There are moments in an artist’s life when pain overflows, but he does not scream, but rather whispers. The album Caetano Veloso (1971), recorded in London during exile due to the dictatorship, is this sad whisper. A record that seems shrouded in fog, like the city he lived in, alone on Redesdale Street, without friends, without a home, without land.
Depressed and trying to emotionally survive the brutal breakup with Brazil, Caetano accepted an invitation from British producers to write an album in English.
The result is a record of mature sadness, a musical memoir of a young man who found himself torn apart by Bahia, heat, and his mother tongue.
The most famous song, “London, London,” passes through the generations as one of the most accurate expressions of exile ever written. Caetano walks the streets “against the wind, without fear or hope,” and every word is an image of English unity.
The artist’s favorite song embodies the feeling of living suspended between two worlds.
The cover – wrapped in a heavy coat, looking wary – really conveys the mood of the album. In “If You Carry a Stone”, Caetano Samba de Roda uses “Marinheiro Só” as a base and conjures the haunting Bahia as a ghostly memory.
On “A Little More Blue,” the melancholy is clearly evident in the first verses of the album, almost acting as a confession.
The pain of distance reaches its most tender expression in “Maria Bethania,” an almost childish request from her sister to write letters. It was as if each passage was an attempt to return, even if only by imagination.
The album ends with the song “Asa Branca,” in which the hinterland — and Brazil — become a metaphor for the ultimate homeland, always desired, always far away.
Although “Transa” (1972) became Exile’s favorite album, this 1971 album remains the most faithful interpretation of Cayetano’s spirit from that period. A gray and painful album, but also incredibly beautiful.
When he took the stage at Estilo Brasil Festival on December 11, Caetano revisited his journey through pain, exile and reinvention. “London, London” will be there, invisible, hovering above the repertoire, remembering that nostalgia also shapes giants.
Estilo Brasil Festival is presented by Banco do Brasil Estilo, sponsored by the Federal Government and BB Visa cards, and held by CapitalsProduced by Oh! Arts.
Buy your ticket
table
Caetano Veloso
December 11
Lineker
December 14
Brazil Style Festival
location: Ulysses Convention Center
Tickets: Digital box office