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.

O Torrado Da Lili
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Lili, tem torrado aí?
Me dê uma narigada } bis
Mas eu quero dormir

Eu tenho
Mas, porém não dou
Meu torrado é bom } bis
Mas é de meu amor

O seu torradinho é bom
E o seu cheirinho
Logo se destaca
O mais difícil
É arrumar o fumo
Fumo de rolo de Arapiraca

Por nelson de campos

Overall Meaning

In Luiz Gonzaga's song "O Torrado Da Lili", the lyrics are spoken from the perspective of a man asking a woman named Lili if she has any torrado (a type of tobacco). The man then requests to take a sniff of the torrado, but ultimately decides that he wants to go to bed. Lili tells the man that she does have torrado, but she won't give him any because it belongs to her lover. The man acknowledges that her torrado is good and he appreciates its scent, but getting his hands on Arapiraca tobacco to roll his own cigarettes is the difficult part.

The song is quite humorous, as it highlights a conversation between two people about something as simple as tobacco. However, it also touches on themes of love, possessiveness, and the lengths people will go to for the things they desire. The man desires the torrado enough to ask Lili for it, but Lili is unwilling to give it away because it belongs to someone else. The song may also be seen as a commentary on the power dynamics that exist within relationships and how people can become possessive over the things and people they love.

Line by Line Meaning

Lili, tem torrado aí?
Asking Lili if she has any torrado (roasted coffee beans) with a playful tone.

Me dê uma narigada } bis
Asking Lili for a sniff of the torrado before going to sleep.

Mas eu quero dormir
Expressing the desire to sleep despite the temptation of the torrado.

Eu tenho
Admitting to having torrado.

Mas, porém não dou
Refusing to share the torrado with the listener.

Meu torrado é bom } bis
Stating that the torrado is of good quality and worth keeping to himself.

Mas é de meu amor
Revealing that the torrado is a gift from his beloved and therefore special to him.

O seu torradinho é bom
Complimenting Lili's torradinho.

E o seu cheirinho
Noting that the aroma of the torrado is particularly appealing.

Logo se destaca
Observing how quickly the torrado's scent can grab one's attention.

O mais difícil
Acknowledging a challenge.