Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento (Exu, Pernambuco, December 13, 1912 — Recife, Pe… Read Full Bio ↴Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento (Exu, Pernambuco, December 13, 1912 — Recife, Pernambuco, August 2, 1989) was a prominent Brazilian folk singer, songwriter, musician and poet. Born in the countryside of Pernambuco, he is considered to be responsible for the promotion of Northeastern ("nordeste") music throughout the rest of the country. He is also known as the "king of baiao" and "Gonzagão".

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.

Juazeiro
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics

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Juazeiro, juazeiro
Me arresponda, por favor,
Juazeiro, velho amigo,
Onde anda o meu amor
Ai, juazeiro
Ela nunca mais voltou,
Diz, juazeiro
Onde anda meu amor

Juazeiro, não te alembra
Quando o nosso amor nasceu
Toda tarde à tua sombra
Conversava ele e eu
Ai, juazeiro
Como dói a minha dor,
Diz, juazeiro
Onde anda o meu amor
Juazeiro, seje franco,
Ela tem um novo amor,
Se não tem, porque tu choras,
Solidário à minha dor
Ai, juazeiro
Não me deixa assim roer,
Ai, juazeiro
Tô cansado de sofrer
Juazeiro, meu destino
Tá ligado junto ao teu,
No teu tronco tem dois nomes,
Ele mesmo é que ecreveu
Ai, juazeiro
Eu num güento mais roer,
Ai, juazeiro

Eu prefiro inté morrer.
Ai, juazeiro...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Luiz Gonzaga's song "Juazeiro" tell the story of a man who is searching for his lost love, and he seeks the help of the town of Juazeiro. The man is clearly devastated and cannot seem to find peace without knowing where his love is, and if she is lost forever. He pleads with the town to help him find her, asking if she has a new love interest, and if not, why the town seems to be mourning along with him.

The song also portrays a powerful sense of nostalgia and longing as the man reminisces about the good times he had with his lost love. He recalls their conversations under the shade of a tree in Juazeiro and how painful it is to now be without her. The man's fate seems to be tied up with the town of Juazeiro itself, as he mentions how his destiny is linked to the town's, and he even says he would rather die than continue to suffer in search of his love.

JuazeiroLuiz Gonzaga Lyrics

Juazeiro
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics