World Music

Bosa Nova, the language of love for al tragic guitarists the world over but especially in Brazil.

“Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, each one she passes goes – ah

When she walks, she’s like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gentle
That when she passes, each one she passes goes – ooh

(ooh) but I watch her so sadly
How can I tell her I love her
Yes I would give my heart gladly
But each day, when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead, not at me

Tall, and tan, and young, and lovely
The girl from ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, I smile – but she doesn’t see..“

(The Girl from Ipanema, Vincius de Moraes)

Ah, yes, we were all young and heartsick once – we just didn’t all have diminished 7th chords and a bohemian beat to make it eternal. Bossa Nova was the first Brazilian music to make a splash overseas but nowadays is considered a little cheesy by most young Brazilians
. The jazz melodies are still beautiful but the lyrics are seen to be a little meloso (honeyed) in the same way that few would now identify with Louis Armstrong singing “Cheek to Cheek”.

Bossa Nova originated in the 50’s with roots in samba but was essentially based on the new vogue instrument – the guitar. It was a very middle class, bohemian thing with none of the social comment of samba. Instead singers like Joao Gilberto and Tom Jobim sang of ‘saudade’, the Brazilian blues of the yearning in the soul. Principally a yearning for an attractive young women on the beaches of Rio.

Case in point is the song “The Girl from Ipanema” which soon became a jazz classic and a big hit in the States. The song is basically about watching a beautiful girl pass by and being too shy to speak to her. As pitiful as the story sounds it’s actually true. In 1962 Vincius de Moraes and Tom Jobim used to sit in a café and watch pass by an 18 year old girl called Helo Pinheiro,; a stunning girl of five feet, eight inches tall, with green eyes and long, flowing black hair. She eventually worked out that the song was about her and became a mini-celebrity in her own right. She finally gave into the pressure and posed for the Brazilian play boy in 1987 with her daughter.

It was “The Girl from Ipanema” that made it big in the US when Stan Getz teamed up with Joao Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto. It was performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald and has since become a jazz classic along with other songs like “Desafinado”. Boosa Nova was seen as a ‘Brazilian jazz’ and fitted in well in the swing period that preceded the Beatles.

Back at home Brazil entered a military dictatorship and Bossa Nova became the language of protest music for a while though the regime was fairly effective at silencing the outspoken. After all, this was in a time when the majority of countries in South America each wiped out tens of thousands with US-trained police squads.

Bossa Nova is now largely confined to the past but its influence on modern Brazilian music (MPB) is undeniable. Artists like Milton Nascimiento and Eliane Elias and Djavan all recognize their debt to Bossa Nova and the inspiration can be heard within their music.

You might enjoy:

Joao Gilberto

Vincius de Moraes

Stan Getz

Astrud Gilberto

Tom Jobim

Chico Buraque

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