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.
Waly Salomão
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Desconfiado e estridente
Eu sempre tive comigo
Que eras na verdade
Delicado e inocente
Findaste o teu desenho
E a tua marca sobre a terra resplandece
Entre livros e os tambores do vigário geral
E o brilho não é pequeno
Eu sigo aqui e sempre em frente
Deixando minha errática marca de serpente
Sem asas e sem veneno
Sem plumas e sem raiva
Suficiente
The first stanza of Caetano Veloso's song "Waly Salomão" is a tribute to a close friend who was "discreet and suspicious." The singer attests to always having known deep down that his friend was actually delicate and innocent, despite outward appearances. The second stanza is a recognition of the friend's legacy; he has left his mark on the earth and it shines clearly and vividly, alongside books and the drums of the "general vicar." The shine of his mark is not insignificant.
In the final stanza, the singer acknowledges that he himself is present in the world, leaving a meandering and serpentine "mark" of his own, without wings or venom, feathers or anger. This is enough. The song is a meditation on friendship, legacy, and individual presence in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Meu grande amigo
Dear friend of mine
Desconfiado e estridente
Suspicious and loud
Eu sempre tive comigo
I always knew
Que eras na verdade
That you actually were
Delicado e inocente
Gentle and innocent
Findaste o teu desenho
You completed your design
E a tua marca sobre a terra resplandece
And your mark on this earth shines bright
Resplandece nítida e real
It glows clear and vivid
Entre livros e os tambores do vigário geral
Amidst books and the drums of the general vicar
E o brilho não é pequeno
And the shine is not feeble
Eu sigo aqui e sempre em frente
I continue here, always moving forward
Deixando minha errática marca de serpente
Leaving my erratic snake-like mark
Sem asas e sem veneno
Without wings or poison
Sem plumas e sem raiva
Without feathers or anger
Suficiente
Sufficient
Contributed by Jayden A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jose Tadeu Agneli Filippini
é o waly... faz muito tempo ( 5 anos sem ele )
Alvin Almeida
Caramba, como ela e Mariana Aydar se parecem.
Sophia
lindo Caetano
Regina Neves
Oi Tavinho, adorei ver a Vera! Que beleza. Um abraço pra você.
rodrigobittencourt
rsssssssssssss genial