Review Summary: Exiled in London, Caetano Veloso released a crushing melancholic record about "saudade"
It is often said that "saudade" is a word without translation. It is described by Audrey Bell as a vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist, for something other than the present, not an active discontent or poignant sadness but an indolent dreaming wistfulness, although it's exact meaning is disputable. This is a record about saudade. Saudade about the artist's country. Saudade about his native northeast region. Saudade about his sister. Saudade about the colourful brazilian music.
Exiled in London during the military dictatorship in Brazil, the big triumph of Caetano Veloso's third homonymous record lies in the way with which he embraces the english culture to expose his own open wounds. Even if it is always based on brazilian music, the constant presence of big string arrangements and jazzy bases makes it closer to melancholic english-language classics, though its more relaxed and contemplative feel harks closer to
Happy Sad than
Scott 4.
His decision of adopting the english language is more than mere homage to it. It actually constantly underlines the fact that he is trapped in a foreign land to a point that even his desire to escape is sung in the language of his jail-country ("while my eyes go looking for flying saurces in the sky"), that, although painted in beautiful brushes, it is only in a handful of melancholic blue shades. It's done in such a way that the irruptions of the portuguese language come as warm rays of sunlight. The transition from english to portuguese in "Maria Bethânia" is particularly memorable, when the foreign language is confused with the image of his distant dear sister (
"I'm getting better, betta, betta, Bethânia"), opening a joyous smile in a record that sustained a constant dour face up until that point. The return of the popular chant "Marinheiro Só" in "If You Hold a Stone" sounds more pungent here, even if it loses some of its power for those who listened to Caetano's previous record.
But the familiarity any brazilian have with "Asa Branca" only heightens its power as a closing track. The Luiz Gonzaga regional classic "baião" never hid a patent sadness underneath its dancing cheerfulness, Caetano Veloso only puts it on the forefront, seeing in the beauty of its lyrics a parallel with his own situation. But the rain that must fall for the singer to return to his arid home now is a different one. In the end, it is this strong will to return to its native land despite its evident adversities that makes the original and Caetano's version so beautiful in their humanism.Â*
"Eu te asseguro, não chore não, viu/ que eu vortarei, viu, meu coração" (I assure you, do not cry, no, see, I will come back, my heart). And he did come back. But not without releasing an indisputable classic before.
