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.

Vida Boa
Caetano Veloso Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Lua no mar
Vendo a canoa passear
A vida boa passa do real que há
Coração
Será que tá boa?
Na paz, depois
Depois da paz
Eu quero paz

Aonde o sonho vai, meu sonho vai
Meus sonhos vão
E a parte quente de repente tá na mão
Meu coração
Você que faz a minha vida variar
Tá na luz que passa pelo ar
Passa também pelo seu olhar
Ai, morena, faça o que eu sonhar
Que mágica boa!
Meu amor, cadê você?
Olê, olê, olá
Ê, você, olê, olá
Olê, olá que é pra canoa não virar
E a vida boa na cabeça vadiar
Coração
Será que tá boa?
Na paz depois,
Depois na paz
Eu quero mais
Aonde você vai
Meu sonho vai
Meus sonhos vão
A parte quente que pressente a sua mão
Meu coração
Você que faz a minha vida variar
Tá na luz que passa pelo ar
Passa também pelo meu, seu, olhar
Ai, morena,
Abraça se eu chorar
Que mágica doida!
Meu amor, cadê você?

Olê, olê, olá
Ê, você, olê, olá

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Caetano Veloso's "Vida Boa" describe a serene scene of watching a canoe on the sea, while questioning if the heart is at ease. The lyrics indicate a longing for peace and a search for that elusive feeling. The singer's dreams and desires pass by like the canoe, while they contemplate the state of their heart. They ask their lover to fulfill their dreams and make magic happen, while still searching for that sense of peace.

The overall theme of the song seems to be the search for meaning and contentment in life. The lyrics suggest that the idea of a "good life" is fleeting and hard to grasp, and that the singer is searching for peace and acceptance. The metaphor of the canoe passing by reflects the idea that life is constantly moving forward, and the singer wants to take control and steer towards a more fulfilling life. The sentiment of the song conveys both longing and hope, highlighting the complexity of the human experience and our constant search for happiness.

Line by Line Meaning

Lua no mar
Moon on the sea

Vendo a canoa passear
Watching the canoe sailing

A vida boa passa do real que há
The good life goes beyond reality

Coração
Heart

Será que tá boa?
Is it good?

Na paz, depois
In peace, later on

Depois da paz
After the peace

Eu quero paz
I want peace

Aonde o sonho vai, meu sonho vai
Wherever the dream goes, my dream goes

Meus sonhos vão
My dreams go

E a parte quente de repente tá na mão
And the hot part suddenly is in my hand