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.
Estrada de Canindé
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Que bom, que bom que é
Uma estrada e uma cabocla
Cum a gente andando a pé
Ai, ai, que bom
Que bom, que bom que é
Uma estrada e a lua branca
No sertão de Canindé
Quem é rico anda em burrico
Quem é pobre anda a pé
Mas o pobre vê nas estrada
O orvaio beijando as flô
Vê de perto o galo campina
Que quando canta muda de cor
Vai moiando os pés no riacho
Que água fresca, nosso Senhor
Vai oiando coisa a grané
Coisas qui, pra mode vê
O cristão tem que andá a pé
The lyrics of Luiz Gonzaga & Fagner's song "Estrada de Canindé" depict the beauty and simplicity of life on the road, particularly in Canindé, which is a city in northeastern Brazil. The song celebrates the joy of walking on a road with a "cabocla" (a woman of mixed Indigenous and European descent) and the "Lua branca" (the white moon) illuminating the surroundings. The lyrics contrast the life of the rich traveling on donkeys with the poor who must walk, but the poor see the beauty in nature as they walk along the roadside. They see the "orvaio" (morning dew) kissing the flowers, the colorful "galo campina" (a type of bird), and they enjoy cooling their feet in the stream.
The lyrics also suggest that those who travel on foot get to experience the little things in life more fully. They get to see the details and appreciate the beauty of nature. Themes of poverty and humility are present in the song, but the focus is on finding joy and beauty in life's simplest pleasures.
Line by Line Meaning
Ai, ai, que bom
Expressing joy and happiness
Que bom, que bom que é
It's so good, it's so good
Uma estrada e uma cabocla
A road and a poor, rural woman
Cum a gente andando a pé
Walking alongside us on foot
Uma estrada e a lua branca
A road and the bright moon
No sertão de Canindé
In the dry countryside of Canindé
Artomove lá nem sabe se é home ou se é muié
No one cares about gender or appearance there
Quem é rico anda em burrico
The wealthy ride donkeys
Quem é pobre anda a pé
The poor walk on foot
Mas o pobre vê nas estrada
But the poor see on the road
O orvaio beijando as flô
The dew kissing the flowers
Vê de perto o galo campina
Seeing up close the campina rooster
Que quando canta muda de cor
That changes its color when it sings
Vai moiando os pés no riacho
Dipping their feet in the stream
Que água fresca, nosso Senhor
Enjoying the fresh water, thanking the Lord
Vai oiando coisa a grané
Observing small details
Coisas qui, pra mode vê
Things that you can only see when you take the time to look
O cristão tem que andá a pé
Believers should walk the path of life on foot
Lyrics © Tratore
Written by: Humberto Teixeira, Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sjsantosful
Toda vez que eu ouço essa música, lembro do meu avô Antônio. Ele ia visitar a irmã que morava no Juazeiro do Norte/CE e caminhava uns 400 km de onde morava no Pernambuco.
@maluceu4513
Sempre que ouço esta musica, principalmente nesta versão me da vontade de chorar de saudade. Lembro muito de meu falecido avô, Lembro da minha infancia na roça, tudo da musica vai descrevendo como num filme deliciosos momentos de quando era apenas uma menina. Que saudade!!!
@raimundocavalcantebarrosoc1632
Visitem os sertões de Canindé ! A música diz muito
@LuizCarlos-rz5hk
Coisas q pra mode ver o cristão tem q andar a pé .......🎶🎶🎶🎶🙌🙌🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷. O homem q cantou a fé do povo Nordestino , cantou o Padre Cícero Romão , cantou o Frei Damião ,Cantou a Ava Maria Sertaneja , cantou a morte do vaqueiro , cantou o vôo da asa branca , cantou a tristeza da seca e a dor do sertanejo de ter q deixar a sua terra natal em busca de uma vida melhor , cantou a feira de Caruaru , cantou a alegria e a esperança de quando a chuva molhava o chão castigado pela seca , cantou o Exu sua terra natal , cantou a serra da borborema e a chapada do Araripe . O Brasil te ama Luiz Gonzaga eterno rei do baião , monarca do nordeste brasileiro 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷.
@felipemartins2229
Cantou tudo isso e muito mais né meu amigo, e ainda cantou todas as aves do sertão e muitas árvores tbm , esse era show de bola
@reginamelo1636
Fez também a música do papa João Paulo segundo em visita a Fortaleza.
@manoelgabriel0767
Muito bom
@garotojorge8016
A paz que a letra dessa música traz, só quem é daqui sente. ❤️
@helinhoventura4974
Ô coisa boa de ouvir
@elisregina2611
Lindas poesias do nosso eterno rei do baião!!!! Viva Luiz Gonzaga!!!!!!