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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.
You said all truth about Portuguese idiom and bossa nova from Brazil it's another planet very far from statesonian version in english lirics. In english you have a romance between to souls in portuguese you have devotion complicity desire between 2 souls it's another dimension of express the human feelings 🎶🎵💋💋💋🍻🥂
FWIW, I don't speak Portuguese, and that's how I interpreted the song. There's no reciprocation expected from the dude, he's just like "wow, she's amazing. She's so amazing that merely witnessing her beauty is sufficient."
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.
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.
Este comentário me faz pensar que traduções mais literais das letras devia ser mais comum. Eu sei que elas não são o ideal mas nesse caso e vários outros passa de verdade a mensagem.
@@LucaAnamaria wtf are you talking about lol???? this sounds like some incel pickup line lololol. the middle-aged dude is fantasizing about a young girl, staying around the area long enough to know she passes this exact spot every day. he's stalking her and thinking to himself "woe is me, im not fucking this sexy beach girl! she's so hot but i bet she doesn't know it! mmh, look at how her ass swings from side to side. if only this girl was MINE like and object or property. also, she's currently alone, so surely she's single!" it's cringe, and gross, and incel-y, and coomer-y
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
i sat at THE table where this was written, and saw the "manuscript" framed and securely locked onto the wall. That was in the early 1980s, don't know if it's still there today...
@@miguelvasques7854 Perhaps you've heard of Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque e Geraldo Vandre? Some of the most famous musicians and songwriters of the day that you speak of were harassed, arrested and thrown out of the country by the military dictatorship(s). The fact that they existed the same place in time had nothing to do with any imagined tolerance or magnanimity dos milicos ditadores.
@@brucecampbell6133 none of them are talented or innovative musicians, their fame comes from politic matters. Elis Regina would be a much better example.
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"
@@calculator1841 clearly there's only one moron here, someone that has no clue about linguistics and feels like they can judge someone on perfectly valid use of language
They're not entirely wrong. Bossa Nova is something very delicate. Botch it up, or play some cheesy derivative, and it fully deserves to be called elevator music.
Totally agree! And unfortunately for the most part, any instrumental music. (Not saying all instrumental music is great) but I listen to a lot of instrumental music from all sorts of genres and there’s always someone who calls it elevator music!
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.
Hi Adam I am a recording engineer producer who has had the opportunity to record many times and befriend Tom Jobim and I must say that your observation on deletion, at the end of the video, was one of Tom’s highest priorities when playing and composing. It always called my attention how excited he would get when showing me a full chord from where he would Start to take notes out of so the chord would resonate better, opening space to melodies that would complement it. Congratulations. This was an amazing study.
It’s totally over my head. This is the equivalent of diagraming a sentence where you take a perfectly good sentence and ruin it by dissecting into its individual parts and the whole meaning is lost.
I know. Very interesting. But after playing guitar for a few years for my own amusement, and trying to learn increasingly more difficult songs, it's now only 98.3% over my head.
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
@@13Blu something that continually preoccupies a person's mind defines obsession, unlike infatuation in which the person strives to be more like someone, an obsessed person spends all their time thinking about this one person.
not really lovesick... it's more about being a middle-aged man, at the bar's sidewalk, watching a much younger woman passing by, and fantasizing a little bit. Creep-ish, but I agree that he is not obsessed with her
I'm a brazilian musician that spent almost 12 years in courses and conservatories here in São Paulo since my teens. I find very funny that I did not got such deep explanation os this classic here, the conservatory is a subsidiary of Berklee and the teachers hold the real book as the holy grail. Thank you for going after so many details about this song and respecting it's culture (I see your portuguese and salute you for it). Huge fan of your work and only wish you the best.
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.
@@christiankliber Brazilians have lived a bittersweet existance for as long as Brazil was a thing. A culture of smilling despite endless tragedy developed. This ambiguity and bittersweetness of the Brazilian way of life is, in my opinion, what makes Brazilian culture so interesting .
@@christiankliber if you still want more, theres this video that explains how music survived the sensorship by sounding very happy superficially ua-cam.com/video/TXjvwQDfnTI/v-deo.html
@@christiankliber Brazil had censorship for many years so having the lyrics sounding like a perfect composition and the instrumentalism sound like “off”, or “unfinished” was the way Brazil displayed ambiguity…
@@tomecabalzar5229 ele falou compositor e artista, não produtor, assim como os beatles não produziam sozinhos, não é? Acho que se ele não produzia sozinho não entra na questão. Acho q não entendi teu comentário
As a Brazilian, I can attest that there's nothing weird with the song, and changing its arrangements to be more palatable to an American audience is ok. I'm happy we don't do identity politics like you Americans do. Do not problematize this. Thank you for the appreciation of the song. And by the way, stop attacking white affluent people who enjoyed it too, plenty of white Brazilians love the song and samba too. Brazilian is not a race.
Finalmente um comentário sensato! Sério, quando ele começou com o argumento de "partituras diferentes" e letras que foram cortadas só para se adequar ao contexto que ele estava dizendo, ja dava pra perceber que era bait kkkk e tbm pela amor de Deus, é difícil dás pessoas entender que músicas como essa que retrata um lado mais "poético ou filósofo" sempre tem várias formas de interpretação no próprio idioma? Que dirá em outro idioma kk
Yeah, Americans be like that sometimes. Looking for (or imagine) problems wherever. And Adam is kinda known as being 'wokey' but he's still a good knowledgable guy ;)
Its actually about this girl named Helô that Tom and Vinicius watched passing them as they were in a bar, she was so beautiful and just passed by everyone without needing anyone elses praise to confirm her beauty, which in itself made her even more beautiful. They were also drunk whilst writing. Edit: she’s actually still alive to this day, Helô, the woman the song is about
As a brazilian i highly recomend for those who want to know more the sound of bossa the album Chega de Saudade. This is one of the most influential albuns for music in Brasil
I have some bossa phases that I get into and out of, but that album... Chega de Saudade - João Gilberto (1959) is one of the ones that I am ALWAYS putting on. Every couple of months I feel the need to go back and listen to it. Quick story for those who don't know and please correct me if I happen to be wrong here. I believe that before that 1959 album there weren't many famous artists recording with more than 1 microphone. You would "mix" the sound by placing musicians strategically in the recording room, and the vocalist would have to stay in front, and usually push his voice forward almost opera-like. The new tech of getting 1 mic for voice and 1 mic for guitar gave people like João Gilberto the ability to experiment with lower voices, giving rise to his now very famous whispering-style of singing. Every video i've seen of him live has that very same what seems to be an AKG 414, super close to his face. In 2020 we can listen to something from 60 years ago and take these details for granted. The album is less than 25 minutes long and has around 10 songs, it goes by in a breeze... One of my favorite albums from that time period
Né, tipo, é só eles tentando expressar aquela sensação de quando você vê alguém aleatório, acha atraente e tenta fazer contato mas a pessoa não te nota. Não poderia ser mais inocente
Ahh nice to hear someone else did that! I play piano and sing, and started learning Portuguese on Duolingo (many months ago) so I could sing Jobim songs with a good accent. I need to reboot on it though.
Tive a sorte de nascer falando Português aqui no Brasil, aprendemos Inglês ao passar dos anos para cantar Queen, Beatles e etc I was lucky to be born speaking Portuguese here in Brazil, we learned English over the years to sing Queen and The Beatles too...
I'm a brazilian musician and I'm usually a bit defiant towards people talking about brazilian music because in my experience they never quite seem to get the subtlety of it or even, sometimes, their facts straight, but this video is the absolute opposite of that : precise, subtle and inspiring. Cheers from a brazilian fan.
@@guysmiley7289 That's pretty out of right field - why even mention that in a discussion like this? I wouldn't bring up Trump every time an American discusses something.
I love how you play the sound of chords etc. simultaneously whenever you mention them. Useful for someone like me who doesn’t know music theory as well as I wish I did.
I was obsessed with bossa nova in middle school. Its so calming, interesting and beautiful. Portuguese is a wonderful language to listen to. Agua de beber and aguas de marco were my faves.
Wait till u understand that Aguas de marc(march’s waters) is related to the end of summer and the natural tropical rains that Rio has in March. The huge depressing moment that made a beautiful music
here, in brazil, we're close to the "Águas de Março", where's my birthday. And, i was born in a city famous for its pools... the joke's ready to use...
The Portuguese announcements for each part of the video are very Spanish-esque (or, as we call it, Portunhol); Martina's pronunciations, though, being a Brazilian's raised in the US, sound slightly exotic, but charming and correct.
That's something to be expected from someone who speaks English in a country where many speak Spanish as a second or foreign language (and also as their first language). And, yes, her pronunciation is quite correct and exotic with a hint of Portuguese from the northern/northeastern part of Brazil. Once, talking to a very nice North American old lady about a text written in Spanish where Portuguese was expected, she told me I might be confused because both languages are very similar (indeed). The only surprising fact to that conversation was that I am a Brazilian Portuguese native speaker and I can really tell one language from the other. :)
I find it a bit odd how she seems to pronounce the NH in "souzinho" a bit more like a velar nasal (like the NG in English 'singing') than as a palatal nasal (the more usual realization of Portuguese NH, Spanish Ñ, French/Italian GN). Perhaps a [ŋʲ] rather than a [ɲ]. Also, perhaps there's a very short schwa diphthong at the end of her open O's /ɔ/.
Here I am, a Brazilian, learning things that I never imagined about this song, from this guy from another country. Congrats, man, congrats. Saravá, Tom. Saravá, Vininha.
Two years late, but on the off chance you see this, thanks for making this video. In 30 minutes, you expanded my brain from only hearing and understanding tin pan alley harmony to hearing the poetics of how substitutions and deletions can imply without saying. I'm a writer before a musician, and I understand the power of omission in that medium, so applying that knowledge to a musical context is eye-opening. Excellent vid. Bass.
Omg music theory is so hard, that music was made in a bar in front of the beach, how come there is so much architecture behind it, they were not thinking about it but there it is
Well...they were geniuses.... E músicos, o que provavelmente faça com que seja beeem mais fácil pra eles fazer música mesmo num bar... (do que pra mim, pelo menos, que não sei nada de música no sentido de acordes e tons, harmonia melodia e essas coisas...)
O ouvido do Tom foi treinado desde pequeno pelo pai, que era maestro, o pai tocava notas aleatórias e ele tinha q advinhar qual era, nao é como se ele tivesse só estudado numa faculdade. Ele aprendeu a falar a "língua" musical ainda criança.
Many of the best "pop" or non-classical musicians make music that sounds good and don't really worry about the music theory. Famously, the Beatles couldn't read sheet music when they started, and even today, Paul and Ringo aren't especially book-heavy in their approaches. All this is to say that music theory is good for some, but isn't a requirement for making good music. Make something that sounds good and people will want to listen to it. The theorists will come in afterwards to try and explain why.
As a Brazilian I absolutely loved this video. The cultural analysis was absolutely perfect and respectful. Thank you, man! Or, like we talk here in brazillian northeast... Valeu aí, macho!
@@GlassyVI aqui em Salvador bahia não mas considerando o jeito que a linguagem varia aqui no nordeste é capaz que em qlqr outra cidade falem isso ashshsh
Brazilian here, one of my favorite aspects of bossa nova is that It's, weirdly, hugely influential in Japan, some people say finding Brazilian records there is even easier than here, also, a lot of Nintendo background music is bossa nova/samba, specifically, the 3ds Mii theme sounds a lot like "summer samba".
Have you ever heard ''New Wave bossa nova'' from Zelda Majora's mask? And Also there is a Japanese Singer called Sayuri Kokushou, listen to '' ふり返してSomeday'' and '' 大きい猫 - big cat'', its basically bossa nova based. You can find her albuns to download in this link ''jpop80ss.blogspot.com/search/label/SAYURI%20KOKUSHO'' The first song is from 1987 BALANCE OF HEART album, and the second one is from 1989 Sakana Album. I'll definitively like these songs. Também sou br, mas escrevi em inglês pra geral entender.
That's so interesting. I know there's a decently sized Japanese population in Brazil, maybe some of them moved back to Japan and brought their Brazilian music with them.
Gilberto’s simplified chords in the bridge is what gives the vocal space to breath creating the sadness of the lyric. That’s the essence of the song. For a vocalist, Gilberto has allowed that emotion to come through. The jazz progression takes that away by making you feel that you’re marching through the chord progression. Gilberto is the way to go if you want the song to have feeling.
It is a bit heavy handed (the jazz). Had I not heard this analysis, I wouldn't have understood why. Heavy handed music diminishes the listener's own experience. Gilberto's harmonies give space to the vocalist, yes, but they also give space to the listener. My own emotions emerge instead of feeling like I'm being told how to feel. It feels more like my own experience, which gives it a deeper authenticity to me, as a listener. Add Astrud's gentle voice, wow!
Fun fact: The 'quiet singing' style of Bossa Nova music originated out of necessity. Many jam sessions between young (American Jazz-influenced) Brazilian musicians happened at crowded apartments late at night. The quiet singing and corresponding chill style of Bossa Nova was literally born of not wanting to wake the neighbors.
? Nolyn, this makes sense but wondering, do you have support, corroboration, for this concept of Brazilian musicians needing to sing softly - not to wake, ....or is this your idea alone? Just curios, thanks.
@@nickrenneker_music Caetano Veloso's book "Tropical Truth" explores both ideas. He talks a lot about these night time meetings in Nara Leao's apartment (the 'Muse of Bossa Nova') as well as Joao Gilberto's singing innovations which preceded these meetings. Compare his version of Chega de Saudade in 1959 with Elizete Cardoso's in 1957 and you can see the development of this technique. The apartment jam sessions didn't come into fruition until at least the beginning of the 60s...
A brilliant video. The use of the Bernstein clip on deletion tied everything together wonderfully. That and your commentary on it's importance highlighted the examples of "dropped" chords and the inversions missing the root note (which was played by the base) and showed how they contributed to the song's unique feel. Thank you for this delightful and educational experience.
You're going to make me cry. My late father was a Jazz and Blues musician who spent much of his life transcribing different recordings because he was dissatisfied with the transcriptions in The Real Book. I have boxes of his transcriptions that I need to scan and make available.
It's unfortunate that bossa nova gets a bad rep as "elevator music". It's a beautiful genre with several masterpieces. Try João Gilberto's debut album "Chega de Saudade" (the title track was translated to English as "No More Blues"). It pretty much cemented the genre's main features.
Brazilian here: this is one of the best analysis of Bossa Nova I've ever seen. Good grief... This is musicology material. One could easily turn this video into a grant proposal for a PhD in musicology. Shit, Adam... You should come to Brazil (after the pandemic is over, shit is dire right now over here) and do more videos on Bossa Nova.
I'm american but a Joaozinho, I was peeved for years about the dumbing down of bossa nova and set out to play in the roots styles of Gilberto and Nara Leao to somehow reassert the real charm of the thing. How about Gilberto/Getz instead of Getz/Gilberto🙃 Just sayin'
I get really irritated when people call bossa nova elevator music. Its some of the grooviest and deep music out there and a lot of people don't put respect on it. Great video!
Scrubert: That's true----bossa nova is real beautiful music and a genre all on its own. And I've always thought The Girl From Ipanema was a genuinely haunting but beautiful tune, just like another tune "Quiet Nights, Quiet Stars" which is also hauntingly beautiful and sad-sounding.
My husband calls my nephew "fofinho" :) because he was such a round and cuddly baby. My husband lived in Brazil for a couple of years. We will travel there together some day...
You have no idea how CUTE it sounds to us Brazilians when people sing properly in Portuguese with just a little "grace accent"" Congratz to the singer!
I'm in Ipanema right now, having lunch at the "Garota de Ipanema" restaurant, watching a video about the song that named it and where it was supposedly written. I created a whole atmosphere for myself and didn't even realize it.
I’m old enough to remember this song when it first came on the American music scene. It was exciting, as it differed so much from American Contemporary music.
sorry, but I can't control myself when I see someone say America/American like it's just the US, America is the whole continent (both North and South, just a division like sometimes you say South Asia or things like that, it's still the same continent), the song was made in Brazil, which is in America, so it was already on "the American music scene"
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.
Adam, if I didn't know you, I'd start to watch the video with that feeling of "oh great, another American guy talking about American influence in Brazilian culture and probably disregarding how delicate and deep this discussion might be for us Brazilians". But (as always) your analysis was nothing short of amazing. I'm a big fan of your absolute sense of respect for people's work, culture and creativity!
Martina da Silva appreciation comment (for the algorithm): It's wonderful to see a singer who so clearly enjoys her work, and yet can be very patient and careful in highlighting the passages your lessons required. She's a real find; don't lose touch with her.
Bridge: F# Maj7 to B7 (fourth movement), A Major7 to D7 (Fourth movement), Bb Maj7 to Eb7 (fourth movement). After the half-step up progression found in the first two chords the following is essentially a iii-vi-ii-v in the key of F Major. The A Major7 has the root of the iii chord (it is simply a quality change to Major) to the D7 which is the vi dominant. Then the Bb Major7 (IV, essentially the ii chord) moving to the Eb7 which is the common “back door dominant” substitute for the V7 chord. The bridge then ends with a very clear iii-vi-ii-v progression.
I know nothing about music and yet I watched every minute of this completely mesmerized. I'm still trying to figure out why. It was like listening in on wizards explaining how the cast their spells.
Jeffrey Gleaves I love your response. As I've research the mythology of my Finnish ancestry I have discovered that embedded in their cultural beliefs was the power of music, singing especially, to cast a spell. The Finnish mythological hero, Vianamonen, attained his power and status by singing a very powerful song. He was the most powerful wizard through the power of song. So that's why all my parents and all of my relatives sang. A lot!
Funny thing I see when english speakers sing this song is they often ignore the "a" in "a caminho do mar", which basically changes the meaning of the song in portuguese. "Caminho do mar" means something like "a path/road/route to the sea" whereas "a caminho do mar" means "on her (in the song) way to the sea". So just a tip: don't neglect the "a" :)
As a person who speaks both languages, the "a" is quite hard to hear, since it doesn't have its own syllable within the lyrics, and is (rather lazily, in keeping with the vocal style) squished onto the end of balanço. In fact, until I checked the lyrics just now, I wasn't really aware of it's existing at all! Obviously, it's important for singers to check the lyrics, but if that little auditory nuance can be missed in some Brazilian recordings, they can hardly be blamed for the omission, particularly if they don't speak any Portuguese.
I just happen to stumble across this video and wow! What a wonderful, theoretical analysis of the iconic song. The explanation of deletion, regarding the chords used by Gilberto was great insight, all in the quest of compositional poetry, brilliant. Thanks Adam.
Wait. Has Adam now got a business model that lets him do the in-depth analyses that he's always wanted to, but that's been impossible due to copyright issues?
@@CogoGaming Adam Neely previously talked about how under UA-cam's current system, he was unable to make the sorts of music education videos he wanted to, because in order to do in depth analysis of tracks, he wants people to use their ears and listen. But by using recordings, it would trigger UA-cam's algorithms and claim all his revenue, even though under copyright law he is allowed to for educational purposes.
@@MarcusWoodOfficialVideos the song may be in the public domain, but performances of it aren't necessarily. For example, Mozart is public domain, but a performance of it may be owned by whoever performed it
As a South American, it is really weird for me to hear the prejudice of bossa nova as elevator music in the US. Here bossa nova is seen as very cerebral and sophisticated. I guess understanding the lyrics helps a lot. Because lyrics of bossa nova tend to be sad and poetic, which doesn't fit the notion of having it as light background music.
Latin music is indeed sophisticated. Most of the music I play along to is jazz. I don't care what others think as most of them are uneducated about music and prefer to stay with genres rooted in 2's and 4's versus the more unique use of 3's, 5's and 7's in Jazz and Latin. Cool to hear your perspective man.
As a North American, Pop music is annoying to me lol it's overplayed and all the same IMO. Though I do still have the thought of "elevator music" with bossa nova, I really really do enjoy the sound of it.
Try not to take it personally--no music is immune to being dumbed down here--and it could be worse. After elevators, the last venue in the devolution of music is as a background hook for pharmaceutical commercials. Once there, no one will ever want to hear it again.
Man, it's the same here in europe sadly, people that don't play instruments themselves are so dumbed down by the pop shit playing on the radio all day that they don't really listen anymore i think.
Bossa Nova shouldn't have a translation, just like we don't translate Blues or Jazz. Bossa Nova is Bossa Nova. They need to learn to pronounce it, not translate it.
When you mentioned the video's length i immediately thought "no way", however I was totally fascinated and watched all the way through. Thank you for your insights and sharing your vast knowledge.
Adam, as a brazillian I can surely say that this video is a tribute not just to Tom and Vinicius but to the music overall. Bossa Nova doesn't belong to Brazil anymore; it belongs to the people, to you, to me and to all time music lovers. And congratulation for the effort of trying to speak the subtitles in portuguese. That's a charm.
I am a sax player and your dissertation on Jobim's tune was beautifully crafted and I learned so much about the history of the song. The vocalist also did a stellar job!
Does anyone else notice that Stevie Wonder thinks not a problem to play a song In two different keys because he cares about his audience enough to do that? This is why we love the guy.
I have always LOVED the "The Girl From Ipanema." The Bossa Nova style of music is truly unique; it is different from Jazz. Unique is different than "weird."
It is different from jazz because it is a whole other thing. Idiots like the one in the video just try to force it to be a "sub-jazz" thing. It isn't. Not everything comes from the USA, that's why he finds the bridge "odd".
6:30 just to add something to this point, bossa nova was seen as this white american whashing because of the political scenario that was happening during the period this style was born, the bossa nova was mostly criticised in that period because most of the other artist were creating songs which criticized the government, while the high class listened to bossa nova which had nothing to do with politics. Another point is in that period the american culture was rising in the musical scene due to a moviment called tropicalismo which affected not only music but art overall
Reminds me a little of the critique of the impressionist artists. While europe at the time was in a time of very grave violence and everything was burning down from world war 1 and death was everywhre, Monet and his people where painting fucking daffodils. And ithat angered the hell out of a lot of artists.
@@shayneoneill1506 I think that's rather interesting. It seems strange to me that artists were mad at them, since the impressionists were the ones who essentially liberated artists from the traditions of the establishment, giving artists a lot more creative freedom, and bringing respect to alternative art styles. It's what allowed for the surreal beauty of a lot of war art, in styles that would have been ridiculed thirty years earlier. Anyway, you make an interesting point.
it must be said that Pixinguinha was accused of using jazz (or better, american) elements in the early 20s or even before (songs like Carinhoso and Rosa were written in 1917)
Awesome video! You explained exactly what I needed to hear!! I knew there were so many slight, (but as you show here, NOT so slight) differences in how this song has been played over the years. Any yet, now I know why I keep gravitationg toward the Gilberto arrangement in Gb. I also love your treatment on the importance of keeping in mind the context of the chords played in relation to the keys ( the tonic never hit in any-wow how did you hear the keys, when the tonics were SO ambiguous!!!) And not playing the tonic note in any of the chords. The chords played were sometimes so wonderfully sparse! None of the others (except by perhaps Brazil 66) are as good as Astrid and Gilberto's rendition. Marvelous job, old bean!💯
Finally, someone got it, and no, I’m not talking about this piece. I’m talking about João Gilberto. This guy is the heart and lungs of Bossa nova. The brazilian music was never the same after João Gilberto (and was not the same before him too hahaha... I’m serious here). Bossa nova IS João Gilberto (oh, shakespeare 🤦🏻♂️) and without him, it would be just another exotic jazz influenced music style. Btw, João Gilberto died recently. Long live his music!
I hate how bossa nova, funk, jazz, or any number of really intricate genre's get classified as elevator music/background music. "Why you listening to elevator music bro!?"
It completely makes sense for brazilians. That’s exactly the way we express ourselves. It’s poetry. However the images you share - specially the samba ones - are far from way from reality. Ipanema is for us something like haven - the perfect beach (at least for us from 60’). Absolutely gorgeous music.
I never thought the song was weird.. I just always loved it for the uniqueness of it.. It puts me in a pleasant mood. Someone called the feeling elicited by the song as "a melancholy ecstasy."
I just bumped into this video by chance (two years late...), and I know nothing about music theory, but it was fascinating to watch this song being analyzed to every bit of detail. And also, to see it done with so much respect and admiration. Congratulations! (I'm Brazilian BTW)
As a brazillian and a carioca (a person who was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro), I feel that Adam approached the subject with so much care and respect for the brazillian culture and its black roots. I don't think that anyone here in Brazil have analyzed the song with that much detail. I didn't expect either to learn all this from a gringo about my own culture. Cheers and BASS!
I agree to all Ronald Filho wrote. I learned the F major version chords years ago. More recently I looked up the other version, eventually learning it from Rick Beato at: ua-cam.com/video/vuEa03KJIgs/v-deo.html. What I found interesting was that if I capo'd up to where the melody was at the same pitch as the F major version, and played along with that version, the result was nowhere near the train wreck I was expecting. But I still prefer Jobim's originally composition. Next job will be to switch to the Portuguese lyrics of Vinícius de Moraes.
@@pedropauloguilhardi7522 eu não duvido, é bem provável que ele tenha realmente consultado todas essa fontes brasileiras. O que eu me referi especificamente foi sobre a qualidade do vídeo em si e levantando a questão é de que ninguém, na mídia brasileira tradicional ou não, trouxe tantos detalhes pra música em questão
@@ronaldccgf realmente nesse nível de pesquisa na mídia cultural daqui é miito difícil mesmo, mas nunca duvide que temos muitos pesquisando cultura de forma séria aqui no Brasil, só não tem muita divulgação científica...
@@JuniorJr... Você tá falando que ela tem sotaque inglês falando português? Ou sotaque de brasileiro falando inglês? Por que primeiro eu achei que era nem era brasileira pelo sotaque falando as palavras em português.
@@JuniorJr... Seguinte, você é tóxico mesmo. Não é por causa do sotaque que ela canta mal, na verdade, ela canta muito bem. Obviamente que o sotaque em inglês não é muito legal, mas ela tá melhor do que muitos, no começo até duvidei se era americana ou brasileira
@Tommy Valley Yes sir, u'r right. I'm a Brazilian, and I can confirm that he's toxic af. Maybe he has some kind of fear of our music being stolen, idk. Even as a brazilian I didn't know if she really was American, because she speaks portuguese really well.
If I can add my 2 cents on this: Jobim himself claims that he was more influenced by Debussy than by Jazz... this repeating sequence (mantaining the structure but changing the key) in the bridge may be (we'll never know for sure) more "impressionistic" than jazzy. There is actually a passage in "The Afternoon of a Faun" that kinda reminds me of this section in The Girl from Ipanema, melodically and harmonically. Jobim was notorious for taking classical pieces that influenced him and transforming it into something entirely new (some even accused him of "stealing"). How Insensitive was inspired by a Prelude by Chopin. Double Rainbow (aka Children's Games, aka Chovendo na Roseira) is inspired by Debussy's "Rêverie". So I think that the key to this harmonic mistery may be more connected to French Impressionism than to American influence or other styles of music. My master's subject is about Claus Ogerman's arrangements on Jobim's work, I love to share information about this, anyone who's interested just drop a line! Fantastic job and thanks, that just makes us Brazilians so proud!
I am interested in discussion surrounding the recording "Urubu" and specifically the song Bôto. The orchestration is mind blowing in how masterfully Mestre Ogerman uses the cello section counter to the upper strings, the bass clarinet parts, the low register flute parts, the ostinato bass part. Then the melody harmony combinations defy genre classification. The lyrics convey a mythological; folkloric quality. Finally, the words themselves are musical. Especially the names of the animals of the Amazon eco-system. Papagaio conversa com Jereba, se homen foi feito pra voar ... Um boto casado com sereia, navega um rio pelo mar...
>"I feel like bossa nova gets a bad rep as "elevator music" but its so good :(" Yeah, the Bossa Nova bad reps should have done a better job; pretty soon it will be the bad "rap"pers in elevator music. Bossa Nova elevator music matters!
I have a tin ear and haven't read sheet music since 2012. A lot of the terms went over my head, but you explained everything so clearly. This is a history I didn't know about and, with my tin ear, I never would have picked up on without this video. Thank you.
The original Gilberto version has a much richer sound that pulls you in. The other versions are just too bright sounding which is why people think of them as schmaltzy. I never understood why I liked some versions better than others, now, thanks to you, I do! Thank you!
@Greyfoot Yodel I take that the same way as when people say Marx Brothers are not funny because all they do is exploit overused clichés. Big band Las Vegas jazz is a thing, Kenny G is a thing, but there were many musical attempts before that that share some of those codes, and that were inventive and bold.
@@Oh_Nanners The music is so complex. I vagabonded on rock for 20 years and came back to this. My young self was so sophisticated musically, I had no idea.
The Girl from Ipanema in Db sounds so much more majestic than in F (at least to my ears). Maybe I'll try that in my next jam session with the homies. ....though my pianist hates anything in Db 😂
el cucumber interesting thing is with me first learning Indian classical music C# makes more sense than Db coz lots of classical music in india is played in C#.
@@GuyNamedSean Interesting, cos I think Db is one of the better keys. In my personal experience, I prefer having all flats to having some flats (Ab is probably the worst, although none are too bad)
@@austinhernandez2716 Fake books can be useful , but the real book has lot's of things that are written wrong, especially Brasilian and "Latin" stuff, the chord voicings and grasp of the rhythms can be really really off. Though later editions have improved. If you want to learn any Brasilian tune properly , you have to primary sources.
Thank you for such a detailed analysis, long since I wanted to crack it’s code always feeling intuitively about this song , but never really approached.
As a Brazilian I can say that actually the song "Girl from Ipanema" does not have this bad reputation of "ogling girls on the beach" as you think. Most Brazilians think the lyrics are romantic and very poetic (the Portuguese version at least, I don't know if I can say the same about the English version, but I'm pretty sure that it's quite the same situation). If you see Brazilians complaining about the lyrics, I am sure they are the minority.
Adam doesn't really talk about this in the video (which, fair enough, it's a music theory channel not a lyrical analysis one), but I think the really lame English translation is probably responsible for half of the Girl from Ipanema's reputation in the Anglosphere. Not only is the beauty and poeticism of the original writing gone, the meaning is **significantly** different from the original. I'll confess that, until I lived in Brazil, and learned Portuguese, and gained a new appreciation for the song, I always thought of "a Garota de Ipanema" in exactly the way that Adam describes; a kind of kitchy, cheesy 60s song with dodgy and kinda sad lyrics about a dude oggling a girl. Even after falling in love with Brazilian music, I still didn't like this song for a while, and still thought of it that way. Now that I understand it better, I no longer think of it that way. Even once I encountered the original lyrics (after learning Portuguese), it took a while for me to shake that association I think (partly because of how many really cheesy and corny interpretations there are of it in English or intrumentally I think too). I agree with you though, with the original lyrics, and played lovingly, it's quite beautiful.
I can totally see why, as a Brazilian, your association is different, because the original lyrics are quite beautiful! (That's subjective of course, and I'm a non-native speaker, but I do think it's quite beautiful). And, you're right, in Portuguese, they don't come across that way at all (i.e. not in an "oggling girls at the beach" way). Unfortunately though, the English translation is just... it's really bad... Compared to the original especially, It's really really bad. "Oh, what a beautiful thing, so full of grace" becomes "Tall and tan and young and lovely". And it carries on the same. Actually I think it gets worse... In the original, there are such poetic lines in it, things like "Ah, se ela soubesse que quando ela passa o mundo inteirinho se enche de graça e fica mais lindo" (Oh, if she only knew that when she passes the whole world fills up with her gracefulness) and "O seu balançado é mais que um poema" ("Her gait/rhythm/swing is more than a poem", or to put it more naturally for English speakers, he's saying something like "the rhythm of her every movement has more poetry to it than poetry itself", it's absolutely adoring). All the things like like that, they are all completely missing -- the translation is just butchered and turned into kitsch basically. Morães's original lyrics are (unsurprisingly, Morães being a talented poet) very poetic and beautiful. Pretty much all that's left of these poetic descriptions of her being filled with grace, with a walk that's more rhythmic than a poem, with a presence that brightens the entire world wherever she goes, etc. is... "Tall and tan and young and lovely". Wow, how nice, what a compliment, lmao. ----- edit: To explain it, if I were to re-translate the English lyrics into Portuguese, it's something like: Alta, e bronzeada, e jovem, e bonita A garota de Ipanema anda E quando ela passa Cada um que ela passa fala "ahhh" Quando ela caminha, é como um samba que balança tão frescamente* e tão suavemente Que quando ela passa Cada um que ela passa diga "ahhh" Ai, mas eu observo ela tão tristemente Como é que eu posso dizer a ela que eu a amo? Eu daria meu coração pra ela com certeza! Mas a cada dia, quando ela anda para o mar Ela só olha pra frente, não para mim! Alta e bronzeada e jovem e bonita A garota de Ipanema anda E quando ela passa eu dou um sorriso pra ela Mas ela não vê Ela simplesmente não vê ela nunca me vê... my Portuguese isn't perfect and I'm sure there are some mistakes, but I think it should be plain that it's pretty different from the original… It's just a bit, idk, incelly? Objectifying? It comes across like a bunch of tourists in a bar oggling a "tall, tan, young, lovely" girl. And it just has slightly creepy and kinda racial undertones too, like oh she's so YOUNG, and she's so BROWN, oh she's like a SAMBA". It's a bit "wow what a sweet sexy little latina" in its vibe you know? Yuck. It's also framed much more to be about him than about her. In the English lyrics, the girl gets a few lines about how sexy and young she is, and then a full half of the song is all about how much our poor sad protagonist wants her, and how sad it makes him, and how she doesn't see him, and how sad that is, boo hoo. And then the song ends, on that.
The original (as I understand it) is this elegant and lovingly written meditation about how a woman who walks by and, without even knowing it, makes the whole world a more beautiful place, just by her existence and the way she holds herself. It has comparative imagery of the sun, and of the rhythm of the waves, but it barely mentions her physical features, but instead the impact her gracefulness and beauty has on everyone she passes, and how the singer knows, on some level, that her beauty is not for him, it's for everyone. And then there is a brief reflection in the middle, which basically juxtaposes the sadness of life and the loneliness of existence, against the beauty that the world also contains; while melancholic, it also has (I think) a certain undertone that these brief moments of beauty can sometimes make it all worth it. Yes, it has a moment of sadness in which the author feels alone, and feels that there is so much sadness in the world, but it doesn't dwell on that too long, and it ends with a verse that (to me anyway) seems to point to how the presence of love and beauty in the world can take us away from life's melancholy and tragedy. It's a sort of slice of introspection, from someone dealing with both the tragedy and loneliness of existence, but also how the presence of beauty and love in the world can have the power to brighten everything it touches, and how this woman somehow embodies both things at the same time; his loneliness, but his awe at the beauty that life and love have to offer. In the translation, all that is goes to like... a clumsily written song about a guy seeing a sexy brown tall girl who everyone in the bar wants to fuck, and then making it all about him, thinking "maan, I wish she would date me, she's so fucking hot, this is so unfair, why won't you see me, why won't you look at me, waaaaaa :(:(:(" hahaha. It's just... it's not at all the same lol
@@Muzikman127 I knew that the English lyrics weren't really liked, but your explanation of the original lyrics explains why. I can't remember who translated it, but it shows the lyricism and romanticism of the Portuguese language as opposed to the pragmatism of the English language version.
As a fingerstyle guitarist who loves playing this song in F: whoa. Playing it in D-flat nudges you into much subtler and quieter places which seem more suited to the bossa nova principles you discuss here. I think I’m a convert.
F strikes me as too pop, just by the frequency alone. bossa nova has to be subtler than that. it should play like a trick, a shadow, throwing the syncopated rhythm at its listener, while pretending to be repetitive, and on the other hand delivering a dense but minimal harmonization through whispers. in my mind, good bossa nova is like a michelin-star dish -- nothing too extravagant on the outside, pretty, tidy, decent, okay, then the show starts when you take a bite, and for the remainder of the course you can't exactly pinpoint what makes you so mad about it.
@@milanstevic8424 Db puts finger style solo guitar melody way too high or too low without re-tuning. And to re-tune guitar after each song on the live gig is a pain.
I have no idea what any of you are talking about. All notes are separated by the 12th root of 2. To say that a certain key "tastes" different from another key is a fantasy. (2 is double and the 12th root splits the octave exponentially. There is no magic in "black" keys)
As a Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro and someone with some music and history background i just want to thank you for putting a lot of research and bringing precise information to the video and your audience.
@@daltonbedore8396 hahahaha now I'm seeing all the comments below. Well i think it's the same with Italian or French when its about food, or even Brazilian when foreigners talk about soccer or Ayrton Senna, people can get quite nationalist, anyway it's funny, I'm sure every Brazilian that wrote "as a Brazilian" thought that they would be the only one doing so
🎹 What song should I do a deep dive into next?
🚀 Get CuriosityStream & Nebula to watch the best documentaries and even more Girl from Ipanema analysis! curiositystream.com/adamneely
Was thinking Cherokee
something with undertale's music
Adam Neely maybe some kendrick lamar (to pimp a butterfly) or meshuggah?
Sir Duke, by Stevie Wonder
African polyrythmic drumming?
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.
Thank You.
You said all truth about Portuguese idiom and bossa nova from Brazil it's another planet very far from statesonian version in english lirics. In english you have a romance between to souls in portuguese you have devotion complicity desire between 2 souls it's another dimension of express the human feelings
🎶🎵💋💋💋🍻🥂
That’s the truth about any song in Portuguese when we try to translate to English, it simply doesn’t work.
Thank you.
FWIW, I don't speak Portuguese, and that's how I interpreted the song. There's no reciprocation expected from the dude, he's just like "wow, she's amazing. She's so amazing that merely witnessing her beauty is sufficient."
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.
That's actually hilarious. That a friendly dog would go crazy Whit the most chill sublime music genre ever
Elvis sang a song called Bosa Nova
This is the funniest thing I've read all week
my brain skipped over the word dog and i was so confused as to why your friend chose growling as their usual reaction to a disliked song
@@kairi123able same here
I'm a simple Brazilian, I see my culture on the title, I click
sepultura!!!
You are simple, indeed.
same here o/
eu
Nem acredito que vi 30 min de video e mal entendo inglês
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.
Uma pequena correção. Ao final:
O mundo "inteirinho" (diminutivo de inteiro) se enche de graça = the whole world is filled with grace.
That's so beautiful!
Este comentário me faz pensar que traduções mais literais das letras devia ser mais comum. Eu sei que elas não são o ideal mas nesse caso e vários outros passa de verdade a mensagem.
@@LucaAnamaria wtf are you talking about lol???? this sounds like some incel pickup line lololol. the middle-aged dude is fantasizing about a young girl, staying around the area long enough to know she passes this exact spot every day. he's stalking her and thinking to himself "woe is me, im not fucking this sexy beach girl! she's so hot but i bet she doesn't know it! mmh, look at how her ass swings from side to side. if only this girl was MINE like and object or property. also, she's currently alone, so surely she's single!"
it's cringe, and gross, and incel-y, and coomer-y
@@ippanpedrozo1162it makes more sense in portuguese
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
Sounds all too likely, Rodrigo. Obrigada .
I agree. Yet the guy doing the video reduces it to oogling girls on the beach
i sat at THE table where this was written, and saw the "manuscript" framed and securely locked onto the wall. That was in the early 1980s, don't know if it's still there today...
@@miguelvasques7854 Perhaps you've heard of Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque e Geraldo Vandre? Some of the most famous musicians and songwriters of the day that you speak of were harassed, arrested and thrown out of the country by the military dictatorship(s). The fact that they existed the same place in time had nothing to do with any imagined tolerance or magnanimity dos milicos ditadores.
@@brucecampbell6133 none of them are talented or innovative musicians, their fame comes from politic matters. Elis Regina would be a much better example.
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"
@@calculator1841 clearly there's only one moron here, someone that has no clue about linguistics and feels like they can judge someone on perfectly valid use of language
They're not entirely wrong.
Bossa Nova is something very delicate. Botch it up, or play some cheesy derivative, and it fully deserves to be called elevator music.
@@calculator1841 and I label you a troll.
I live in America and I try to avoid elevators, because you usually find them in really tall buildings and hospitals!
not because of the music!!!!
Totally agree! And unfortunately for the most part, any instrumental music. (Not saying all instrumental music is great) but I listen to a lot of instrumental music from all sorts of genres and there’s always someone who calls it elevator music!
Video: **has something from Brazil in the title**
Brazilians: Hah, you just activated my trap card!
You are right
We're everywhere, in every form and name.
Brasileiros estão a espreita em todos os videos do youtube só esperando alguem mencionar a gente
Vdd mano kkk
You have summoned us!
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"
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Hi Adam
I am a recording engineer producer who has had the opportunity to record many times and befriend Tom Jobim and I must say that your observation on deletion, at the end of the video, was one of Tom’s highest priorities when playing and composing. It always called my attention how excited he would get when showing me a full chord from where he would Start to take notes out of so the chord would resonate better, opening space to melodies that would complement it.
Congratulations. This was an amazing study.
Okay! That is awesome! You just changed my world.
Que fantástico !
that really is awesome - what a privilege to record the man also :)
Okay, if that's so, then name your favorite jazz song as a teenager and why you liked it, and also something you learned about the song later in life.
@@hyperdrivedoll2097 trying to delegitimize him?
Me watching this knowing nothing about music theory: mmm yes chords
hmm yes D flat u right
Hahaha!!!! 😂 You literally just basically explained what I was thinking! That was pretty hilarious
Underrated 😂
It’s totally over my head. This is the equivalent of diagraming a sentence where you take a perfectly good sentence and ruin it by dissecting into its individual parts and the whole meaning is lost.
I know. Very interesting. But after playing guitar for a few years for my own amusement, and trying to learn increasingly more difficult songs, it's now only 98.3% over my head.
That song is often bashed to be "Elevator Music". Simply because everybody knows it. But it is far more! Thanks for making that clear!!
More because Bossa Nova is used a lot as elevator music. Everybody knows Help from The Beatles but nobody would call it elevator music.
Adam “it actually goes a little bit deeper than that” Neely
That was also Adam said when his girlfriend said it is a big sausage you got.
Neelception - "We need to go deeper"
“He’s a .... .. ... highway child” - Jimi Hendrix
That’s what she said
"But wait! There's more!"
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
infatuation is a form of obsession
@@13Blu something that continually preoccupies a person's mind defines obsession, unlike infatuation in which the person strives to be more like someone, an obsessed person spends all their time thinking about this one person.
not really lovesick... it's more about being a middle-aged man, at the bar's sidewalk, watching a much younger woman passing by, and fantasizing a little bit. Creep-ish, but I agree that he is not obsessed with her
@@julesleodoro although it’s a middle age man singing, the story is through eyes of a young man
So he's a creepy pervert, got it
I'm a brazilian musician that spent almost 12 years in courses and conservatories here in São Paulo since my teens. I find very funny that I did not got such deep explanation os this classic here, the conservatory is a subsidiary of Berklee and the teachers hold the real book as the holy grail. Thank you for going after so many details about this song and respecting it's culture (I see your portuguese and salute you for it). Huge fan of your work and only wish you the best.
Souza Lima? Estudei lá também
Super deep.
I learned quite a lot from this video! Thanks so much! I subscribed 👍
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.
did you comment this for likes without even watching the video
As for me, the definitive version. Heard it first when I was a very young kid, and from then it was ingrained.
It was Stan Getz' recording session with Joao Gilberto. He heard Joao's wife sing and asked her to sing on the record. She had not recorded before.
Aw, I didn't know she died last year 😞
YOU, MORTAL!!!! have summoned the Brazilian internet troupe. We are many and we warmly greet you
Y e s
S i m
sim kkkkkkk
Sim
Overproud???😏
"Ah, por que tudo é tão triste?"
- Ela cantava, com o maior sorriso no rosto
@@gabriel.brasileiro Eu sou gringo e quero entender. Estou apaixonado pelo seu país....
@@christiankliber Brazilians have lived a bittersweet existance for as long as Brazil was a thing. A culture of smilling despite endless tragedy developed. This ambiguity and bittersweetness of the Brazilian way of life is, in my opinion, what makes Brazilian culture so interesting .
@@christiankliber if you still want more, theres this video that explains how music survived the sensorship by sounding very happy superficially ua-cam.com/video/TXjvwQDfnTI/v-deo.html
@@christiankliber Brazil had censorship for many years so having the lyrics sounding like a perfect composition and the instrumentalism sound like “off”, or “unfinished” was the way Brazil displayed ambiguity…
@@ZamielPayne não tenho certeza, mas ouvi dizer que a original foi composta em ré menor e lá fora cantam em fá. não sei porque também não
Tom Jobim até hoje é o segundo compositor e artista mais tocado no mundo, ficando só atrás dos Beatles. Só que eles eram quatro.
que ele era um só na produção é completamente questionável né?
@@tomecabalzar5229 ele falou compositor e artista, não produtor, assim como os beatles não produziam sozinhos, não é? Acho que se ele não produzia sozinho não entra na questão. Acho q não entendi teu comentário
4?... 20...
Exato...como os 3 mosqueteiros....também eram 4.
Tom Jobim is&was a genius.
As a Brazilian, I can attest that there's nothing weird with the song, and changing its arrangements to be more palatable to an American audience is ok. I'm happy we don't do identity politics like you Americans do. Do not problematize this. Thank you for the appreciation of the song. And by the way, stop attacking white affluent people who enjoyed it too, plenty of white Brazilians love the song and samba too. Brazilian is not a race.
As an American player of bossa nova, I cannot stand bossas sang in English, it just doesn't ring right to me. I guess I'm just a Joaozinho
Finalmente um comentário sensato! Sério, quando ele começou com o argumento de "partituras diferentes" e letras que foram cortadas só para se adequar ao contexto que ele estava dizendo, ja dava pra perceber que era bait kkkk e tbm pela amor de Deus, é difícil dás pessoas entender que músicas como essa que retrata um lado mais "poético ou filósofo" sempre tem várias formas de interpretação no próprio idioma? Que dirá em outro idioma kk
Yeah, Americans be like that sometimes. Looking for (or imagine) problems wherever. And Adam is kinda known as being 'wokey' but he's still a good knowledgable guy ;)
Its actually about this girl named Helô that Tom and Vinicius watched passing them as they were in a bar, she was so beautiful and just passed by everyone without needing anyone elses praise to confirm her beauty, which in itself made her even more beautiful. They were also drunk whilst writing.
Edit: she’s actually still alive to this day, Helô, the woman the song is about
Let me guess, you're related
Interesting, thank you for the info! Looked her up and I can't believe how young she looks in her 70s 😵💫
Yes, that is so cool!
@@drowningin no its a common story and they made sure to tell it in schools in 2016
helô has unspoken rizz
This bears saying: your editors skills are underrated and under appreciated.
Also great analysis
I think he edits his own videos, which is even more impressive.
This video is very psychodelc,
thanks,
signed me, the editor
this video is very psychodelc,
@@AdamNeely Which program/programs do you use to edit?
As a brazilian i highly recomend for those who want to know more the sound of bossa the album Chega de Saudade. This is one of the most influential albuns for music in Brasil
yes!
By which artists??
@@santisouk1924 João Gilberto
I have some bossa phases that I get into and out of, but that album... Chega de Saudade - João Gilberto (1959) is one of the ones that I am ALWAYS putting on. Every couple of months I feel the need to go back and listen to it.
Quick story for those who don't know and please correct me if I happen to be wrong here. I believe that before that 1959 album there weren't many famous artists recording with more than 1 microphone. You would "mix" the sound by placing musicians strategically in the recording room, and the vocalist would have to stay in front, and usually push his voice forward almost opera-like.
The new tech of getting 1 mic for voice and 1 mic for guitar gave people like João Gilberto the ability to experiment with lower voices, giving rise to his now very famous whispering-style of singing. Every video i've seen of him live has that very same what seems to be an AKG 414, super close to his face. In 2020 we can listen to something from 60 years ago and take these details for granted. The album is less than 25 minutes long and has around 10 songs, it goes by in a breeze...
One of my favorite albums from that time period
@@kevin_dasilva now that's impressive, also been having bossa phases and it really is one of those things that makes me happy for being born in brazil
morrendo aqui com as distorçoes numa letra tao deboa kkkkk como se fosse de terror e é literalmente uma gostosa andando na praia
Né, tipo, é só eles tentando expressar aquela sensação de quando você vê alguém aleatório, acha atraente e tenta fazer contato mas a pessoa não te nota. Não poderia ser mais inocente
A Única coisa estranha... É que reza a lenda que a era uma garota relativamente jovem , comparado a idade do compositor.
@@migueldantas3918 não é nem questão de rezar a lenda, era a Helô Pinheiro, que tinha 17 anos, enquanto Tom Jobim tinha 35
EXT JKKKK
Oh my goodness yes. Sou bossa americano, mas nunca cantarei essa ou qualquer outra bossa em inglês, é um lixo.
I taught myself Brazilian Portuguese on Duolingo just to sing bossa ❤️
Ahh nice to hear someone else did that! I play piano and sing, and started learning Portuguese on Duolingo (many months ago) so I could sing Jobim songs with a good accent. I need to reboot on it though.
Nice to see people apppreciating our language/music
excactly me too!!
Tive a sorte de nascer falando Português aqui no Brasil, aprendemos Inglês ao passar dos anos para cantar Queen, Beatles e etc
I was lucky to be born speaking Portuguese here in Brazil, we learned English over the years to sing Queen and The Beatles too...
Isso é muito massa!!
I'm a brazilian musician and I'm usually a bit defiant towards people talking about brazilian music because in my experience they never quite seem to get the subtlety of it or even, sometimes, their facts straight, but this video is the absolute opposite of that : precise, subtle and inspiring. Cheers from a brazilian fan.
What do you think about Paul Mauriat's version of Brazilian music?
I knkyw what you mean Im a big baden Powell fan and brazillian music in general
Worry about your president. He's dooming the world with the deforestation. That happens, no one talks about Brazilian music.
@@guysmiley7289 That's pretty out of right field - why even mention that in a discussion like this? I wouldn't bring up Trump every time an American discusses something.
Guy Smiley ew politics
shoo
As a Brazilian, this is just another comment starting with "as a Brazilian" so I can legitimize my Brazilian-ish statement (loved the video btw)
As a Brazilian, I find your comment very amusing kkk
As a Brazilian,
I do the same with Portuguese but nobody talks about us lmao
@@jeffreymatias5879 It'd be nice if he did a video on fado
@@fernandosamachado that would actually be interesting. I'm learning Fado guitar now and it's not as straightforward as I would've hoped
I love how you play the sound of chords etc. simultaneously whenever you mention them. Useful for someone like me who doesn’t know music theory as well as I wish I did.
I was obsessed with bossa nova in middle school. Its so calming, interesting and beautiful. Portuguese is a wonderful language to listen to. Agua de beber and aguas de marco were my faves.
Wait till u understand that Aguas de marc(march’s waters) is related to the end of summer and the natural tropical rains that Rio has in March. The huge depressing moment that made a beautiful music
Portuguese is just bastardized Spanish
here, in brazil, we're close to the "Águas de Março", where's my birthday. And, i was born in a city famous for its pools... the joke's ready to use...
Portuguese is a poetic sounding language. Very sexy, too.
Agree❤
The Portuguese announcements for each part of the video are very Spanish-esque (or, as we call it, Portunhol); Martina's pronunciations, though, being a Brazilian's raised in the US, sound slightly exotic, but charming and correct.
Yeah
That's something to be expected from someone who speaks English in a country where many speak Spanish as a second or foreign language (and also as their first language). And, yes, her pronunciation is quite correct and exotic with a hint of Portuguese from the northern/northeastern part of Brazil. Once, talking to a very nice North American old lady about a text written in Spanish where Portuguese was expected, she told me I might be confused because both languages are very similar (indeed). The only surprising fact to that conversation was that I am a Brazilian Portuguese native speaker and I can really tell one language from the other. :)
thank you
I find it a bit odd how she seems to pronounce the NH in "souzinho" a bit more like a velar nasal (like the NG in English 'singing') than as a palatal nasal (the more usual realization of Portuguese NH, Spanish Ñ, French/Italian GN). Perhaps a [ŋʲ] rather than a [ɲ]. Also, perhaps there's a very short schwa diphthong at the end of her open O's /ɔ/.
eu como brasileiro AMO um delicioso sotaque 😋
Here I am, a Brazilian, learning things that I never imagined about this song, from this guy from another country. Congrats, man, congrats. Saravá, Tom. Saravá, Vininha.
Pô, bom demais! O nível da pesquisa do Adam é incrível! Tô doido pra uma legenda pra poder espalhar esse vídeo. Vou tentar tirar um tempo pra isso.
@@seumemel Bro, se juntar umas 5/6 pessoas dá pra legendar rápido. Eu animo
@@riiprafa Tô dentro também!
Great info in the vid, however, if you just go to a nearby beach, you will understand everything you need to know about the song :)
Lol Me too
Two years late, but on the off chance you see this, thanks for making this video. In 30 minutes, you expanded my brain from only hearing and understanding tin pan alley harmony to hearing the poetics of how substitutions and deletions can imply without saying. I'm a writer before a musician, and I understand the power of omission in that medium, so applying that knowledge to a musical context is eye-opening. Excellent vid. Bass.
bass indeed
Omg music theory is so hard, that music was made in a bar in front of the beach, how come there is so much architecture behind it, they were not thinking about it but there it is
Well...they were geniuses....
E músicos, o que provavelmente faça com que seja beeem mais fácil pra eles fazer música mesmo num bar...
(do que pra mim, pelo menos, que não sei nada de música no sentido de acordes e tons, harmonia melodia e essas coisas...)
O ouvido do Tom foi treinado desde pequeno pelo pai, que era maestro, o pai tocava notas aleatórias e ele tinha q advinhar qual era, nao é como se ele tivesse só estudado numa faculdade. Ele aprendeu a falar a "língua" musical ainda criança.
And they were probably drunk
Many of the best "pop" or non-classical musicians make music that sounds good and don't really worry about the music theory. Famously, the Beatles couldn't read sheet music when they started, and even today, Paul and Ringo aren't especially book-heavy in their approaches.
All this is to say that music theory is good for some, but isn't a requirement for making good music. Make something that sounds good and people will want to listen to it.
The theorists will come in afterwards to try and explain why.
@@raimarulightning in the case of Jobim, however, he was trained in composition as well as playing various musical instruments.
As a Brazilian I absolutely loved this video.
The cultural analysis was absolutely perfect and respectful.
Thank you, man!
Or, like we talk here in brazillian northeast...
Valeu aí, macho!
macho, dizem isso no nordeste? wtf xkmelsmdmx
@@GlassyVI a gente usa mais "mah" ou "Mash". Mas é aqui entre Ceara, RN e Pernambuco sim. rs
Northeast*
@@GlassyVI acho q só no Ceará, aqui no RN a gente não usa
@@GlassyVI aqui em Salvador bahia não mas considerando o jeito que a linguagem varia aqui no nordeste é capaz que em qlqr outra cidade falem isso ashshsh
Brazilian here, one of my favorite aspects of bossa nova is that It's, weirdly, hugely influential in Japan, some people say finding Brazilian records there is even easier than here, also, a lot of Nintendo background music is bossa nova/samba, specifically, the 3ds Mii theme sounds a lot like "summer samba".
Most cafes and book offs (2nd hand bookstores) here in Japan play bossa nova all the time.
_pizzicato five_
Have you ever heard ''New Wave bossa nova'' from Zelda Majora's mask? And Also there is a Japanese Singer called Sayuri Kokushou, listen to '' ふり返してSomeday'' and '' 大きい猫 - big cat'', its basically bossa nova based. You can find her albuns to download in this link ''jpop80ss.blogspot.com/search/label/SAYURI%20KOKUSHO''
The first song is from 1987 BALANCE OF HEART album, and the second one is from 1989 Sakana Album. I'll definitively like these songs.
Também sou br, mas escrevi em inglês pra geral entender.
That's so interesting. I know there's a decently sized Japanese population in Brazil, maybe some of them moved back to Japan and brought their Brazilian music with them.
It might be connected to Brazil's large Japanese diaspora. Largest in the world I think
Bossa Nova became really popular in Japan. Gilberto particularly enjoyed performing for Japanese audiences later in his life.
There’s also a decent portion of Brazilian Japanese as well
Gilberto’s simplified chords in the bridge is what gives the vocal space to breath creating the sadness of the lyric. That’s the essence of the song. For a vocalist, Gilberto has allowed that emotion to come through. The jazz progression takes that away by making you feel that you’re marching through the chord progression. Gilberto is the way to go if you want the song to have feeling.
I had the exact same thought!
I can't help but think of the American jazz equivalent being Herbie famously mishearing Miles telling him not to play the "butter" notes
It is a bit heavy handed (the jazz). Had I not heard this analysis, I wouldn't have understood why. Heavy handed music diminishes the listener's own experience. Gilberto's harmonies give space to the vocalist, yes, but they also give space to the listener. My own emotions emerge instead of feeling like I'm being told how to feel. It feels more like my own experience, which gives it a deeper authenticity to me, as a listener. Add Astrud's gentle voice, wow!
The important thing is deletion, as the guy in Harvard said, it let's your ears "imagine" different worlds :)
Those deconstructed chords - great explanation, thanks!
Fun fact: The 'quiet singing' style of Bossa Nova music originated out of necessity. Many jam sessions between young (American Jazz-influenced) Brazilian musicians happened at crowded apartments late at night. The quiet singing and corresponding chill style of Bossa Nova was literally born of not wanting to wake the neighbors.
didnt it also have to do with joao gilbertos innovations? he used to get made fun of for singing "through his nose"
Would love to read more about this
@@tidigimon ua-cam.com/video/816EZaHExRM/v-deo.html
? Nolyn, this makes sense but wondering, do you have support, corroboration, for this concept of Brazilian musicians needing to sing softly - not to wake, ....or is this your idea alone? Just curios, thanks.
@@nickrenneker_music Caetano Veloso's book "Tropical Truth" explores both ideas. He talks a lot about these night time meetings in Nara Leao's apartment (the 'Muse of Bossa Nova') as well as Joao Gilberto's singing innovations which preceded these meetings. Compare his version of Chega de Saudade in 1959 with Elizete Cardoso's in 1957 and you can see the development of this technique. The apartment jam sessions didn't come into fruition until at least the beginning of the 60s...
Weird fact: the name "Ipanema" comes from the Tupi-Guarani language "Ypanema", which means "stinky water"
The Girl from Stinky Water would have been the most recorded song in history, not the second.
@@wayneurquhart1967 there must be more songs that have hidden translations?
Realmemte é um fato estranho
Nossa língua é estupidamente diversa
Praia de Ipanema
A brilliant video. The use of the Bernstein clip on deletion tied everything together wonderfully. That and your commentary on it's importance highlighted the examples of "dropped" chords and the inversions missing the root note (which was played by the base) and showed how they contributed to the song's unique feel. Thank you for this delightful and educational experience.
You're going to make me cry. My late father was a Jazz and Blues musician who spent much of his life transcribing different recordings because he was dissatisfied with the transcriptions in The Real Book. I have boxes of his transcriptions that I need to scan and make available.
oh please do
Gabriel Totusek Tell us more
That is exciting news.
@@RanBlakePiano This being UA-cam, I made a 3 1/2 min video explaining. ua-cam.com/video/Z7fQd0qyyBE/v-deo.html
What a great thing to do
It's unfortunate that bossa nova gets a bad rep as "elevator music". It's a beautiful genre with several masterpieces. Try João Gilberto's debut album "Chega de Saudade" (the title track was translated to English as "No More Blues"). It pretty much cemented the genre's main features.
Have you got a link for that.? I would like to hear it very much. 👍
@@alex-E7WHU Here you go: ua-cam.com/video/Fum0TM-PAfM/v-deo.html
@@gpeddino thanks gui, much appreciated. 👍
It seems to me that Jobim was the real father of the Brazilian Popular Sound, what beautiful melody and harmony.
Elevator music to the uninitiated. That song is in my top ten faves. It's so beautifully haunting. Boss Nova is my favorite music genre hands down.
Brazilian here: this is one of the best analysis of Bossa Nova I've ever seen. Good grief... This is musicology material. One could easily turn this video into a grant proposal for a PhD in musicology. Shit, Adam... You should come to Brazil (after the pandemic is over, shit is dire right now over here) and do more videos on Bossa Nova.
SPA! 😁
I second your comments. Besides he is the only American UA-camr I know who can pronounce the proper Portuguese J instead of the Spanish one.
É memo
I would like to see him analyzing other genres of Brazilian music that are less Americanized like choro, frevo or sertanejo
tottally agree! im in awe! too good for a gringo! hahaha
@@diogoepronto
Mano, ia ser daora ver ele comentando uns modão de viola
Absolutely incredible analysis. It took an american guy to explain this brazilian musician the theory behind ambiguity and deletion of bossa nova. TY!
I'm american but a Joaozinho, I was peeved for years about the dumbing down of bossa nova and set out to play in the roots styles of Gilberto and Nara Leao to somehow reassert the real charm of the thing. How about Gilberto/Getz instead of Getz/Gilberto🙃 Just sayin'
"thing more beautiful when remove useless thing"
"Juliet sun"
Julisun
jun
JS
@@Yesh77777 Bach?
Sun
I get really irritated when people call bossa nova elevator music. Its some of the grooviest and deep music out there and a lot of people don't put respect on it. Great video!
I agree. Bossa Nova also sounds great in dentists' waiting rooms.
Scrubert:
That's true----bossa nova is real beautiful music and a genre all on its own. And I've always thought The Girl From Ipanema was a genuinely haunting but beautiful tune, just like another tune "Quiet Nights, Quiet Stars" which is also hauntingly beautiful and sad-sounding.
I agree, its one of my favorite genres, but its still elevator music lol
It infuriates me
I'm Brazilian and I call it elevator music as well hahaha
"I didn't come to explain, I came to confound."
-Abelardo Barbosa, o Chacrinha
Basically everything made in Brazil brings more questions than answers.
Case in point: our current government.
HAHAHA
That's even true for beekeeping
O funk mantém essa tendência
Surpresa que não tem um "quem é brasileiro dá joinha" aqui na sessão de comentários
I played this song on a tour of Japan in 75’ as the MD/ keyboardist for the great Astrid Gilberto. Was great to know her ❤
Great story! Portuguese lyrics much lovlier
Hearing Adam Neely speak portuguese warms my heart. Muito fofo!!
@fjf sjdnx shut up, go back to your sad little life and leave Brazilians alone
@fjf sjdnx what's that got to do with the topic at hand?
fofinho demais nee
My husband calls my nephew "fofinho" :) because he was such a round and cuddly baby. My husband lived in Brazil for a couple of years. We will travel there together some day...
@@Margar02 it means cute as well as 'round' hahah
You have no idea how CUTE it sounds to us Brazilians when people sing properly in Portuguese with just a little "grace accent"" Congratz to the singer!
The singer is a native speaker of Portuguese
@@joemiller947 nice! Where from?
@@joemiller947 but not the Brazilian Portuguese. It makes a MASSIVE difference.
@@edoo.dribeiro já sei, mas ela tem um pai americano e uma mãe brasileira, ela é uma falante nativa de português brasileiro
agreed
"Perfection is not when there's nothing left to add. Perfection is when there's nothing left to take away"
like that!
I'm in Ipanema right now, having lunch at the "Garota de Ipanema" restaurant, watching a video about the song that named it and where it was supposedly written.
I created a whole atmosphere for myself and didn't even realize it.
I’m old enough to remember this song when it first came on the American music scene. It was exciting, as it differed so much from American Contemporary music.
sorry, but I can't control myself when I see someone say America/American like it's just the US, America is the whole continent (both North and South, just a division like sometimes you say South Asia or things like that, it's still the same continent), the song was made in Brazil, which is in America, so it was already on "the American music scene"
@@joseaugustosoriano5094 cala a boca chatao
Superior to MOST crappy American music.
@@mayconalves4862 não, o cara tá certo, deixa ele ser
How is "haunting" "weird"?
"We're going to be analyzing it in the key of F" while standing in front of a giant A.
A & Neely
It was a temporary key change
That's pretty standard, whenever I'm dealing with giant A-----'s all the most prominent thought in my mind is "ffffffffffffffffff-"
He had just said America.
Guessing it was for A section, as in from AABA, since he metioned starting with the A section.
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.
❤
This should be the top comment
Slayed 🇧🇷
2/4 - the second beat is the strong one
It wouldn't surprise me if you were the only one to grasp the entire video.... 😂
Rest in peace, lovely Astrud Gilberto ❤
Adam, if I didn't know you, I'd start to watch the video with that feeling of "oh great, another American guy talking about American influence in Brazilian culture and probably disregarding how delicate and deep this discussion might be for us Brazilians". But (as always) your analysis was nothing short of amazing. I'm a big fan of your absolute sense of respect for people's work, culture and creativity!
If he respected Brazilian culture, why couldn't he at least learn some proper Brazilian pronunciations of the names.
Fun fact: this song is about an actual girl. Her name is Heloísa Pinheiro.
Everyone already knows this
@@arvaakuka8568 I didn't though, don't speak for me
Even more fun fact: She appeared in Playboy with her daughter
Arvaa Kuka Are you sure? I had no idea until I played the song
@@arvaakuka8568 i didn't
and i'm brazilian
Martina da Silva appreciation comment (for the algorithm): It's wonderful to see a singer who so clearly enjoys her work, and yet can be very patient and careful in highlighting the passages your lessons required. She's a real find; don't lose touch with her.
Bridge: F# Maj7 to B7 (fourth movement), A Major7 to D7 (Fourth movement), Bb Maj7 to Eb7 (fourth movement). After the half-step up progression found in the first two chords the following is essentially a iii-vi-ii-v in the key of F Major. The A Major7 has the root of the iii chord (it is simply a quality change to Major) to the D7 which is the vi dominant. Then the Bb Major7 (IV, essentially the ii chord) moving to the Eb7 which is the common “back door dominant” substitute for the V7 chord. The bridge then ends with a very clear iii-vi-ii-v progression.
I know nothing about music and yet I watched every minute of this completely mesmerized. I'm still trying to figure out why. It was like listening in on wizards explaining how the cast their spells.
"It was like listening in on wizards explaining how the cast their spells."
Exactly... and I know something about music!
because of the master editing.. even to someone who doenst understand theory music, the nice editing makes it more understandable :D
Jeffrey Gleaves I love your response. As I've research the mythology of my Finnish ancestry I have discovered that embedded in their cultural beliefs was the power of music, singing especially, to cast a spell. The Finnish mythological hero, Vianamonen, attained his power and status by singing a very powerful song. He was the most powerful wizard through the power of song. So that's why all my parents and all of my relatives sang. A lot!
"... like listening in on wizards explaining how they cast their spells." How close to truth you skim.
haha same here
Funny thing I see when english speakers sing this song is they often ignore the "a" in "a caminho do mar", which basically changes the meaning of the song in portuguese. "Caminho do mar" means something like "a path/road/route to the sea" whereas "a caminho do mar" means "on her (in the song) way to the sea". So just a tip: don't neglect the "a" :)
Don't be so harsh on people. Not everyone in a native Brazilian speaker.
As a person who speaks both languages, the "a" is quite hard to hear, since it doesn't have its own syllable within the lyrics, and is (rather lazily, in keeping with the vocal style) squished onto the end of balanço. In fact, until I checked the lyrics just now, I wasn't really aware of it's existing at all! Obviously, it's important for singers to check the lyrics, but if that little auditory nuance can be missed in some Brazilian recordings, they can hardly be blamed for the omission, particularly if they don't speak any Portuguese.
@@philtaylor3098 it was never my intention to be harsh on non-Portuguese speakers and I'm sorry if you felt that way. It was more of a friendly tip.
@@elainealcantara8382 apparently someone was overwhelmed by the thought "I've been singing this wrong for years!" lol 😆
@@philtaylor3098 But she gave a good tip here. It changes the meaning. She wasn't harsh, she just pointed out something important! =D
Grave mistake Andam. You've summoned them! The Brazilian horde has come to flood the comments section!
Só vai dá os BR aqui agora aushauhsua
Here we are
Kkk
aeeekeekkekekekeke
oi oi oi!
I just happen to stumble across this video and wow! What a wonderful, theoretical analysis of the iconic song. The explanation of deletion, regarding the chords used by Gilberto was great insight, all in the quest of compositional poetry, brilliant. Thanks Adam.
Wait. Has Adam now got a business model that lets him do the in-depth analyses that he's always wanted to, but that's been impossible due to copyright issues?
I don't understand your comment. Are you referring to the copyright issues or? Would you explain it to me please?
I wondered this as well! Maybe in this case it's in the public domain?
@@CogoGaming Adam Neely previously talked about how under UA-cam's current system, he was unable to make the sorts of music education videos he wanted to, because in order to do in depth analysis of tracks, he wants people to use their ears and listen. But by using recordings, it would trigger UA-cam's algorithms and claim all his revenue, even though under copyright law he is allowed to for educational purposes.
@@MarcusWoodOfficialVideos the song may be in the public domain, but performances of it aren't necessarily. For example, Mozart is public domain, but a performance of it may be owned by whoever performed it
So then he's unable to sustain himself, but it seems he's found a way to do it!
As a South American, it is really weird for me to hear the prejudice of bossa nova as elevator music in the US.
Here bossa nova is seen as very cerebral and sophisticated. I guess understanding the lyrics helps a lot. Because lyrics of bossa nova tend to be sad and poetic, which doesn't fit the notion of having it as light background music.
Latin music is indeed sophisticated. Most of the music I play along to is jazz. I don't care what others think as most of them are uneducated about music and prefer to stay with genres rooted in 2's and 4's versus the more unique use of 3's, 5's and 7's in Jazz and Latin. Cool to hear your perspective man.
As a North American, Pop music is annoying to me lol it's overplayed and all the same IMO. Though I do still have the thought of "elevator music" with bossa nova, I really really do enjoy the sound of it.
Don't take it personally. American elevator music respects no one.
Try not to take it personally--no music is immune to being dumbed down here--and it could be worse. After elevators, the last venue in the devolution of music is as a background hook for pharmaceutical commercials. Once there, no one will ever want to hear it again.
Man, it's the same here in europe sadly, people that don't play instruments themselves are so dumbed down by the pop shit playing on the radio all day that they don't really listen anymore i think.
The translations of bossa are not bad, even people in Brazil don't know what "bossa" is.
"Bossa" is better translated into english, as "swing", so
"Bossa Nova" "New Swing"
Bossa Nova shouldn't have a translation, just like we don't translate Blues or Jazz. Bossa Nova is Bossa Nova. They need to learn to pronounce it, not translate it.
@@laylarsa isnt bossa nova the "new wave"?
@@sandalero "Wave" in Portuguese is better translated as "Onda". We only say "Bossa" when referring to Bossa Nova.
eu sei :)
When you mentioned the video's length i immediately thought "no way", however I was totally fascinated and watched all the way through. Thank you for your insights and sharing your vast knowledge.
Adam, as a brazillian I can surely say that this video is a tribute not just to Tom and Vinicius but to the music overall.
Bossa Nova doesn't belong to Brazil anymore; it belongs to the people, to you, to me and to all time music lovers.
And congratulation for the effort of trying to speak the subtitles in portuguese. That's a charm.
As a Brazilian, I’m delighted to watch such a complete and detailed analysis about a part of our music. Obrigado, Adam!!!
Can we just take a moment to appreciate this woman's beautiful voice?
I took not only one, but several. Martina is a real find.
I kept rewinding to listen to the clips over and over haha. Her voice is so full and smooth and crisp
her voice is pretty good but she cant speak portuguese realy well that ruins the flow of the music
Does she have a UA-cam channel?
@@victorgusmao4352 I doubt anyone that isn't fluent in Portuguese would notice, it's very good.
I am a sax player and your dissertation on Jobim's tune was beautifully crafted and I learned so much about the history of the song. The vocalist also did a stellar job!
Does anyone else notice that Stevie Wonder thinks not a problem to play a song In two different keys because he cares about his audience enough to do that? This is why we love the guy.
I have always LOVED the "The Girl From Ipanema." The Bossa Nova style of music is truly unique; it is different from Jazz. Unique is different than "weird."
i recommend listening to other Tom Jobin and Vinnicius de Moraes songs, they are all like that
💯
Meu amigo, primeiramente, samba não é jazz
It is different from jazz because it is a whole other thing. Idiots like the one in the video just try to force it to be a "sub-jazz" thing. It isn't. Not everything comes from the USA, that's why he finds the bridge "odd".
@@minibelt3222 well said.
6:30 just to add something to this point, bossa nova was seen as this white american whashing because of the political scenario that was happening during the period this style was born, the bossa nova was mostly criticised in that period because most of the other artist were creating songs which criticized the government, while the high class listened to bossa nova which had nothing to do with politics. Another point is in that period the american culture was rising in the musical scene due to a moviment called tropicalismo which affected not only music but art overall
Well put, and very important to note--thank you!
Thank you for this additional context!
Reminds me a little of the critique of the impressionist artists. While europe at the time was in a time of very grave violence and everything was burning down from world war 1 and death was everywhre, Monet and his people where painting fucking daffodils. And ithat angered the hell out of a lot of artists.
@@shayneoneill1506 I think that's rather interesting. It seems strange to me that artists were mad at them, since the impressionists were the ones who essentially liberated artists from the traditions of the establishment, giving artists a lot more creative freedom, and bringing respect to alternative art styles. It's what allowed for the surreal beauty of a lot of war art, in styles that would have been ridiculed thirty years earlier. Anyway, you make an interesting point.
it must be said that Pixinguinha was accused of using jazz (or better, american) elements in the early 20s or even before (songs like Carinhoso and Rosa were written in 1917)
Awesome video! You explained exactly what I needed to hear!! I knew there were so many slight, (but as you show here, NOT so slight) differences in how this song has been played over the years.
Any yet, now I know why I keep gravitationg toward the Gilberto arrangement in Gb.
I also love your treatment on the importance of keeping in mind the context of the chords played in relation to the keys ( the tonic never hit in any-wow how did you hear the keys, when the tonics were SO ambiguous!!!) And not playing the tonic note in any of the chords.
The chords played were sometimes so wonderfully sparse!
None of the others (except by perhaps Brazil 66) are as good as Astrid and Gilberto's rendition.
Marvelous job, old bean!💯
It feels so weird to see someone foreign I admire talk about my country's music. I like it.
Same...
That makes us two, friend
Nicely weird, I would say.
idem
Bro this is a world classic, what do you mean?
Finally, someone got it, and no, I’m not talking about this piece. I’m talking about João Gilberto. This guy is the heart and lungs of Bossa nova. The brazilian music was never the same after João Gilberto (and was not the same before him too hahaha... I’m serious here). Bossa nova IS João Gilberto (oh, shakespeare 🤦🏻♂️) and without him, it would be just another exotic jazz influenced music style. Btw, João Gilberto died recently. Long live his music!
I didn't know. RIP Joao. Your harmonies will haunt forever.
Couldn’t agree more...Just passed the one year anniversary of his death (July 6th)...No one in my lifetime has influenced me more.
And his daughter Bebel is one of my favorite singers. Such a pleasant voice.
RIP the goat, incredible musician
why are you making me cry
I hate how bossa nova, funk, jazz, or any number of really intricate genre's get classified as elevator music/background music. "Why you listening to elevator music bro!?"
Just turn on some hard bop and that'll solve the elevator music misconception, but create a new one in them saying "it's just noise"
Funk became commercial music
uhm you're hanging out with the wrong crowd. I put a jazz song on and people are like "oh that's nicee"
Ugh... The worst was listening to Herbie Hancock's watermelon man in a shopping mall toilet. It was a bitter sweet experience.
It is used in elevators because it is relaxing lol. Listen to wathever you wish regardless what people say.
It completely makes sense for brazilians. That’s exactly the way we express ourselves. It’s poetry. However the images you share - specially the samba ones - are far from way from reality. Ipanema is for us something like haven - the perfect beach (at least for us from 60’). Absolutely gorgeous music.
I thought this was going to be a fluff clickbait video. I feel humbled and admire the musical educational experience you've given us. Thank you!
I never thought the song was weird.. I just always loved it for the uniqueness of it.. It puts me in a pleasant mood. Someone called the feeling elicited by the song as "a melancholy ecstasy."
YES i feel the very same way. truly beautiful
33 minutes? i’m ready.
It’s everywhere
SO ready
I’m not
I just bumped into this video by chance (two years late...), and I know nothing about music theory, but it was fascinating to watch this song being analyzed to every bit of detail. And also, to see it done with so much respect and admiration. Congratulations! (I'm Brazilian BTW)
@@user-et9ks5pp6e cool, isn't it? 😊
As a brazillian and a carioca (a person who was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro), I feel that Adam approached the subject with so much care and respect for the brazillian culture and its black roots. I don't think that anyone here in Brazil have analyzed the song with that much detail. I didn't expect either to learn all this from a gringo about my own culture. Cheers and BASS!
I agree to all Ronald Filho wrote. I learned the F major version chords years ago. More recently I looked up the other version, eventually learning it from Rick Beato at: ua-cam.com/video/vuEa03KJIgs/v-deo.html.
What I found interesting was that if I capo'd up to where the melody was at the same pitch as the F major version, and played along with that version, the result was nowhere near the train wreck I was expecting. But I still prefer Jobim's originally composition. Next job will be to switch to the Portuguese lyrics of Vinícius de Moraes.
Complexo de Vira-Lata. Cheque as fontes do Adam e verás que ele consultou uma quase infinidade de pesquisas brasileiras.
@@pedropauloguilhardi7522 eu não duvido, é bem provável que ele tenha realmente consultado todas essa fontes brasileiras. O que eu me referi especificamente foi sobre a qualidade do vídeo em si e levantando a questão é de que ninguém, na mídia brasileira tradicional ou não, trouxe tantos detalhes pra música em questão
@@ronaldccgf realmente nesse nível de pesquisa na mídia cultural daqui é miito difícil mesmo, mas nunca duvide que temos muitos pesquisando cultura de forma séria aqui no Brasil, só não tem muita divulgação científica...
@@ojuanitomarques Claro, concordo contigo. Como aluno de universidade pública, eu sei que a pesquisa de qualidade é uma realidade
My goodness, her voice has such a beautiful timbre and warmth. It's mesmerizing.
@@JuniorJr... so?
@@Myllkka - Exactly!
:-)
Pissing on a parade is not good.
@@JuniorJr... Você tá falando que ela tem sotaque inglês falando português? Ou sotaque de brasileiro falando inglês? Por que primeiro eu achei que era nem era brasileira pelo sotaque falando as palavras em português.
@@JuniorJr... Seguinte, você é tóxico mesmo. Não é por causa do sotaque que ela canta mal, na verdade, ela canta muito bem. Obviamente que o sotaque em inglês não é muito legal, mas ela tá melhor do que muitos, no começo até duvidei se era americana ou brasileira
@Tommy Valley Yes sir, u'r right. I'm a Brazilian, and I can confirm that he's toxic af. Maybe he has some kind of fear of our music being stolen, idk. Even as a brazilian I didn't know if she really was American, because she speaks portuguese really well.
If I can add my 2 cents on this: Jobim himself claims that he was more influenced by Debussy than by Jazz... this repeating sequence (mantaining the structure but changing the key) in the bridge may be (we'll never know for sure) more "impressionistic" than jazzy. There is actually a passage in "The Afternoon of a Faun" that kinda reminds me of this section in The Girl from Ipanema, melodically and harmonically.
Jobim was notorious for taking classical pieces that influenced him and transforming it into something entirely new (some even accused him of "stealing"). How Insensitive was inspired by a Prelude by Chopin. Double Rainbow (aka Children's Games, aka Chovendo na Roseira) is inspired by Debussy's "Rêverie". So I think that the key to this harmonic mistery may be more connected to French Impressionism than to American influence or other styles of music.
My master's subject is about Claus Ogerman's arrangements on Jobim's work, I love to share information about this, anyone who's interested just drop a line! Fantastic job and thanks, that just makes us Brazilians so proud!
ISSO! preciso. Voçe comprende a bossa nova estetico completamente - impressionismo tem mais o iqual influencia do que jazz.
@@davemiller5685 Obrigado, amigo!
I am interested in discussion surrounding the recording "Urubu" and specifically the song Bôto. The orchestration is mind blowing in how masterfully Mestre Ogerman uses the cello section counter to the upper strings, the bass clarinet parts, the low register flute parts, the ostinato bass part. Then the melody harmony combinations defy genre classification. The lyrics convey a mythological; folkloric quality. Finally, the words themselves are musical. Especially the names of the animals of the Amazon eco-system. Papagaio conversa com Jereba, se homen foi feito pra voar ... Um boto casado com sereia, navega um rio pelo mar...
Luiz, I'd like to see a video on this topic you mention as I love Jobim and Debussy!
Estadunidenses sempre achando que tudo é sobre eles kkkkk
BROOOO, thank you for this gift!!! This video is just incredible
Repetition legitimizes
Repetition legitimizes
Repetition legitimizes
Repetition legitimizes
Repetition legitimizes
GlOrIa
RReeppeettiittiioonn lleeggiittiimmiizzeess
-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORIA
knock knock knock "leonard!", knock knock knock "leonard!", knock knock knock "leonard!"
Some day he'll throw everybody off and start saying it once every time lmao
I feel like bossa nova gets a bad rep as "elevator music" but its so good :(
>"I feel like bossa nova gets a bad rep as "elevator music" but its so good :("
Yeah, the Bossa Nova bad reps should have done a better job; pretty soon it will be the bad "rap"pers in elevator music. Bossa Nova elevator music matters!
Brazilian elevators are way cooler.
Yeah, you're totally right... Or, how the kids like to call it nowadays: "boomer music"
@@G_Cs You can enjoy rap and bossa nova you know
Who says elevator music sucks? I love it!
Martina has such a beautiful voice.
I didn't know the girl but now consider me seduced!
The older you get the more you'll think about her wall of white flawless teeth with something of the sadness of the Ipanema guy 😬
@@bryanleigh6497 Haha. But I don't have that to look forward to because I'm already THAT old.
I quite liked the trippy version she was singing with the warbly swirling organs.
I have a tin ear and haven't read sheet music since 2012. A lot of the terms went over my head, but you explained everything so clearly.
This is a history I didn't know about and, with my tin ear, I never would have picked up on without this video. Thank you.
The original Gilberto version has a much richer sound that pulls you in. The other versions are just too bright sounding which is why people think of them as schmaltzy. I never understood why I liked some versions better than others, now, thanks to you, I do! Thank you!
Best comment ever, thank you !
@Greyfoot Yodel I take that the same way as when people say Marx Brothers are not funny because all they do is exploit overused clichés. Big band Las Vegas jazz is a thing, Kenny G is a thing, but there were many musical attempts before that that share some of those codes, and that were inventive and bold.
@@Oh_Nanners The music is so complex. I vagabonded on rock for 20 years and came back to this. My young self was so sophisticated musically, I had no idea.
The Girl from Ipanema in Db sounds so much more majestic than in F (at least to my ears). Maybe I'll try that in my next jam session with the homies. ....though my pianist hates anything in Db 😂
tell him it's C#!
el cucumber you can write it either way...
Db is a hell key to play piano in.
el cucumber interesting thing is with me first learning Indian classical music C# makes more sense than Db coz lots of classical music in india is played in C#.
@@GuyNamedSean Interesting, cos I think Db is one of the better keys. In my personal experience, I prefer having all flats to having some flats (Ab is probably the worst, although none are too bad)
This song is pure cultural gem.
Who ever transcribed this in the real book has done injustice to it. Time to re-edit 😊
Great video 💯
No just throw the real book in the rubbish bin where it belongs
@@southerneruk that book is what introduced lots of people, like me, to the song. Nothing wrong with fake books
@@austinhernandez2716 Sorry Austin, I have to respectfully disagree here. This is how you lose cultural history.
@@southerneruk why not just fix the book?
@@austinhernandez2716 Fake books can be useful , but the real book has lot's of things that are written wrong, especially Brasilian and "Latin" stuff, the chord voicings and grasp of the rhythms can be really really off. Though later editions have improved. If you want to learn any Brasilian tune properly , you have to primary sources.
Thank you for such a detailed analysis, long since I wanted to crack it’s code always feeling intuitively about this song , but never really approached.
As a Brazilian I can say that actually the song "Girl from Ipanema" does not have this bad reputation of "ogling girls on the beach" as you think.
Most Brazilians think the lyrics are romantic and very poetic (the Portuguese version at least, I don't know if I can say the same about the English version, but I'm pretty sure that it's quite the same situation).
If you see Brazilians complaining about the lyrics, I am sure they are the minority.
Adam doesn't really talk about this in the video (which, fair enough, it's a music theory channel not a lyrical analysis one), but I think the really lame English translation is probably responsible for half of the Girl from Ipanema's reputation in the Anglosphere. Not only is the beauty and poeticism of the original writing gone, the meaning is **significantly** different from the original.
I'll confess that, until I lived in Brazil, and learned Portuguese, and gained a new appreciation for the song, I always thought of "a Garota de Ipanema" in exactly the way that Adam describes; a kind of kitchy, cheesy 60s song with dodgy and kinda sad lyrics about a dude oggling a girl. Even after falling in love with Brazilian music, I still didn't like this song for a while, and still thought of it that way. Now that I understand it better, I no longer think of it that way. Even once I encountered the original lyrics (after learning Portuguese), it took a while for me to shake that association I think (partly because of how many really cheesy and corny interpretations there are of it in English or intrumentally I think too). I agree with you though, with the original lyrics, and played lovingly, it's quite beautiful.
I can totally see why, as a Brazilian, your association is different, because the original lyrics are quite beautiful! (That's subjective of course, and I'm a non-native speaker, but I do think it's quite beautiful). And, you're right, in Portuguese, they don't come across that way at all (i.e. not in an "oggling girls at the beach" way).
Unfortunately though, the English translation is just... it's really bad... Compared to the original especially, It's really really bad.
"Oh, what a beautiful thing, so full of grace" becomes "Tall and tan and young and lovely". And it carries on the same. Actually I think it gets worse... In the original, there are such poetic lines in it, things like "Ah, se ela soubesse que quando ela passa o mundo inteirinho se enche de graça e fica mais lindo" (Oh, if she only knew that when she passes the whole world fills up with her gracefulness) and "O seu balançado é mais que um poema" ("Her gait/rhythm/swing is more than a poem", or to put it more naturally for English speakers, he's saying something like "the rhythm of her every movement has more poetry to it than poetry itself", it's absolutely adoring). All the things like like that, they are all completely missing -- the translation is just butchered and turned into kitsch basically.
Morães's original lyrics are (unsurprisingly, Morães being a talented poet) very poetic and beautiful. Pretty much all that's left of these poetic descriptions of her being filled with grace, with a walk that's more rhythmic than a poem, with a presence that brightens the entire world wherever she goes, etc. is... "Tall and tan and young and lovely". Wow, how nice, what a compliment, lmao.
-----
edit: To explain it, if I were to re-translate the English lyrics into Portuguese, it's something like:
Alta, e bronzeada, e jovem, e bonita
A garota de Ipanema anda
E quando ela passa
Cada um que ela passa fala "ahhh"
Quando ela caminha, é como um samba que balança tão frescamente*
e tão suavemente
Que quando ela passa
Cada um que ela passa diga "ahhh"
Ai, mas eu observo ela tão tristemente
Como é que eu posso dizer a ela que eu a amo?
Eu daria meu coração pra ela com certeza!
Mas a cada dia, quando ela anda para o mar
Ela só olha pra frente, não para mim!
Alta e bronzeada e jovem e bonita
A garota de Ipanema anda
E quando ela passa eu dou um sorriso pra ela
Mas ela não vê
Ela simplesmente não vê
ela nunca me vê...
my Portuguese isn't perfect and I'm sure there are some mistakes, but I think it should be plain that it's pretty different from the original…
It's just a bit, idk, incelly? Objectifying? It comes across like a bunch of tourists in a bar oggling a "tall, tan, young, lovely" girl. And it just has slightly creepy and kinda racial undertones too, like oh she's so YOUNG, and she's so BROWN, oh she's like a SAMBA". It's a bit "wow what a sweet sexy little latina" in its vibe you know? Yuck.
It's also framed much more to be about him than about her. In the English lyrics, the girl gets a few lines about how sexy and young she is, and then a full half of the song is all about how much our poor sad protagonist wants her, and how sad it makes him, and how she doesn't see him, and how sad that is, boo hoo. And then the song ends, on that.
The original (as I understand it) is this elegant and lovingly written meditation about how a woman who walks by and, without even knowing it, makes the whole world a more beautiful place, just by her existence and the way she holds herself. It has comparative imagery of the sun, and of the rhythm of the waves, but it barely mentions her physical features, but instead the impact her gracefulness and beauty has on everyone she passes, and how the singer knows, on some level, that her beauty is not for him, it's for everyone. And then there is a brief reflection in the middle, which basically juxtaposes the sadness of life and the loneliness of existence, against the beauty that the world also contains; while melancholic, it also has (I think) a certain undertone that these brief moments of beauty can sometimes make it all worth it. Yes, it has a moment of sadness in which the author feels alone, and feels that there is so much sadness in the world, but it doesn't dwell on that too long, and it ends with a verse that (to me anyway) seems to point to how the presence of love and beauty in the world can take us away from life's melancholy and tragedy. It's a sort of slice of introspection, from someone dealing with both the tragedy and loneliness of existence, but also how the presence of beauty and love in the world can have the power to brighten everything it touches, and how this woman somehow embodies both things at the same time; his loneliness, but his awe at the beauty that life and love have to offer.
In the translation, all that is goes to like... a clumsily written song about a guy seeing a sexy brown tall girl who everyone in the bar wants to fuck, and then making it all about him, thinking "maan, I wish she would date me, she's so fucking hot, this is so unfair, why won't you see me, why won't you look at me, waaaaaa :(:(:(" hahaha. It's just... it's not at all the same lol
😅
@@Muzikman127 I knew that the English lyrics weren't really liked, but your explanation of the original lyrics explains why.
I can't remember who translated it, but it shows the lyricism and romanticism of the Portuguese language as opposed to the pragmatism of the English language version.
As a fingerstyle guitarist who loves playing this song in F: whoa. Playing it in D-flat nudges you into much subtler and quieter places which seem more suited to the bossa nova principles you discuss here. I think I’m a convert.
F strikes me as too pop, just by the frequency alone. bossa nova has to be subtler than that. it should play like a trick, a shadow, throwing the syncopated rhythm at its listener, while pretending to be repetitive, and on the other hand delivering a dense but minimal harmonization through whispers. in my mind, good bossa nova is like a michelin-star dish -- nothing too extravagant on the outside, pretty, tidy, decent, okay, then the show starts when you take a bite, and for the remainder of the course you can't exactly pinpoint what makes you so mad about it.
Milan Stevic : What an amazing description!
@@milanstevic8424 Db puts finger style solo guitar melody way too high or too low without re-tuning. And to re-tune guitar after each song on the live gig is a pain.
I have no idea what any of you are talking about. All notes are separated by the 12th root of 2. To say that a certain key "tastes" different from another key is a fantasy. (2 is double and the 12th root splits the octave exponentially. There is no magic in "black" keys)
@@rongarza9488 did you make the mistake of assuming equal temperament to be the only definition for notes?
As a Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro and someone with some music and history background i just want to thank you for putting a lot of research and bringing precise information to the video and your audience.
Exatamente
can Brazilians comment on the Internet without exlaiming that they are indeed, from Brazil?
(just funning around btw)
Does ANY song require over a half hour of scrutiny?
@@daltonbedore8396 hahahaha now I'm seeing all the comments below.
Well i think it's the same with Italian or French when its about food, or even Brazilian when foreigners talk about soccer or Ayrton Senna, people can get quite nationalist, anyway it's funny, I'm sure every Brazilian that wrote "as a Brazilian" thought that they would be the only one doing so