Desafinado
AntÙnio Carlos Jobim Lyrics

"Desafinado" is a song by Brazilian musician Antônio Carlos Jobim, written with lyrics by Newton Mendonça. The song is a samba with a swing feel and a jazzy melody. The lyrics express the pain caused by criticism, the want to fit in and the pride in being yourself. It’s a song about the beauty of imperfection and the universality of music.

The song starts with the singer expressing his fear of being criticized for his singing. He expresses how hurtful it is to be told that he is “off-key” when singing. He tries to justify his singing by explaining that not everyone is gifted with the ability to hear and sing in a perfect pitch. He says that he can only sing with what God gave him. At the end of the first verse, he adds that he loves music, despite not being perfect in singing, and that music is always the most important thing.

The singer then addresses someone who is trying to describe his way of singing as antimusical. He suggests that it is just a different style of singing, and that his way of singing is natural and is just another form of bossa nova. He continues by highlighting the fact that even out-of-tune singers have a heart and feel the same emotions as those who can sing perfectly. In the third verse, the singer remembers when he photographed the person he is talking to, with his Rolleyflex camera, and discovered how ungrateful they were. He assures them that they can never say bad things about his love, since it is the best they will ever find.