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.
a dança da moda
Luiz Gonzaga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nas noites de São João
Em vez de polca e rancheira
O povo só pede e só dança o baião
No Rio 'tá tudo mudado
Nas noites de São João
Em vez de polca e rancheira
No meio da rua
Inda é balão
Inda é fogueira
É fogo de vista
Mas dentro da pista
O povo só pede e só dança o baião
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
É a dança da moda
Pois em toda a roda
Só pede baião
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
É a dança da moda
Pois em toda roda
Só pede baião
No Rio 'tá tudo mudado
Nas noites de São João
Em vez de polca e rancheira
O povo só pede e só dança o baião
No Rio 'tá tudo mudado
Nas noites de São João
Em vez de polca e rancheira
O povo só pede e só dança o baião
No meio da rua
Inda é balão
Inda é fogueira
É fogo de vista
Mas dentro da pista
O povo só pede e só dança o baião
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
É a dança da moda
Pois em toda roda
Só pede baião
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
É a dança da moda
Pois em toda roda
Só pede baião
No meio da rua
Inda é balão
Inda é fogueira
É fogo de vista
Mas dentro da pista
O povo só pede e só dança o baião
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
É a dança da moda
Pois em toda roda
Só pede baião
É só baião
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
É a dança da moda
Pois em toda roda
Só pede baião
É a dança da moda
Pois em toda roda
Só pede baião
É só baião
É a dança da moda
Pois em toda roda
Só pede baião
É a dança da moda
Pois em toda roda
Só pede baião
É a dança da moda
Pois em toda roda
Só pede baião
Luiz Gonzaga's song "A Danca" talks about the changes that have occurred during the São João festival in Rio. Instead of the traditional polka and rancheira dances, people only ask for and dance to baião. The song describes the festive atmosphere of the event where, in the streets, there are still colorful balloons and bonfires, but inside the dance floor, the only desired rhythm is baião. The repetition of the chorus "Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João" emphasizes the euphoria and joy of the festival.
The song highlights the popularity of baião, a traditional rhythm from the northeast of Brazil, which was widely popularized by Luiz Gonzaga. He became known as the "King of Baião," using his music to spread the culture and traditions of the Brazilian northeastern region across the country. With this song, Luiz Gonzaga helped to consolidate the baião as one of the most popular and traditional rhythms of Brazil.
Overall, "A Danca" is a tribute to the traditions of the São João festival and the importance of preserving cultural heritage, as even though times change, the essence of the celebration remains alive.
Line by Line Meaning
No Rio 'tá tudo mudado
Things have changed in Rio
Nas noites de São João
During the nights of Saint John
Em vez de polca e rancheira
Instead of polka and rancheira
O povo só pede e só dança o baião
The people only ask for and dance baião
No meio da rua
In the middle of the street
Inda é balão
It's still balloon
Inda é fogueira
It's still bonfire
É fogo de vista
It's just for show
Mas dentro da pista
But inside the dance floor
O povo só pede e só dança o baião
The people only ask for and dance baião
Ai, ai, ai, ai, São João
Oh, oh, oh, oh, Saint John
É a dança da moda
It's the dance in fashion
Pois em toda a roda
Because everyone in the circle
Só pede baião
Only asks for baião
É só baião
It's just baião
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing
Written by: Luiz Gonzaga Do Nascimento
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Rodrigo Brandão
Poucas músicas celebram mais a ligação do Nordeste com o Rio, que, como S. Paulo, é um sítio onde os diferentes Brasis se encontram. Ouvindo essa preciosidade, sinto cheiro da ex-feira de São Cristóvão (hoje o Centro Luiz Gonzaga, uma boa pedida pra quem vier conhecer o Rio). Viva São João! Viva Gonzagão!
Raphael Carvalho
Sou do Recife e hoje moro no Rio, e atesto as palavras do Rei. Aqui, nas noites de São João, o povo só pede baião.
Rodrigo Brandão
Nada mais real, companheiro! Sou carioca, apaixonado pela cultura nordestina 🤗🥰
Maxwell De Souza
Saudades da minha velha quadrilha em noites iluminadas pelos balões, louvado seja Deus 🙌
Manoel Barbosa
Quanta saudade da minha infância
Ivanildo Rodrigues
Isso que é música.
Valdecy Ramos
Saudade do meu sertão
Joao Luis
Luiz Gonzaga gênio
José Meira
Luís gonzaga não se discute se ouve
araujozx27
Tmnc escola mandou eu dançar essa musica,papa joão paulo 2 kkkkk