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.
Sanfoneiro Macho
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bota o fole pra roncar
Que o ronco desse fole
Faz a gente se animar
Andei mais de l'égua e meia
Pra poder aqui chegar
Onde tem forró eu vou
Eu faço tudo e chego lá
Onde tem forró eu vou
Eu faço tudo e chego lá
Sanfoneiro puxa o fole
Bota o fole pra roncar
Que o ronco desse fole
Faz a gente se animar
Andei mais de l'égua e meia
Pra poder aqui chegar
Onde tem forró eu vou
Eu faço tudo e chego lá
Onde tem forró eu vou
Eu faço tudo e chego lá
Eita sanfoneiro bom
Eita sanfoneiro macho
Ele toca em qualquer tom
Toca dos oito aos cento e vinte baixo
Eita sanfoneiro bom
Eita sanfoneiro macho
Ele toca em qualquer tom
Toca dos oito aos cento e vinte baixo
Sanfoneiro puxa o fole
Bota o fole pra roncar
Que o ronco desse fole
Faz a gente se animar
Andei mais de l'égua e meia
Pra poder aqui chegar
Onde tem forró eu vou
Eu faço tudo e chego lá
Onde tem forró eu vou
Eu faço tudo e chego lá
Sanfoneiro puxa o fole
Bota o fole pra roncar
Que o ronco desse fole
Faz a gente se animar
Andei mais de l'égua e meia
Pra poder aqui chegar
Onde tem forró eu vou
Eu faço tudo e chego lá
Onde tem forró eu vou
Eu faço tudo e chego lá
Eita sanfoneiro bom
Eita sanfoneiro macho
Ele toca em qualquer tom
Toca dos oito aos cento e vinte baixo
Eita sanfoneiro bom
Eita sanfoneiro macho
Ele toca em qualquer tom
Toca dos oito aos cento e vinte baixo
Essa sanfoninha 'tá igual lançadeira de mastro de Santa Cruz e Capibaribe
É indústria, meu filho
Olha só
É lançadeira das Cabocla e Capibaribe
'Tá enrolando
The lyrics of Luiz Gonzaga's song "Sanfoneiro Macho" celebrate and praise the accordion player, referred to as "sanfoneiro." The song begins with the sanfoneiro playing and activating the accordion, creating a cheerful and lively sound that energizes people. The singer expresses how they have traveled a long distance to arrive at their destination, emphasizing their determination to go wherever there is forró music and do whatever it takes to be a part of it.
The chorus repeats the idea of going wherever there is forró music and doing everything necessary to get there. The song highlights the skill and versatility of the sanfoneiro, stating that they can play in any key and can even play from the lowest to the highest notes on the accordion. This further emphasizes the talent and prowess of the sanfoneiro, praising their musical abilities.
Overall, "Sanfoneiro Macho" is a lively and uplifting song that celebrates the accordion player and their contribution to the forró music scene. It showcases the importance of the accordion, also known as the "sanfona," in creating the energetic and rhythmic sound of forró music.
Line by Line Meaning
Sanfoneiro puxa o fole
The accordion player starts playing the accordion
Bota o fole pra roncar
He makes the accordion roar
Que o ronco desse fole
Because the sound of this accordion
Faz a gente se animar
Makes people excited
Andei mais de l'égua e meia
I traveled a long distance
Pra poder aqui chegar
To be able to get here
Onde tem forró eu vou
Where there is forró, I go
Eu faço tudo e chego lá
I do everything to achieve success
Eita sanfoneiro bom
Oh, what a talented accordion player
Eita sanfoneiro macho
Oh, what a skilled accordion player
Ele toca em qualquer tom
He plays in any key
Toca dos oito aos cento e vinte baixo
He plays from low to high notes
Essa sanfoninha 'tá igual lançadeira de mastro de Santa Cruz e Capibaribe
This small accordion is as powerful as the mast launching device used in Santa Cruz and Capibaribe
É indústria, meu filho
It's an impressive piece of work, my son
Olha só
Just look
É lançadeira das Cabocla e Capibaribe
It's a launching device used by the Cabocla and Capibaribe people
'Tá enrolando
It's spinning around
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Luiz Gonzaga Do Nascimento, Onildo Almeida
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind