The Girl From Ipanema is a far weirder song than you thought

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I'm a simple Brazilian, I see my culture on the title, I click

Me watching this knowing nothing about music theory: mmm yes chords

As a Brazilan, it’s honestly just about a lovesick man who wishes a girl would notice him, he isn’t obsessed with her or anything he just is infatuated

In Portuguese the lyrics are much more romantic and talks about beauty, love, grace and simplicity. They are not expecting anything from the girl, like in the English version, they are just contemplating her passing as a moment of grace, beauty and lonely sadness for them. It's like a devotion. Vinícius was a very romantic Don Juan type of man. I love "Onde Anda Você", btw.

when i was in highschool i had a friend whose dog HATED this song. he was normally super friendly and sweet, but if you so much as hummed it around him he would start growling. that dog apparently had no appreciation for bossa nova.

Video: *has something from Brazil in the title* Brazilians: Hah, you just activated my trap card!

After having studied Portuguese for a while and listening to the Portuguese lyrics, I was astonished to find that the lyrics are not a direct translation to the English lyrics you hear Astrud Gilberto sing. Here it is, translated literally: Look, such a sight, so beautiful, So filled with grace, It's her, this girl who comes and who passes, With a sweet swing, on her way to the sea. Girl with body of gold From the sun of Ipanema, Her swing Is more than a poem, Is a sight more beautiful Than I have ever seen pass by. Ah, why am I so alone? Why is there so much sadness? This beauty that exists, This beauty that is not only mine, That also passes by alone. Ah, if she but knew, That when she passes by, The world smiles, Is filled with grace, And becomes more beautiful, Because of love.

morrendo aqui com as distorçoes numa letra tao deboa kkkkk como se fosse de terror e é literalmente uma gostosa andando na praia

strange fact: Tom and Vinicius wrote this song based on experiences they had in a bar in Rio de Janeiro that still exists and is in the neighborhood of Ipanema, they watched the same girl pass by this bar on the way to the beach and because they thought she was very beautiful they decided to write this song, this girl is still alive and is called Helô Pinheiro. Legend says that they wore drunk while watching Helô

Adam “it actually goes a little bit deeper than that” Neely

Hi Adam, Thanks for researching and discussing "The Girl From Ipanema" I'm a 71 year old pro guitarist and have played for sixty five years. I was exposed to Bossa Nova in the early Sixties when I was 12 years old. I can understand some of the confusion surrounding this song by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius Moraes. It took me a while to understand, play and sing it with some authenticity. The song is basically the lament of a middle - aged man who is sitting in a beach side bar seeing a beautiful girl who passes by daily on her way to the beach. She is desirable to him and many others as well. He is attracted to her but she never seems to notice him which saddens him intimating a possible mid-life male crisis. Vinicius Moraes, a man, and the songs lyricist was in his mid-forties and Jobim was in his mid-thirties when they created this song in 1962. I think the confusing thing for most people is the fact that a woman is singing a man's lament and that they have only heard the most popular recorded version sung by a woman, Astrud Gilberto and never heard the original version sung by her husband,a man, Gaio Gilberto who was intended to be the vocalist on the American recording made in New York with saxophonist Stan Getz. As for the Bossa Nova music style rhythm you might want to look at the Original Score. I noticed that you were showing a score that had a 4/4 time signature whereas the original was scored and played in cut time, 2/2 or possibly 2/4. After all the song was most likely intended to be danced to and since people have two feet it makes sense to have a duple metered rhythm with the chord root and fifth tones on beats one and two respectively and syncopating the chord tones on the & ah following the beat. Bossa Nova is often described as having a side to side swaying rhythm as opposed to a Swing forward and backward rhythm motion and 2/2 accomplishes this nicely. At that time when it was created, especially in Brazil and in pretty much most of the rest of the world's bars which was where folks congregated to socialize dancing was an important part of socializing! Remember there was a dance associated with this music called The Bossa Nova. I learned to play Bossa Nova from guitarist Emily Remler, a graduate of Berklee College of Music and a Down Beat Magazine Poll winner, who I studied with from 1993-96 and who help get Astrud Gilberto out of retirement and back on the stage. Emily played in Astrud's Band for about four years. Emily often told me that American musicians tended to play the Bossa Nova rhythm to frantically by over or miss syncopating it thus losing much of its character and charm. I appreciate your thoughts on the harmonization and phrasing of the tune. Emily tended to play the song using this chordal approach if she was teaching from the Real Book: FMaj9 , G7, Gmin9, Gb7#9, Fmaj9 F#Maj9, B7 etc but would have played it in Db if performing with Astrud on a nylon string guitar.

I was a Texan American living in Salvador Bahia Brazil when this song was released and on the airwaves. It powerfully blessed my 7 year old soul. I am still mesmerized by it at age 67. Your exposition today further explains why this song is so uniquely wonderful. Thank you. I am saddened by Astrud Gilberto's recent death. By a wonderful coincidence (for me), she was born in Salvador Bahia Brazil.

Oh, and the lyrics are "o mundo inteirinho", not "o mundo sorrindo" "Inteirinho" is a diminutive for "whole"

I taught myself Brazilian Portuguese on Duolingo just to sing bossa ❤️

That song is often bashed to be "Elevator Music". Simply because everybody knows it. But it is far more! Thanks for making that clear!!

The Girl from Ipanema Sung by Astrud Gilberto in 1960. Became a huge hit in 1963. Astrud died in June 2023 aged 83 in the US. This song has always been one of my favourites. Thank you Astrud.

"Ah, por que tudo é tão triste?" - Ela cantava, com o maior sorriso no rosto

i feel like most americans label bossa nova as "elevator music" whenever they hear it which is so annoying to me cause it's such a gorgeous genre of music :( it's a perfect mix of some of my favorite parts of music. the syncopation, american jazz influence, and instrumentation are all amazing and just because it's not fast and exciting by pop standards, it's "elevator music"

Rest in peace, lovely Astrud Gilberto ❤