<… Read Full Bio ↴Collaboration of Brazilian musicians Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil .
Caetano Veloso
Birth name Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso
Born August 7, 1942 (1942-08-07) (age 66)
Origin Santo Amaro da Purificação, Bahia, Brazil
Genre(s) Música Popular Brasileira, Tropicalismo, Pop, Psicodelia, Standards
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, musician, writer
Instrument(s) Voice, guitar
Years active 1967–present
Website http://www.caetanoveloso.com.br
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (born August 7, 1942), better known as Caetano Veloso, is a composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. He has been called "one of the greatest songwriters of the century"[1] and is sometimes considered to be the Bob Dylan of Brazil.[2] Veloso is most known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s, at the beginning of the Brazilian military dictatorship.
Veloso was born in Bahia, a state in the northeastern area of Brazil, but moved to Rio de Janeiro as a college student in the mid-1960s. Soon after the move, Veloso won a music contest and was signed to his first label. He became one of the founders of Tropicalismo with a group of several other musicians and artists—including his sister Maria Bethânia—in the same period. However the Brazilian government at the time viewed Veloso's music and political action as threatening, and he was arrested, along with fellow musician Gilberto Gil, in 1969. The two eventually were exiled from Brazil, and went to London, where they lived for two years. After he moved back to his home country, in 1972, Veloso once again began recording and performing, becoming popular outside of Brazil in the 1980s and 1990s. He has so far won five Latin Grammy Awards. He recorded his first all-English album, A Foreign Sound in 2004. The album contains many American standards.
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (born June 26, 1942), better known as Gilberto Gil (IPA: [ʒiu̯berto ʒiu̯]), is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and his political commitment. Since 2003, he has been serving as his country's Minister of Culture in the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Gil began playing music as a child and was still a teenager when he joined his first band. He started out as a bossa nova musician, eventually writing songs that reflected a new focus on political awareness and social activism. He was a key figure in the Música Popular Brasileira and Tropicalismo movements of the 1960s, alongside artists such as longtime collaborator Caetano Veloso. The Brazilian military regime that took power in 1964 saw both Gil and Veloso as a threat, and the two were held for nine months in 1969 before they were told to leave the country. Gil moved to London, but returned to the Brazilian state of Bahia in 1972 and continued his musical career, as well as working as a politician and environmental advocate.
Gil's musical style incorporates an eclectic range of influences, including rock, Brazilian genres including samba and forró, African music, and reggae.
Haiti
Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pra ver do alto a fila de soldados quase todos pretos
Dando porrada na nuca de malandros pretos
De ladrões mulatos
E outros quase brancos
Tratados como pretos
Só pra mostrar aos outro quase pretos
E são quase todos pretos
Como é que pretos, pobres e mulatos
E quase brancos, quase pretos, de tão pobres, são tratados
E não importa se olhos do mundo inteiro
Possam estar por um momento voltados para o largo (voltados para o largo)
Onde os escravos eram castigados
E hoje um batuque, um batuque com a pureza de meninos uniformizados
De escola secundária em dia de parada (em dia de parada)
E a grandeza épica de um povo em formação
Nos atrai, nos deslumbra e estimula
Não importa nada, nem o traço do sobrado
Nem a lente do Fantástico
Nem o disco de Paul Simon
Ninguém, ninguém é cidadão
Se você for ver a festa do Pelô
E se você não for (e se você não for)
Pense no Haiti, reze pelo Haiti
O Haiti é aqui
O Haiti não é aqui
E na TV se você vir um deputado em pânico
Mal dissimulado
Diante de qualquer, mas qualquer mesmo, qualquer qualquer
Plano de educação
Que pareça fácil
Que pareça fácil e rápido
E vá representar uma ameaça de democratização do ensino de primeiro grau
E se esse mesmo deputado defender a adoção da pena capital (da pena capital)
E o venerável cardeal disser que vê tanto espírito no feto
E nenhum no marginal
E se ao furar o sinal, o velho sinal vermelho habitual
Notar um homen mijando na esquina da rua
Sobre um saco brilhante de lixo do Leblon (de lixo do Leblon)
E quando ouvir o silêncio sorridente de São Paulo diante da chacina
111 presos indefesos, mas presos
São quase todos pretos
Ou quase pretos
Ou quase brancos, quase pretos de tão pobres
E pobres são como podres
E todos sabem
Como se tratam os pretos
E quando você for
Dar uma volta no Caribe
E quando for trepar sem camisinha
E apresentar sua participação inteligente do bloqueio a Cuba
Pense no Haiti, reze pelo Haiti
O Haiti é aqui
O Haiti não é aqui
The lyrics to "Haiti" by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil delve into the issue of systemic racism and social inequality in Brazil. The song begins by painting a vivid picture of a scene where individuals are being treated unfairly based on their race and socioeconomic status. The lyricist is inviting the listener to observe the situation at the Jorge Amado Foundation, where most of the people getting beaten up by soldiers are black, poor, and mixed-race individuals.
The following lines talk about how the world may pay attention to the situation, but nothing seems to change in the long run. The reference to the Pelô festival evokes the idea that even during celebrations, people should think about the struggles of others, including those in Haiti. The last stanza of the song discusses the political landscape in Brazil, where politicians and religious leaders seem to be more concerned with fetuses and crime than they are with education and basic human rights.
Overall, the song "Haiti" is a call for people to raise awareness about social and economic inequalities in Brazil and to think more deeply about privilege, power, and the way people treat each other.
Line by Line Meaning
Quando você for convidado pra subir no adro da fundação Casa de Jorge Amado (Casa de Jorge Amado)
When you are invited to climb the stairs of the Jorge Amado Foundation (Jorge Amado's house) and see from above the line of soldiers, mostly black, beating up black petty thieves, mulatto thieves, and almost white people treated as black just to show other almost black and poor almost white people how they will be treated because of their poverty and skin color.
Só pra mostrar aos outro quase pretos
They are doing this just to show other almost black people.
E são quase todos pretos
And almost all of them are black.
E aos quase brancos, pobres como pretos
And to the almost white people who are poor like black people.
Como é que pretos, pobres e mulatos
How black, poor, and mixed-race people are treated.
E quase brancos, quase pretos, de tão pobres, são tratados
And how almost white people, who are almost black because of their poverty, are treated.
Não importa nada, nem o traço do sobrado
Nothing matters, not even the architectural style of the building.
Nem a lente do Fantástico
Not even the perspective of the TV news show Fantástico.
Nem o disco de Paul Simon
Not even Paul Simon's album.
Ninguém, ninguém é cidadão
Nobody, nobody is a citizen.
Se você for ver a festa do Pelô
If you go to see the Pelô festival.
E se você não for (e se você não for)
And if you don't go.
Pense no Haiti, reze pelo Haiti
Think of Haiti, pray for Haiti.
O Haiti é aqui
Haiti is here.
O Haiti não é aqui
Haiti is not here.
E na TV se você vir um deputado em pânico
And if you see a panicked congressman on TV.
Notar um homen mijando na esquina da rua
Notice a man peeing on the corner of the street.
Sobre um saco brilhante de lixo do Leblon (de lixo do Leblon)
On a shiny garbage bag in Leblon.
E quando ouvir o silêncio sorridente de São Paulo diante da chacina
And when you hear the smiling silence of São Paulo in the face of a massacre.
111 presos indefesos, mas presos
111 defenseless prisoners, but prisoners.
São quase todos pretos
They are almost all black.
Ou quase pretos
Or almost black.
Ou quase brancos, quase pretos de tão pobres
Or almost white, almost black because of their poverty.
E pobres são como podres
And poor people are like rotten people.
E todos sabem
And everyone knows.
Como se tratam os pretos
How black people are treated.
E quando você for
And when you go.
Dar uma volta no Caribe
Take a walk in the Caribbean.
E quando for trepar sem camisinha
And when you have sex without a condom.
E apresentar sua participação inteligente do bloqueio a Cuba
And present your intelligent participation in the Cuban embargo.
Pense no Haiti, reze pelo Haiti
Think of Haiti, pray for Haiti.
O Haiti é aqui
Haiti is here.
O Haiti não é aqui
Haiti is not here.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Caetano Emmanuel Viana Teles Veloso, Gilberto Gil
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tacianE4724
eita bexiga!!! maravilhoso! uma musica de 1968 e parece ter sido feita ontem, maravilhoso. 40 anos e as demandas sao tao semelhantes.
lano de educação que pareça fácil
Que pareça fácil e rápido
E vá representar uma ameaça de democratização
Do ensino do primeiro grau
E se esse mesmo deputado defender a adoção da pena capital
E o venerável cardeal disser que vê tanto espírito no feto
E nenhum no marginal
E se, ao furar o sinal, o velho sinal vermelho habitual
@delsonribeiro6596
Queria entender a cabeça de quem dá um « deslike »numa canção dessa, Gil e Caetano foram simplesmente brilhantes
@LipeRamonzinho
Brasil também tem seus racistas.
@mjc50
Essa letra e muito complexa, tem gente que não entendi, então ataca de algum jeito.
@cenatuspierre8338
Quand deux genies du Nordeste du Brésil, voilà ce que cela donne. En qualité de profane, C'est toujours difficile, avec Gilberto Gil et Caetano Veloso de faire un choix tant que les morceaux figurant dans leur album sont magnifiques. Ceci est pour le bien de la musique.
@Aclo01
Eu quero que um dia essa musica pare de fazer sentido
@sucote100
Se ela parar de fazer sentido outra toma o lugar porque a reflexão sobre uma realidade nunca acaba...ainda bem!
@changlanggdanielfreitasnet2288
Utopia universal...
@manoelm
O triste é que cada vez faz mais sentido…
@Gxyz222
Eu adoro este álbum; é tanto escuro e frio. Cheers to Gil and Veloso!
@ericcampbell6370
Extraordinary! A rap that actually qualifies as music. This is further proof that Caetano and Gil are geniuses.