"
The Girl from Ipanema" ("
Garota de Ipanema") is a well-known
bossa novaBossa nova is a style of Brazilian music popularized by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and João Gilberto. Bossa nova acquired a large following, initially by young musicians and college students...
songA song is a metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad....
, a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s that won a
GrammyThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
for
Record of the Year in 1965The 7th Grammy Awards were held in 1965. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1964.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz for "The Girl from Ipanema"*Album of the Year...
. It was written in 1962, with music by
Antonio Carlos JobimAntonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim, was a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist...
and Portuguese lyrics by
Vinicius de MoraesMarcus Vinicius da Cruz de Mello Moraes , better known as Vinicius de Moraes, nicknamed O Poetinha , was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Son of Lydia Cruz de Moraes and Clodoaldo Pereira da Silva Moraes, he was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music...
with
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
lyrics written later by
Norman GimbelNorman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with Oscar and Grammy wins...
. It was also famously sung and played by Jobim in 1965 on the Andy Williams show.
The first commercial recording was in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro.
"
The Girl from Ipanema" ("
Garota de Ipanema") is a well-known
bossa novaBossa nova is a style of Brazilian music popularized by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and João Gilberto. Bossa nova acquired a large following, initially by young musicians and college students...
songA song is a metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad....
, a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s that won a
GrammyThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
for
Record of the Year in 1965The 7th Grammy Awards were held in 1965. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1964.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz for "The Girl from Ipanema"*Album of the Year...
. It was written in 1962, with music by
Antonio Carlos JobimAntonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim, was a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist...
and Portuguese lyrics by
Vinicius de MoraesMarcus Vinicius da Cruz de Mello Moraes , better known as Vinicius de Moraes, nicknamed O Poetinha , was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Son of Lydia Cruz de Moraes and Clodoaldo Pereira da Silva Moraes, he was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music...
with
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
lyrics written later by
Norman GimbelNorman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with Oscar and Grammy wins...
. It was also famously sung and played by Jobim in 1965 on the Andy Williams show.
The first commercial recording was in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro. The version performed by
Astrud GilbertoAstrud Gilberto is a Brazilian singer best known for her samba and bossa nova music, most famously as the vocalist on the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
, along with
João GilbertoJoão Gilberto is a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian singer and guitarist...
and
Stan GetzStanley Gayetzky or Stanley Gayetsky , usually known by his stage name Stan Getz, was an American jazz saxophone player...
, from the 1964 album
Getz/GilbertoGetz/Gilberto, is a jazz bossa nova album released in 1964 by the American saxophonist Stan Getz and the Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, and featuring composer and musician Antonio Carlos Jobim....
, became an international hit, reaching #5 in the U.S., #29 in the UK, and charting highly throughout the world. Numerous recordings have been used in movies, sometimes as an
elevator musicElevator music refers to the gentle instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, telephone systems , cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators...
clichéA cliché , is a saying, expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, rendering it a stereotype, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel...
(for example, near the end of
The Blues BrothersThe Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James Brown,...
).
In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress and is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books. The head...
to be added to the
National Recording RegistryThe National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States". The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording...
.
When covered by female artists the song has often been rendered as "
The Boy from Ipanema", with gender-specific lyrics.
History
Myth has it
The Girl from Ipanema was inspired by
Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes PintoHeloísa Pinheiro The real-life "Girl from Ipanema", a carioca whose strolls through the fashionable Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil inspired the lyrics to the song "Girl from Ipanema" , the music of which was originally written...
(now Helô Pinheiro), a fifteen-year-old girl living in Montenegro Street of the fashionable
IpanemaIpanema is a neighborhood located on the southern region of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between Leblon and Arpoador. The beach at Ipanema became widely known by the song "The Girl from Ipanema" , written by Antonio Carlos Jobim.-History:Most of the land that Ipanema consists of today once...
district of
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial era, and...
, Brazil. Daily, she would stroll past the popular "Veloso" bar-café on her way to the beach, attracting the attention of regulars Jobim and Moraes.
In fact, the song originally was composed for a musical comedy titled
Dirigível (
Blimp), then a work-in-progress of Vinícius de Moraes. The song's original title was
Menina que Passa (
The Girl Who Passes By); the famous first verse was different. Jobim meticulously composed the melody on his piano in his new house in Rua Barão da Torre, in Ipanema. In turn, Vinícius had written the lyrics in Petrópolis, near Rio de Janeiro, as he had done with
Chega de Saudade six years earlier.
The myth is true in that the composers did know Helô Pinto, and later attributed the song's composition to her. In the winter of 1962, they watched her pass by the Veloso bar, not just to the beach, but in the everyday course of her life. It is easy to imagine why they noticed her — Helô was a five-foot-eight-inch-tall (1.73m) gimlet-eyed brunette living in Rua Montenegro, already the
objet du désir of many of Veloso patrons, where she would enter to buy cigarettes (for her mother) and leave to a flattering wolf-whistle soundtrack. Since the song became popular, she has become a celebrity.
In
Revelação: a verdadeira Garota de Ipanema (
Revealed: The Real Girl from Ipanema) Moraes wrote she was:
- "o paradigma do broto carioca; a moça dourada, misto de flor e sereia, cheia de luz e de graça mas cuja a visão é também triste, pois carrega consigo, a caminho do mar, o sentimento da mocidade que passa, da beleza que não é só nossa — é um dom da vida em seu lindo e melancólico fluir e refluir constante."
Translation:
- '"the paradigm of the young Carioca
Carioca is a Portuguese adjective or demonym word that refers to the metropolitan area of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The original word "Kara'i oca" comes from the indigenous Amerindian language of the Tupi people, meaning "White Man's House"....
: a golden teenage girl, a mixture of flower and mermaid, full of light and grace, the sight of whom is also sad, in that she carries with her, on her route to the sea, the feeling of youth that fades, of the beauty that is not ours alone — it is a gift of life in its beautiful and melancholic constant ebb and flow."
Copyright controversy
In 2001, the song's copyright owners (heirs of their composer fathers) sued Pinheiro for using the title of the song as the name of her boutique (Garota de Ipanema). In their complaint, they stated that her status as The Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) does not entitle her to use a name that legally belongs to the heirs. Public support was strong in favor of Pinheiro. A press release by Jobim and Moraes, the composers, in which they had named Pinheiro as the real Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) was evidence that they had intended to bestow this title on her. The court ruled in favor of Pinheiro.
http://stan-shepkowski.net/girlfromipanema.htm
Other media
- Hearing a Muzak version of "The Girl from Ipanema" in an elevator
An elevator or lift is a vertical transport vehicle that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building...
has become a common comedy trope in popular culture, often to lighten the mood or provide ironic contrast to a tense scene. This tradition most likely began with the climactic action scene of the film The Blues BrothersThe Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. Belushi and Aykroyd, respectively in character as lead vocalist "Joliet" Jake Blues and harpist/vocalist Elwood Blues,...
(1980), wherein the title characters listen to the song during a slow elevator ride in a building that is rapidly being surrounded by police officers and S.W.A.T teams. This well-known elevator muzak version of the song has appeared in several subsequent films, notably Deep RisingDeep Rising is a 1998 action horror film directed by Stephen Sommers. It was distributed by Hollywood Pictures and Cinergi Pictures, and was released in the United States on January 30, 1998.-Plot:...
, MallratsMallrats is a 1995 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the second to be set in Smith's "View Askewniverse" series of interlocking films set mostly in New Jersey, although the movie was filmed in the Eden Prairie Center, which is located in Minnesota...
, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
- Rick Moranis
Frederick Alan "Rick" Moranis is a retired Canadian comedian, actor and musician. Coming to prominence in the 1980s on Second City Television, before moving on to appearances in several Hollywood films including Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of Horrors; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids;...
made a comedy/rap version of the song (retitled "Ipanema Rap") in 1989 for his album You, Me, the Music and Me.
- In Wayne's World 2
Wayne's World 2 is a 1993 comedy film starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as hosts of a cable access television show from Aurora, Illinois. The movie was adapted from a sketch on NBC's Saturday Night Live and is the sequel to Wayne's World....
(1993), Honey Hornee (Kim BasingerKimila Ann "Kim" Basinger is an American film actress and former fashion model.Following her role as a Bond girl in Never Say Never Again , Basinger received a Golden Globe nomination for her work in The Natural...
) seduces the hapless Garth Algar (Dana CarveyDana Thomas Carvey is an American actor and comedian, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and in the Wayne's World movies.-Early life:...
) to a performance of this song sung by Stan GetzStanley Gayetzky or Stanley Gayetsky , usually known by his stage name Stan Getz, was an American jazz saxophone player...
.
- An American musical film, Get Yourself a College Girl
Get Yourself a College Girl is a 1964 film comedy in the style of a beach party movie. The plot involves a college co-ed who tries to balance her time writing songs and dealing with her publisher who tries to pursue her. It was directed by Sidney Miller and written by Robert E...
includes a performance of the song by Astrud GilbertoAstrud Gilberto is a Brazilian singer best known for her samba and bossa nova music, most famously as the vocalist on the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
.
- A Brazilian musical film, Garota de Ipanema, inspired by the song, was released in 1967.
- The song was parodied
A parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
by Stephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre , multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize...
and Mary RodgersMary Rodgers is an American composer of musicals, an author of children's books, and the daughter of Broadway composer Richard Rodgers....
as "The Boy From..."The Boy From..." is a song with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Mary Rodgers. It was originally performed by Linda Lavin in a 1966 Off-Broadway revue entitled The Mad Show....
".
- The band The B-52's
The B-52s originated is a New Wave rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, United States, in 1976. The B-52s' sound is marked by the vocals — the female harmonies of Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson, and the generally spoken-word or sprechgesang male vocal counterpoint of Fred Schneider, Ricky Wilson's...
have a song titled "Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland"Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland" is the second single off the album Bouncing off the Satellites by The B-52's. The single peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play, their fourth Top 10 entry on that chart.-Track listing:...
".
- The film Alpha Dog
Alpha Dog is a 2006 crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, released on January 27, 2006. The film is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz and related events in 2000. It portrays the involvement of Jesse James Hollywood, a young...
uses the song in its closing scene.
Disco Version
In 1977 a disco version of The Girl from Ipanema by Astrud Gilberto was released, produced by Vincent Montana featuring a distinct Salsoul style disco sound.
In
Chevy ChaseCornelius Crane “Chevy” Chase is an American Emmy Award-winning comedian, writer, and television and film actor. Born into a prominent family, Chase worked as a professional musician as well as other jobs before moving towards comedy and working with the National Lampoon...
's
Vegas Vacation the song is used during a scene on the plane.
"The Boy from Ipanema"
When sung by female artists the song has often been rendered as "
The Boy from Ipanema". A few examples:
- Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey DBE is a singer who found fame in the late 1950s and has continued a successful career since then worldwide. She is also well-known for recording the theme songs to the James Bond films Goldfinger , Diamonds Are Forever , and Moonraker...
- Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
- Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers "Botch-a-Me " , "Mambo Italiano", and "This Ole House", songs which...
- Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as "Lady Ella", and the "First Lady of Song", was an American jazz vocalist....
- Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American actress, singer, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit Christmas song "Santa Baby"...
- Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian jazz pianist and singer. She is known for her contralto vocals.- Early life :...
- Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer and actress. She first came to prominence in the 1940s with her #1 hits Somebody Is Taking Your Place and Mañana, having a string of successful albums and top 10 hits in three consecutive decades...
- The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
- Crystal Waters
Crystal Waters is an American dance music singer and songwriter. She is the great-niece of legendary singer/actress Ethel Waters.-Career:...
- Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century". She had a contralto vocal range....
External links