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.
A Morte do Vaqueiro
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gado muge sem parar
Lamentando seu vaqueiro
Que não vem mais aboiar
Não vem mais aboiar
Tão dolente a cantar
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo,
Tengo, lengo, tengo
Bom vaqueiro nordestino
Morre sem deixar tostão
O seu nome é esquecido
Nas quebradas do sertão
Nunca mais ouvirão
Seu cantar, meu irmão
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo,
Tengo, lengo, tengo
Ei, gado, oi
Sacudido numa cova
Desprezado do Senhor
Só lembrado do cachorro
Que inda chora
Sua dor
É demais tanta dor
A chorar com amor
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo,
Tengo, lengo, tengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo,
Tengo, lengo, tengo
Ei, gado, oi
E... Ei...
The lyrics of Luiz Gonzaga's "A Morte do Vaqueiro" tell the story of a mournful scene in which the cattle moo incessantly, grieving their vaqueiro (cowboy) who has passed away and won't be able to sing and play his aboio (a unique way of singing and calling the cattle). The song pays homage to the vaqueiro, who is a central figure of Northeastern Brazilian culture and plays a crucial role in the cattle industry. The lyrics attest to the vaqueiro's tragic destiny, as he dies poor and forgotten, his name lost in the backlands of the sertão (semi-arid region of Brazil) where he lived and worked.
The first verse sets the melancholic tone of the song, using the onomatopoeic "muge" to represent the cows' mournful lowing. The second verse highlights the vaqueiro's difficult life and the fact that he dies without leaving any money, which reflects the harsh reality of poverty in the Northeast. The third verse describes the vaqueiro's burial, as he is laid to rest unceremoniously, forgotten by the human world and remembered only by his loyal dog, who still cries out of love and sorrow.
The refrain "Tengo, lengo, tengo" is a typical call that the vaqueiro would use when herding the cows to the pasture, and it serves as a haunting reminder of the vaqueiro's presence in the song, even though he is no longer there. Overall, "A Morte do Vaqueiro" is a powerful eulogy to a humble, hard-working man who represents a whole culture and way of life in Brazil.
Line by Line Meaning
Numa tarde bem tristonha
On a very sad afternoon
Gado muge sem parar
Cattle mooing endlessly
Lamentando seu vaqueiro
Lamenting their cowboy
Que não vem mais aboiar
Who will no longer come to sing
Não vem mais aboiar
No longer singing
Tão dolente a cantar
So sorrowful when singing
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo, Tengo, lengo, tengo
Lyrics of the song
Ei, gado, oi
Hey, cattle, oh
Bom vaqueiro nordestino
Good northeast cowboy
Morre sem deixar tostão
Dies without leaving a penny
O seu nome é esquecido
His name is forgotten
Nas quebradas do sertão
In the backwoods of the desert
Nunca mais ouvirão
Will never hear
Seu cantar, meu irmão
His singing, my brother
Sacudido numa cova
Shaken in a grave
Desprezado do Senhor
Despised by the Lord
Só lembrado do cachorro
Only remembered by the dog
Que inda chora sua dor
Who still cries his pain
É demais tanta dor
It's too much pain
A chorar com amor
Crying with love
E... Ei...
And... Hey...
Contributed by Chloe S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Elidiane Santos
Ei, gado, oi
Ei
Numa tarde bem tristonha
Gado muge sem parar
Lamentando seu vaqueiro
Que não vem mais aboiar
Não vem mais aboiar
Tão dolente a cantar
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo
Ei, gado, oi
Bom vaqueiro nordestino
Morre sem deixar tostão
O seu nome é esquecido
Nas quebradas do sertão
Nunca mais ouvirão
Seu cantar, meu irmão
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo
Ei, gado, oi
Sacudido numa cova
Desprezado do senhor
Só lembrado do cachorro
Que inda chora a sua dor
É demais tanta dor
A chorar com amor
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo
Ei, gado, oi
Ei
Rhamona Marques
Numa tarde bem tristonha
Gado muge sem parar
Lamentando seu vaqueiro
Que não vem mais aboiar
Não vem mais aboiar
Tão dolente a cantar
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo,
tengo, lengo, tengo
Ei, gado, oi
Bom vaqueiro nordestino
Morre sem deixar tostão
O seu nome é esquecido
Nas quebradas do sertão
Nunca mais ouvirão
Seu cantar, meu irmão
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo,
tengo, lengo, tengo
Ei, gado, oi
Sacudido numa cova
Desprezado do Senhor
Só lembrado do cachorro
Que inda chora
Sua dor
É demais tanta dor
A chorar com amor
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo,
tengo, lengo, tengo
Tengo, lengo, tengo, lengo,
tengo, lengo, tengo
Ei, gado, oi
E... Ei...
PAULO BASS 𝄢
Isso não é uma música, é um hino nordestino. Arrepia até os ossos. Palmas para ao rei do Baião!
Hard_GamesRB
É uma música para o primo de Luiz Gonzaga que morreu
Nayury Almeida
Quem morreu foi o luiz gonzaga de câncer de próstata
Juca2012jcf Weschenfelder
Eu q n sou nordestino amo essa música
JФΞLSHФИ
Pessoas do futuro, curtam esse comentário pra sempre eu vir escutar esse hino do meu nordeste❤.
Joseane França
Aproveita q tá perto das 18h
Carros e caminhões por aí
A cada curtida eu volto e escuto essa obra prima
Kamylle Vitória
Volta amg
yorolous
Sai pra lá mendigo
Gabriel silva
volte aqui amigo