The son of a peasant and accordion player, he was attracted to the 8-bass accordion at an early age, although he started out by accompanying his father by playing the zabumba (a type of bass drum) and singing at parties and religious celebrations. He left home in 1930 to join the army, and toured Brazil with an army band until 1939. Gonzaga decided to remain in Rio de Janeiro with a recently purchased accordion. He performed in the streets and in bars, playing boleros, waltzes and tangos.
After noticing that the Northeastern immigrants missed the music from their hometowns, he started to give listeners the sort of music they craved to hear: xaxados, baiões, chamegos and cocos. At Ary Barroso’s talent show, Luiz Gonzaga played his chamego "Vira e Mexe" and was acclaimed by the audience and by the dreaded host, who gave him the highest score.
In 1943, he dressed up in typical Northeastern costumes for the first time to perform live, and got hyped. Later on, as well as playing popular tunes on the accordion, he began to sing his own material, and his skills as a songwriter were revealed.
Gonzaga's son, Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento Júnior, known as Gonzaguinha, born 1945, was also a noted Brazilian singer and composer.
His greatest hit ever, "Asa Branca" (written with Humberto Teixeira), was recorded in 1947 and was covered countless times by many different artists. He worked on the radio until 1954, enjoying huge popularity. He is widely recognized for singlehandedly taking the baião style and the accordion to a wide audience. For a time RCA (now BMG), his recording label, was almost exclusively dedicated to printing his singles and albums. During the 60's, as the public taste shifted to bossa nova and iê-iê-iê, he found himself increasingly stranded from big city stages, so he toured the countryside, where his popularity never abated.
In the 70s and 80s, he slowly re-emerged, partly due to covers of his songs by famous artists like Geraldo Vandré, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, his son Gonzaguinha and Milton Nascimento. Some of his greatest hits are "Vozes da Seca" ("Voices From Drought"), "Algodão" ("Cotton"), "A Dança da Moda" ("The Dance In Fashion"), "ABC do Sertão" ("The ABC of Sertão"), "Derramaro o Gai" ("They Spilt the Gas"), "A Letra I" ("The 'i' letter"), "Imbalança" ("Shake It"), "A Volta da Asa-Branca" ("The Return Of The Picazuro Pigeon"), "Cintura Fina" ("Slender Waist"), "O Xote das Meninas" ("The Girls' Schottische", written with Zé Dantas, and "Juazeiro", "Paraíba", "Mangaratiba", "Baião-de-Dois", "No Meu Pé de Serra" ("There In My Homeland"), "Assum Preto" ("Blue-back Grassquit"), "Légua Tirana" ("Tyrannical league"), "Qui Nem Jiló" ("Like Solanum gilo", written with Humberto Teixeira. Other successful collaborations resulted in "Tá Bom Demais" ("It's Very Good") (with Onildo de Almeida), "Danado de Bom" ("Very Good") (with João Silva), "Dezessete e Setecentos" ("Seventeen And Seven hundred") and "Cortando o Pano" ("Cutting Cloth") (both with Miguel Lima).
Gonzaga died of natural causes at the age of 76.
17 e 700
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pra ir num forró dançar, ai, ai, ai, ai, eu fui num
Forró dançar
Valeu a pena eu andar dezessete légua e meia
Pois Rosinha tava lá, ai, ai, ai, ai, a rosinha tava
Lá
Cheguei no forró moído, em carne encalacrada
E quando Zé Sanfoneiro tocou no fole um baião
Rodei com Rosa ao terreiro, roçando em meu coração
Rodei com Rosa ao terreiro, roçando em meu coração
Ai, ai, ai que tentação
The song "17 Léguas e Meia" by Luiz Gonzaga is about a man who travels a great distance of seventeen and a half leagues (a unit of measurement equivalent to approximately 6.6 miles) to attend a forró dance, which is a popular dance in Northeast Brazil. Despite enduring a long journey and arriving tired and sore, he finds joy and satisfaction in dancing with his love interest, Rosinha. The lyrics express the sentiment that the effort was worth it because of the happiness he found in the moment.
The song paints a vivid picture of the experience at the forró dance. The singer arrives exhausted, but soon he is invigorated by drinking three strong alcoholic beverages. When Zé Sanfoneiro, the accordion player, begins to play a baião, a musical genre that originated in the Northeast of Brazil, the singer and Rosinha dance together intimately. The suggestive lyrics "Rodei com Rosa ao terreiro, roçando em meu coração" (I whirled with Rosa to the dance floor, grazing against my heart) suggest a physical connection between the two. The closing line "Ai, ai, ai que tentação" (Oh, oh, oh, what temptation) only reinforces the image of a passionate encounter.
Line by Line Meaning
Eu já andei sem parar dezessete légua e meia
I have traveled nonstop for seventeen and a half leagues
Pra ir num forró dançar, ai, ai, ai, ai, eu fui num Forró dançar
To go dance forró, [sings lamenting sounds], I went to a Forró dance
Valeu a pena eu andar dezessete légua e meia
It was worth it to walk seventeen and a half leagues
Pois Rosinha tava lá, ai, ai, ai, ai, a rosinha tava Lá
Because Rosinha was there, [sings lamenting sounds], Rosinha was there
Cheguei no forró moído, em carne encalacrada
I arrived at the crowded forró, worn out and aching
Mas logo fui socorrido tomando três cana brava
But I was quickly helped by drinking three strong canes [of alcohol]
E quando Zé Sanfoneiro tocou no fole um baião
And when Zé Sanfoneiro played a baião on his accordion
Rodei com Rosa ao terreiro, roçando em meu coração
I danced with Rosa on the dance floor, rubbing against my heart
Ai, ai, ai que tentação
[sings lamenting sounds] Oh, what a temptation
Lyrics © Editora e Importadora Musical Fermata do Brasil Ltda.
Written by: CARLOS BARROSO, HUMBERTO TEIXEIRA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
•erika-br•
Eu lhe dei vinte mil Réis
Pra pagar três e trezentos
Você tem que me voltar
Dezesseis e setecentos!
Dezessete e setecentos!
Dezesseis e setecentos!
Mais eu lhe dei vinte mil Réis
Pra pegar três e trezentos
Você tem que me voltar
Dezesseis e setecentos!
Mas dezesseis e setecentos?
Dezesseis e setecentos!
Porque dezesseis e setecentos?
Dezesseis e setecentos!.....
............
CIDA LIMA - SÊNIOR AMAKHA PARIS
kkkkkkkkk O cara é gênio..... Parece meu pai quando tá errado e continua teimando com quem tá certo...... show...... Orgulho de ser nordestina..... Êta povo criativo.....
✨Sra. Smile Gacha✨
O meu TMB só que ele teimou DMS e foi comprar leite tô esperando até hoje
Mona lisa™☯︎
O meu TBM kkkkkkkk
Otacilio Lourenco
Meu saudoso pai dizia: “Eu errado ainda estou certo!”
😂😂😂😂
Janiols
Meu pai tbm
CLÁUDIO DANTAS CCB
Sou formado em música e sempre digo
O simples é o mais bonito
O pouco é muito
A riqueza das melodias e o sentimento das notas
NÃO PRECISA ENFEITAR
REI DO BAIÃO
Victor Oliveira Lohan
Só ouvi verdades 👏👏👏👏👏
JOSÉ PASCOAL DA SILVA
Sou rockeiro mas sou também fã deste grande compositor e cantor nordestino 10 estrelas ********
Punhos de Pano
@Andre Ribeiro Você provavelmente não escuta muito forró,vai procurar saber antes de falar besteira.
Punhos de Pano
Oh senhor rockeiro que gosta de forró! Grande coisa