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.
trem das onze
Caetano Veloso Lyrics
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O mel desses olhos luz, mel de cor ímpar
O ouro ainda não bem verde da serra, a prata do trem
A lua e a estrela, anel de turquesa
Os átomos todos dançam, madruga, reluz neblina
Crianças cor de romã entram no vagão
O oliva da nuvem chumbo ficando pra trás da manhã
As casas tão verde e rosa que vão passando ao nos ver passar
Os dois lados da janela
E aquela num tom de azul quase inexistente, azul que não há
Azul que é pura memória de algum lugar
Teu cabelo preto, explícito objeto, castanhos lábios
Ou pra ser exato, lábios cor de açaí
E aqui, trem das cores, sábios projetos, tocar na central
E o céu de um azul celeste celestial
Teu cabelo preto, explícito objeto, castanhos lábios
Ou pra ser exato, lábios cor de açaí
E aqui, trem das cores, sábios projetos, tocar na central
E o céu de um azul celeste celestial
The lyrics to Caetano Veloso's song Trem Das Onze are a vivid and sensory description of a train journey. The opening verse captures the natural surroundings with the orange fringe of the hillside, pink grass, and the unique light of someone's eyes. The second verse describes the atoms dancing, the misty dawn, and the entrance of children into the train car. The color palate is broad with the olive of the leaden clouds left behind by morning and the blue of the paper wrapping an apple. The third verse turns to the personal, describing the dark hair and brown lips of a person and the desire to touch the central point of this human connection on the train journey. The final line returns to the celestial, describing the sky as a heavenly blue.
Line by Line Meaning
A franja na encosta cor de laranja, capim rosa chá
The orange-colored fringe on the hillside, pink grass tea
O mel desses olhos luz, mel de cor ímpar
The honey of these bright eyes, honey of unique color
O ouro ainda não bem verde da serra, a prata do trem
The gold of the mountain still not quite green, the silver of the train
A lua e a estrela, anel de turquesa
The moon and the star, turquoise ring
Os átomos todos dançam, madruga, reluz neblina
All atoms dance, dawn shines with mist
Crianças cor de romã entram no vagão
Children with pomegranate-colored skin enter the wagon
O oliva da nuvem chumbo ficando pra trás da manhã
The olive color of the leaden cloud, staying behind in the morning
E a seda azul do papel que envolve a maçã
And the blue silk of the paper that wraps the apple
As casas tão verde e rosa que vão passando ao nos ver passar
The houses so green and pink that go by as we pass by
Os dois lados da janela
The two sides of the window
E aquela num tom de azul quase inexistente, azul que não há
And that one in a nearly nonexistent shade of blue, blue that doesn't exist
Azul que é pura memória de algum lugar
Blue that is pure memory of someplace
Teu cabelo preto, explícito objeto, castanhos lábios
Your black hair, explicit object, brown lips
Ou pra ser exato, lábios cor de açaí
Or to be exact, lips the color of acai
E aqui, trem das cores, sábios projetos, tocar na central
And here, train of colors, wise designs, touching the center
E o céu de um azul celeste celestial
And the sky of a celestial sky blue
Lyrics © TERRA ENTERPRISES, INC.
Written by: CAETANO VELOSO, SOUZA ANDRADE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@nathalykim1263
I can't stay, not even a minute more, with you
I'm sorry, love, but it can't be
I live in Jaçanã
if I miss this train, that leaves now at 11
only tomorrow morning
besides, woman
there's something else
my mother doesn't sleep until I get home
I'm an only son
I have my home/house to look after
@molder72
Прелепо! Beautiful! All the best from Serbia!
@originalserrano1722
🙌GREAT👍👍
@labilal1
Incredible version. 2 of the best voices I've ever heard.
@LuisGarcia-jl3jm
one of the greatest interpretations of all time.. caetano the king
@bertrandbardou
versão única e tão bonita, sempre um pouco de lágrima por essa música
@PhTemiDo
Esse "Sou filho único,tenho minha casa pra olhar" é de arrepiar.
Caetano Veloso é bom demais.
@pedroluan3563
@Leonardo Bonela Adoniran Barbosa.
@vitorguilherme9586
O falsete que ele faz é pertubadamente linda
@vitorguilherme9586
@P4to D0l4n você é idiota se pensa isso, essa música é do grande Adoniran Barbosa, o que é elogiado aqui é a interpretação magnífica do caetano.
@vitorguilherme9586
@P4to D0l4n essa é uma versão intimista, o Caetano caetaneou a música. O que você esperava? Um Eminem?