like a solar storm. The woman has a toxic soul that seem to be causing chaos and destruction in his life with her unpredictable behavior. He feels exasperated by her actions and cannot tolerate her presence anymore. Therefore, he decides to say goodbye to her and find someone else who can bear her intense personality.
The lyrics are filled with metaphors that highlight the intensity of the singer's emotions. The reference to solar storms conjures images of violent thunderstorms, which are unpredictable and volatile, just like the woman he is describing. Furthermore, the use of the word "mucosas" (mucus) to describe her poisonous soul is a powerful metaphor that describes how her negative energy has infected his heart.
Overall, Tempestades Solares is a song that captures the pain and frustration of being with someone who brings chaos into one's life. The metaphorical language used in the lyrics adds depth and intensity to the emotions expressed by the singer.
Line by Line Meaning
Você provocou
You caused
Tempestades solares no meu coração
Solar storms in my heart
Com as mucosas venenosas de sua alma de mulher
With the poisonous mucus of your female soul
Você faz o que quer
You do what you want
Você me exasperou
You exasperated me
Você não sabe viver onde eu sou
You don't know how to live where I am
Então adeus
So goodbye
ou seja outra
Or be someone else
Alguém que aguente o sol
Someone who can stand the sun
Contributed by Aiden P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.