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.
Trilhos Urbanos
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
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Longe, muito longe
Mas bem dentro aqui
Quando o bonde dava volta ali
No cais de Araújo Pinho
Tamarindeirinho
Nunca me esqueci
Onde o imperador fez xixi
Cana doce, Santo Amaro
Gosto muito raro
Trago em mim por ti
E uma estrela sempre a luzir
Bonde da Trilhos Urbanos
Vão passando os anos
E eu não te perdi
Meu trabalho é te traduzir
Rua da Matriz ao Conde
No trole ou no bonde
Tudo é bom de ver
São Popó do Maculelê
Mas aquela curva aberta
Aquela coisa certa
Não dá pra entender
O Apolo e o Rio Subaé
Pena de pavão de Krishna
Maravilha, vixe, Maria mãe de Deus
Será que esses olhos são meus?
Cinema transcendental
Trilhos Urbanos
Gal cantando o Balancê
Como eu sei lembrar de você
In Trilhos Urbanos, Caetano Veloso reminisces about his childhood in Santo Amaro, a neighborhood in Salvador, Brazil. The song is a nostalgic journey through his memories of the Bonde, a streetcar that ran through the city.
The lyrics are filled with references to different sights and sounds on the journey, such as the Tamarindeirinho pier where the emperor reportedly urinated, the sweet sugar cane of Santo Amaro that he has a rare fondness for, and the Trilhos Urbanos streetcar that has been passing for years, but he has not lost sight of it.
As he travels through Rua da Matriz to Conde on the tram or streetcar, he mentions São Popó's Maculelê, an Afro-Brazilian dance; however, he can't comprehend the open curve of the tram route that leads to Apolo and Rio Subaé.
He goes on to wonder if his eyes are playing tricks on him when he sees the marvel of a peacock feather belonging to Krishna and the cinematic transcendence of Gal singing Balancê; he asserts that his job is to interpret his memories of the Trilhos Urbanos.
Overall, Trilhos Urbanos is a lyrical tribute to the sound, smells, and experiences of Salvador during Caetano's youth on the Trilhos Urbanos streetcar.
Line by Line Meaning
O melhor o tempo esconde
The best of time is hidden
Longe, muito longe
Far away, too far away
Mas bem dentro aqui
But deep inside here
Quando o bonde dava volta ali
When the tram turned there
No cais de Araújo Pinho
At Araújo Pinho's wharf
Tamarindeirinho
Little Tamarind tree
Nunca me esqueci
I never forgot
Onde o imperador fez xixi
Where the emperor peed
Cana doce, Santo Amaro
Sweet cane, Santo Amaro
Gosto muito raro
Very rare taste
Trago em mim por ti
I carry it inside me for you
E uma estrela sempre a luzir
And a star always shining
Bonde da Trilhos Urbanos
Trilhos Urbanos' tram
Vão passando os anos
The years go by
E eu não te perdi
And I haven't lost you
Meu trabalho é te traduzir
My job is to translate you
Rua da Matriz ao Conde
From Matriz street to Conde
No trole ou no bonde
On the trolley or on the tram
Tudo é bom de ver
Everything is good to see
São Popó do Maculelê
Saint Popó of Maculelê
Mas aquela curva aberta
But that open curve
Aquela coisa certa
That certain thing
Não dá pra entender
It's impossible to understand
O Apolo e o Rio Subaé
Apolo and the Subaé river
Pena de pavão de Krishna
Peacock feather of Krishna
Maravilha, vixe, Maria mãe de Deus
Wonder, wow, Holy Mary Mother of God
Será que esses olhos são meus?
I wonder if these eyes are mine?
Cinema transcendental
Transcendental cinema
Trilhos Urbanos
Urban tracks
Gal cantando o Balancê
Gal singing Balancê
Como eu sei lembrar de você
How I know how to remember you
Lyrics © TERRA ENTERPRISES, INC., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Caetano Emmanuel Viana Teles Veloso
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind