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.
Acauā
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Durante o tempo do verão
No silêncio das tardes agourando
Chamando a seca pro sertão
Chamando a seca pro sertão
Acauã,
Acauã,
Teu canto é penoso e faz medo
Que é pra chuva voltar cedo
Que é pra chuva voltar cedo
Toda noite no sertão
Canta o João Corta-Pau
A coruja, mãe da lua
A peitica e o bacurau
Na alegria do inverno
Canta sapo, gia e rã
Mas na tristeza da seca
Só se ouve acauã
Só se ouve acauã
Acauã, Acauã...
Luiz Gonzaga's song 'Acauã' is a beautiful tribute to nature that portrays the life of a bird called 'acauã' that sings throughout the summer, often predicting and calling forth the onset of droughts in the sertão, a region plagued by prolonged periods devoid of rain. The bird's song is often haunting and ominous, as it foretells the imminent suffering that the people in the region are bound to experience. The lyrics remind listeners of the reality of their daily struggles, as they await the return of the rain that will bring an end to the harshness of the blazing sun and the desolation that accompanies it. The singer appeals to the acauã to stop singing, as the silence will encourage the coming of the much-needed rains.
The song also describes the various other animals that inhabit the region and how their songs vary with the changing of the seasons. During the joyful season of the rains, creatures like the frog, gia and rã sing with full fervor, celebrating the arrival and abundance of water. However, in the dryness and sorrow of the seca, only the acauã's voice can be heard, a harbinger of the pervasive malaise that envelops the region.
Luiz Gonzaga's Acauã is not only a moving portrayal of the struggles of people living in drought-prone regions of Brazil, but it is also a compelling commentary on the power of nature to define human experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
Acauã, acauã vive cantando
Acauã is a bird that sings constantly
Durante o tempo do verão
During the summer season
No silêncio das tardes agourando
In the silence of the afternoons, it predicts bad luck and misfortune
Chamando a seca pro sertão
It calls for drought in the hinterland
Chamando a seca pro sertão
It calls for drought in the hinterland
Teu canto é penoso e faz medo
Acauã's song is mournful and scary
Te cala acauã,
Keep quiet, Acauã
Que é pra chuva voltar cedo
So that the rain can come back early
Toda noite no sertão
Every night in the hinterland
Canta o João Corta-Pau
João Corta-Pau sings
A coruja, mãe da lua
The owl, mother of the moon
A peitica e o bacurau
The whip-poor-will and the nightjar
Na alegria do inverno
In the joy of winter
Canta sapo, gia e rã
Frogs, crickets and toads sing
Mas na tristeza da seca
But in the sadness of drought
Só se ouve acauã
Only Acauã's song can be heard
Só se ouve acauã
Only Acauã's song can be heard
Acauã, Acauã...
Acauã, Acauã...
Contributed by Isabella J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.