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.
Só Xote
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Toque o xote
Sanfoneiro, toque o xote
Toque o xote que eu quero xotear
Nesse xote eu danço a noite inteira
Xoteando para o povo apreciar
Toque o xote que eu quero xotear
Nesse xote eu danço a noite inteira
Xoteando para o povo apreciar
Dançar xote com quem sabe é bom demais
Tenho certeza que dança melhor não há
Por isso eu peço sanfoneiro toque xote
Toque o xote (toque o xote) que eu quero xotear
Toque o xote
Toque o xote
Sanfoneiro, toque o xote
Toque o xote que eu quero xotear
Nesse xote eu danço a noite inteira
Xoteando para o povo apreciar
Sanfoneiro, toque o xote
Toque o xote que eu quero xotear
Nesse xote eu danço a noite inteira
Xoteando para o povo apreciar
Dançar xote com quem sabe é bom demais
Tenho certeza que dança melhor não há
Por isso eu peço sanfoneiro toque xote
Toque o xote (toque o xote) que eu quero xotear
Toque o xote
Toque o xote
Toque o xote
The lyrics to the song "Só Xote" by Luiz Gonzaga plea for the accordion player to play the xote, a popular Brazilian dance style, so that the singer and others can dance all night long. The singer emphasizes that dancing xote with someone who knows how to dance it is an incredible experience and requests the accordion player to keep playing the music until the morning. The repeated lines "Sanfoneiro, toque o xote, toque o xote que eu quero xotear" (Accordion player, play xote, play xote so that I can dance) reflect the singer's enthusiasm towards dancing the xote.
The song has a light and upbeat melody that is the perfect match for the potentially endless dance floor. The song emphasizes the strong cultural ties between music and dance in Brazil, especially the xote dance style. It also reflects the importance of live music performance with a focus on the accordion player and its iconic status in Brazilian music.
Line by Line Meaning
Toque o xote
Play the xote rhythm
Sanfoneiro, toque o xote
Accordionist, play the xote rhythm
Toque o xote que eu quero xotear
Play the xote rhythm that I want to dance to
Nesse xote eu danço a noite inteira
I dance all night to this xote rhythm
Xoteando para o povo apreciar
Dancing xote for the people to enjoy
Dançar xote com quem sabe é bom demais
Dancing xote with someone who knows is really good
Tenho certeza que dança melhor não há
I'm sure there's no one who dances better
Por isso eu peço sanfoneiro toque xote
That's why I ask the accordionist to play the xote rhythm
Toque o xote (toque o xote) que eu quero xotear
Play the xote rhythm (play the xote) that I want to dance to
Writer(s): Onildo Onildo Almeida
Contributed by Juliana T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@user-cm1tt5xm2f
❤ canta muito eita rei do Baião musica gostosa de ouvir e dançar
@paulohenriquefreitasdeassi5212
Lembra o estilo atual obtido pelo o artista Santana Cantador... Boa qualidade musical É boas lembranças de uma época que jamais será vivida e resgatada na cultura Nordestina.
@anderssonsouza7086
Minha filha de 7 anos sabe cantar e ama essa musica❤❤
@josepassos1019
Maravilhosa música! Obrigada por postar!
@LipeRebirth
Isso é um hino.
@carlacosta3180
Tudo de bom! Sanfoneiro, toque xote.
@williamstrada2038
Bom demais dançar um xote Carla
@lololadybugkit6713
Esa musica vai sé a minha plezentasao
@lourdesaraujo9411
APRESENTAÇÃO né
@thiagoaguiar4767
Duplo sentido muito inteligente... Muito bom!