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.
Galo Garnizé
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Era ladino aquele galo garnizé
Eu sem querer pisei no pé de uma galinha
Ele cantou quéquéréqué
E beliscou-me aqui no pé
Com a vizinha muito tempo que não falo
Peguei o galo e a vizinha nem deu fé
Qualquer coisinha vou pegar minha faquinha
E vou matar o garnizé
Eu não me conformei
Com tal situação
Peguei o garnizé
Cortei-lhe o esporão
Agarrei o bichinho
E amarrei pelo pé
Ele deu um pulinho
E fez quéquéréqué quéqué
Eu não me conformei
Com tal situação
Peguei o garnizé
Cortei-lhe o esporão
Agarrei o bichinho
E amarrei pelo pé
Ele deu um pulinho
E fez quéquéréqué
(Quéquéréqué)
Ninguém entra no galinheiro
No poleiro ninguém põe o pé
O rei do terreiro é o garnizé
Minha vizinha tem um galo pequenino
Era ladino aquele galo garnizé
Eu sem querer pisei no pé de uma galinha
Ele cantou quéquéréqué
E beliscou-me aqui no pé
Com a vizinha muito tempo que não falo
Peguei o galo e a vizinha nem deu fé
E se a vizinha reclamar
Qualquer coisinha vou pegar minha faquinha
E vou matar o garnizé
Eu não me conformei
Com tal situação
Peguei o garnizé
Cortei-lhe o esporão
Agarrei o bichinho
E amarrei pelo pé
Ele deu um pulinho
E fez quéquéréqué quéqué
Eu não me conformei
Com tal situação
Peguei o garnizé
Cortei-lhe o esporão
Agarrei o bichinho
E amarrei pelo pé
Ele deu um pulinho
E fez quéquéréqué
(Quéquéréqué)
Ninguém entra no galinheiro
No poleiro ninguém põe o pé
O rei do terreiro é o garnizé
Eu não me conformei
Com tal situação
Peguei o garnizé
Cortei-lhe o esporão
Agarrei o bichinho
E amarrei pelo pé
Ele deu um pulinho
E fez quéquéréqué quéqué
Eu não me conformei
Com tal situação
Peguei o garnizé
Cortei-lhe o esporão
Agarrei o bichinho
E amarrei pelo pé
Ele deu um pulinho
E fez quéquéréqué
(Quéquéréqué) é o maior
Ninguém entra no galinheiro
No poleiro ninguém põe o pé
O rei do terreiro é o garnizé
O rei do terreiro é o garnizé
O rei do terreiro é o garnizé
The lyrics of "Galo Garnizé" by Luiz Gonzaga revolve around a humorous story about a small, cunning rooster named garnizé and the singer's encounter with him. The song starts with the singer accidentally stepping on a chicken's foot, which prompts the garnizé to sing "quéquéréqué" (a representation of a rooster's crow). In addition to this, the garnizé pinches the singer's foot. The singer decides to take revenge on the garnizé by cutting its spurs and tying it up by its leg. However, the garnizé manages to jump and sing "quéquéréqué" once again, foiling the singer's plan.
Throughout the song, the singer expresses their frustration with the situation and announces that if the neighbor complains, they will take out their knife and kill the garnizé. The lyrics also highlight the power and dominance of the garnizé, claiming that no one can enter the chicken coop or approach the rooster's perch as it is the king of the yard.
Overall, "Galo Garnizé" is a lighthearted song that tells a comical story about a mischievous rooster and the singer's attempt to assert dominance over it. The lyrics playfully portray the singer's efforts to control the situation, but ultimately, the garnizé prevails as the king of the yard.
Line by Line Meaning
Minha vizinha tem um galo pequenino
My neighbor has a small rooster
Era ladino aquele galo garnizé
That garnizé rooster was cunning
Eu sem querer pisei no pé de uma galinha
I accidentally stepped on a chicken's foot
Ele cantou quéquéréqué
He crowed querequereque
E beliscou-me aqui no pé
And pecked me here on the foot
Com a vizinha muito tempo que não falo
It's been a long time since I spoke with the neighbor
Peguei o galo e a vizinha nem deu fé
I took the rooster and the neighbor didn't notice
E se a vizinha reclamar
And if the neighbor complains
Qualquer coisinha vou pegar minha faquinha
I'll grab my small knife for anything
E vou matar o garnizé
And I'll kill the garnizé rooster
Eu não me conformei
I couldn't accept it
Com tal situação
With such a situation
Peguei o garnizé
I took the garnizé rooster
Cortei-lhe o esporão
I cut his spur
Agarrei o bichinho
I grabbed the little creature
E amarrei pelo pé
And tied him by the leg
Ele deu um pulinho
He jumped a little
E fez quéquéréqué quéqué
And made querequereque quereque
Ninguém entra no galinheiro
No one enters the chicken coop
No poleiro ninguém põe o pé
No one puts their foot on the roost
O rei do terreiro é o garnizé
The king of the yard is the garnizé rooster
Eu não me conformei
I couldn't accept it
Com tal situação
With such a situation
Peguei o garnizé
I took the garnizé rooster
Cortei-lhe o esporão
I cut his spur
Agarrei o bichinho
I grabbed the little creature
E amarrei pelo pé
And tied him by the leg
Ele deu um pulinho
He jumped a little
E fez quéquéréqué quéqué
And made querequereque quereque
Ninguém entra no galinheiro
No one enters the chicken coop
No poleiro ninguém põe o pé
No one puts their foot on the roost
O rei do terreiro é o garnizé
The king of the yard is the garnizé rooster
Eu não me conformei
I couldn't accept it
Com tal situação
With such a situation
Peguei o garnizé
I took the garnizé rooster
Cortei-lhe o esporão
I cut his spur
Agarrei o bichinho
I grabbed the little creature
E amarrei pelo pé
And tied him by the leg
Ele deu um pulinho
He jumped a little
E fez quéquéréqué quéqué
And made querequereque quereque
Ninguém entra no galinheiro
No one enters the chicken coop
No poleiro ninguém põe o pé
No one puts their foot on the roost
O rei do terreiro é o garnizé
The king of the yard is the garnizé rooster
O rei do terreiro é o garnizé
The king of the yard is the garnizé rooster
O rei do terreiro é o garnizé
The king of the yard is the garnizé rooster
(Quéquéréqué) é o maior
(Querequereque) is the greatest
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Luiz Gonzaga Do Nascimento, Antonio Almeida
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind