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.
Xandusinha
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tinha oito boi zebú
Uma casa com varanda
Dando pro Norte e pro Sul
Seu paió tava cheinho
De feijão e de andú
Sem contar com mais uns cobre
Lá no fundo baú
Por um cheiro de xandú
Ai, Xanduzinha
Xanduzinha minha flô
Como foi que você deixou
Tanta riqueza pelo meu amor
Ai, Xanduzinha
Xanduzinha meu xodó
Eu sou pobre mais você sabe
Que meu amô,
Vale mais que ouro em pó
Luiz Gonzaga's song "Xandusinha" narrates the story of Marcolino, a caboclo (person of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry) who has a prosperous life, owning eight zebu cattle and a house with a porch that faces both the north and south directions. He also has a father who has plenty of beans and andu (a type of legume) stored, as well as some extra money in the bottom of the trunk. However, Marcolino would give all of his possessions away for a whiff of xandu, a type of perfume made from the flowers of the xandu tree. He sings to Xandusinha, his beloved, asking how she could leave so much wealth behind for him, a poor man, but notes that she knows his love is worth more than powdered gold.
Line by Line Meaning
O caboclo Marcolino
The man Marcolino, who is of mixed-race, lived a simple life in the countryside.
Tinha oito boi zebú
He owned eight Zebu cattle, which is a common breed in Brazil.
Uma casa com varanda
His house had a porch, a feature typical of rural homes in Brazil.
Dando pro Norte e pro Sul
The porch faced both north and south, allowing for better ventilation and natural light.
Seu paió tava cheinho
His pantry was stocked with beans and andu, which are types of legumes popular in Brazilian cuisine.
Sem contar com mais uns cobre
In addition, he had some money saved in a trunk.
Lá no fundo baú
The trunk was kept at the back of the house, hidden from plain sight.
Marcolino dava tudo
Despite having these possessions, Marcolino yearned for something else.
Por um cheiro de xandú
He was willing to give it all up for a scent of Xandu, which is a type of perfume.
Ai, Xanduzinha
Oh, my dear Xanduzinha.
Xanduzinha minha flô
Xanduzinha, my little flower.
Como foi que você deixou
How could you leave behind
Tanta riqueza pelo meu amor
So much wealth for my love.
Xanduzinha meu xodó
Xanduzinha, my sweet love.
Eu sou pobre mais você sabe
I may be poor, but you know
Que meu amô, Vale mais que ouro em pó
That my love is worth more than powdered gold.
Lyrics © Editora e Importadora Musical Fermata do Brasil Ltda.
Written by: Luiz Gonzaga Do Nascimento
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Anely Soares
Xanduzinha
Luiz Gonzaga
O caboclo Marcolino tinha oito boi zebu,
Uma casa com varanda, dando pro norte e pro sul
Seu paiol tava cheinho de feijão e de andu
Sem contar com mais uns cobres
Lá no fundo do baú
Marcolino dava tudo pelo cheiro de Xandu
Ai Xanduzinha, Xanduzinha minha "frô"(flor)
Como foi que você deixou tanta riqueza pelo meu "amô"
Ai Xanduzinha, Xanduzinha meu xodó
Eu sou pobre mas você sabe
Que o meu "amô" vale mais que ouro em pó.
Luciano Magno
Como é que o cara dá um deslike numa melodia dessas! Ouvido de Peba!
Wilson Pinto
Deve ser é coisa pior kkkk
Iracema Coltinho
Nem queira saber pq é quemte😰😰😰😰
Anely Soares
Vim pelo documentário princesa do sertão, onde um dos entrevistados fala sobre Marculino e xandu. 👏😍👏😍👏😍👏😍👏😍😍👏
Fátima Batista
Você pode mandar o link do documentário?
amorpelaaculturanordestina,livrosviagensefilmes
vocês sabiam que o cabloco Marcolino era parente do coronel José Pereira do município de Princesa Isabel da Paraíba e que Xanduzinha realmente existiu?o nome dela era Alexandrina,a festa de casamento deles durou 3 dias dizem que até Lampião que era amigo de Marcolino,compareceu ao casamento ,Marcolino esteve intimamente ligado à revolução de 1930,tudo isso está documentado no documentário princesa do sertão é só conferir baixando esse documentário no youtube.
Maria Luisa guimarães
Mas pela letra da musica, Xanduzinha deixou alguem com muitos bem, pra ficar com outro amor, que amor vale mais que ouro em pó...
Rubens Meneses
Xanduzinha era irmã do Coronel Zé Pereira.
amorpelaaculturanordestina,livrosviagensefilmes
@T Belchior. Isso Mesmo.
T Belchior.
Uma casa com varanda dando pro norte e pro sul: porque quando Marcolino recebia Lampião em casa, a cadeira que ele sentava dava para ver quando a polícia vinha pela rua, Lampião sabia pela porta de trás da casa.