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.
Pedido A São João
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pois a saudade me aconselha o coração
Manda que eu vá convidar Dona Chiquinha
Para ser minha madrinha na Fogueira de São João
Chegando lá desabafo minha mágoa
Encho uma garrafa d'água depois enterro no chão
Peço a São João que apele pro Soberano
Se Deus quiser vou me embora pro sertão
Pois a saudade me aconselha o coração
Manda que eu vá convidar Dona Chiquinha
Para ser minha madrinha na Fogueira de São João
Chegando lá desabafo minha mágoa
Encho uma garrafa d'água depois enterro no chão
Peço a São João que apele pro Soberano
Pra saber se para o ano chove cedo em meu torrão
The lyrics of Luiz Gonzaga's song "Pedido A São João" are about a man's longing to return to his hometown in the sertão (a dry and arid region in northeastern Brazil) and his belief that the Fogueira de São João (St. John's bonfire) can help him find a solution to his problems. The singer declares that he will go to the sertão if God wills it, following the advice of his heart which is full of nostalgia. He intends to invite Dona Chiquinha (a kind of local matriarch) to be his godmother at the Fogueira de São João, a traditional celebration that takes place around the time of the Catholic feast of St. John the Baptist.
Once he arrives in the sertão, the singer unburdens his soul and fills a bottle with water, which he then buries in the ground as a sign of his request to St. John to intercede with God, the "Soberano" (Sovereign), to send rain to his parched region. The singer's desire to return to his ancestral home and his wish for rain are tied to his connection to the land and to his culture, which are deeply rooted in the local traditions associated with St. John's Day. Through his song, Luiz Gonzaga conveys the importance of faith, community, and resilience in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
If God wills it, I'll head back to the countryside
The singer is planning to return to the rural area
Because my heart is advised by longing
The singer is feeling nostalgic and homesick
I am tasked to invite Dona Chiquinha
The singer has a task to invite Dona Chiquinha to be their godmother at the Fogueira de São João
To be my godmother at the Fogueira de São João
The artist is requesting Dona Chiquinha to be their godmother at the Fogueira de São João
Arriving there, I'll pour out my sorrows
When the artist arrives at the destination, they will express their sadness
Fill a water bottle and bury it in the ground
The singer will bury a water bottle in the ground after filling it
I'll ask São João to appeal to the Almighty
The singer will ask for Sao Joao's intercession to God
To know if it will rain early in my land next year
The artist is asking God if it will rain in their land next year
Contributed by Kaylee E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
João Bosco Araujo Freitas
Descansa em paz mestre você deixou muitas saudades
JORGE ARAÚJO
Eterno Rei Luiz Gonzaga. Artista inigualável do nordeste brasileiro.
Ivaldo Botelho
Eita meu nordeste arretado! Nosso nordeste é lindo demais, ficamos emocionados com a beleza do meu e da nossa 🌎terra 🌎!!
José Edmilson Umbelino
me da até um nó na garganta ouvindo essa música,é muita saudades do meu nordeste!
Mendes Ribeiro
O q ti impede voltar? Vc é livre...
Maria Mercia Lins
@Fantasma 03 Fantasma 03 sou de Campina Grande.
Fantasma 03 Fantasma 03
@Maria Mercia Lins meu pai é de Massaranduba
Maria Mercia Lins
Amo demais meu Nordeste e minha pequenina e heroica Paraíba.Amo Gonzagão.
Cida Conceicao
Amo meu nordeste
Manoel Higino
Luiz Gonzaga, monumento nordestino!