Caetano Veloso

Lore & Background

Recorded to capitalize on the success of the forward-looking "Alegria, Alegria" at the TV Record Festival, the album mostly continued in the new direction in which Caetano and his fellow tropicalistas (though that term had not yet been employed to describe them) wanted to take Brazilian popular music. Where his debut Domingo had been primarily based on more traditional Brazilian musical styles such as bossa nova, his second album relied heavily on sounds and instrumentation more common to rock and roll and psychedelia. The album's opener "Tropicália" gets its title from the Hélio Oiticica installation of the same name; Caetano's appropriation of the title was the basis for his initial association with the term, which later lent its name to the art movement of which he was a central figure, Tropicalismo. The song's lyrics do not mention the title or refer to it directly. In fact, Caetano had already completed the song's composition when film producer Luiz Carlos Barreto suggested "Tropicália" as its title, seeing similarities between its content and that of the art exhibit. Caetano, who had never heard of Oiticica or his work up to that point, resolved to use the title until he found a better one, which he never did. The Noel Rosa song "Coisas nossas", with its listing of various elements of Brazilian society, inspired the lyrics to "Tropicália", which similarly list cultural icons, such as the Portuguese-born but Brazilian-raised international superstar Carmen Miranda, a line from the popular Roberto Carlos song "Quero que tudo vá pro inferno", and the Louis Malle film Viva Maria. The song was voted by the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone as the 21st greatest Brazilian song.

Reader's Guide

Caetano has expressed displeasure with the album, calling it "amateurish and confused", but it is widely regarded as a classic, often showing up on lists of greatest Brazilian albums. It was very popular upon its release in Brazil, and the Brazilian press used the song title "Tropicália" to christen the larger artistic movement it represented "Tropicalismo", to the disdain of Caetano himself. The album was inducted into the Latin Grammy Award Hall of Fame in 2001. Personnel on the album include Caetano Veloso on guitar, vocals, and liner notes; David Drew Zingg on photography; Rogerio Duarte on album cover project idealization; Liana d'Urso on album cover illustration and final art; and Paulo Oliveira on album cover typography art.

Did You Know?

• The album's opener "Tropicália" was named after a Hélio Oiticica installation, but Caetano had never heard of Oiticica or his work when he accepted the title suggestion from film producer Luiz Carlos Barreto.
• The lyrics to "Tropicália" were inspired by the Noel Rosa song "Coisas nossas" and list cultural icons including Carmen Miranda, a line from Roberto Carlos's song "Quero que tudo vá pro inferno", and the Louis Malle film Viva Maria.
• The Brazilian press used the song title "Tropicália" to name the larger artistic movement "Tropicalismo", to Caetano's own disdain.
• The album was inducted into the Latin Grammy Award Hall of Fame in 2001.
• Caetano himself called the album "amateurish and confused", despite its widespread recognition as a classic.