He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within Brazil and internationally.
In 1965 his album Getz/Gilberto was the first jazz album to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It also won for Best Jazz Instrumental Album – Individual or Group and for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The album's single "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema"), one of the most recorded songs of all time, won the Record of the Year. Jobim has left many songs that are now included in jazz and pop standard repertoires. The song "Garota de Ipanema" has been recorded over 240 times by other artists. His 1967 album with Frank Sinatra, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim, was nominated for Album of the Year in 1968.
Antônio Carlos Jobim was born in the middle-class district of Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro. His father, Jorge de Oliveira Jobim (São Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul, April 23, 1889 – July 19, 1935), was a writer, diplomat, professor and journalist. He came from a prominent family, being the great nephew of José Martins da Cruz Jobim, senator, privy councillor and physician of Emperor Dom Pedro II. While studying medicine in Europe, José Martins added Jobim to his last name, paying homage to the village where his family came from in Portugal, the parish of Santa Cruz de Jovim, Porto. His mother, Nilza Brasileiro de Almeida (c. 1910 – November 17, 1989), was of Indigenous Brazilian descent from Northeastern Brazil.
When Antônio was still an infant, his parents separated and his mother moved with her children (Antônio Carlos and his sister Helena Isaura, born February 23, 1931) to Ipanema, the beachside neighborhood the composer would later celebrate in his songs. In 1935, when the elder Jobim died, Nilza married Celso da Frota Pessoa (died February 2, 1979), who would encourage his stepson's career. He was the one who gave Jobim his first piano. As a young man of limited means, Jobim earned his living by playing in nightclubs and bars and later as an arranger for a recording label, before starting to achieve success as a composer.
Jobim's musical roots were planted firmly in the work of Pixinguinha, the legendary musician and composer who began modern Brazilian music in the 1930s. Among his teachers were Lúcia Branco and, from 1941 on, Hans-Joachim Koellreutter, a German composer who lived in Brazil and introduced atonal and twelve-tone composition in the country. Jobim was also influenced by the French composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and by the Brazilian composers Heitor Villa-Lobos and Ary Barroso. The bossa nova guitar style in Jobim's music has become firmly entrenched in jazz culture. Among many themes, his lyrics talked about love, self-discovery, betrayal, joy and especially about the birds and natural wonders of Brazil, like the "Mata Atlântica" forest, characters of Brazilian folklore and his home city of Rio de Janeiro.
In early 1994, after finishing his album Antonio Brasileiro, Jobim complained to his doctor, Roberto Hugo Costa Lima, of urinary problems. He underwent an operation at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on December 2, 1994. On December 8, while recovering from surgery, he had a cardiac arrest caused by a pulmonary embolism, and two hours later another cardiac arrest, from which he died. He was survived by his children and grandchildren. His last album, Antonio Brasileiro, was released posthumously three days after his death.
His body lay in state until given a proper burial on December 20, 1994. He is buried in the Cemitério São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro.
Correnteza
Antônio Carlos Jobim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
O meu bem já está dormindo
Zombando do meu amor
Zombando do meu amor
Na barranceira do rio o ingá se debruçou
E a fruta que era madura
A correnteza levou
A correnteza levou, ah
E a choveu uma semana e eu não vi o meu amor
O barro ficou marcado aonde a boiada passou
Depois da chuva passada, céu azul se apresentou
Lá na beira da estrada vem vindo o meu amor
Vem vindo o meu amor
Vem vindo o meu amor
Ou danda, ou danda, ou danda, ou danda
E choveu uma semana e eu não vi o meu amor
O barro ficou marcado aonde a boiada passou
A correnteza do rio vai levando aquela flor
E eu adormeci sorrindo
Sonhando com nosso amor
Sonhando com nosso amor
Sonhando.
Ou danda.
The lyrics to Antônio Carlos Jobim's song Correnteza depict a jilted lover watching a flower being carried away by the flowing river as they reflect on their lost love. The opening line, "A correnteza do rio vai levando aquela flor" (The current of the river is carrying away that flower), sets the scene as the singer's beloved has fallen asleep, seemingly indifferent to the singer's love. The second verse describes the ripe fruit of an Inga tree being swept away by the river's current, emphasizing the inevitable nature of loss and change. The chorus repeats the imagery of a week of rain leading to the river's banks being marked by passing cattle, leading to the joyful moment when the singer's lover returns after the storm.
The song's wistful tone is highlighted by Jobim's signature bossa nova style, combining samba and jazz elements to create a unique sound that became synonymous with Brazilian music in the 1960s. The lyrics further enhance the melancholic mood of the song, using natural imagery to convey the sense of passing time and inevitability. The repetition of the phrase "Zombando do meu amor" (Mocking my love) emphasizes the singer's sense of being ignored and uncared for, while the dream-like quality of the final verse suggests a bittersweet longing for what could have been.
Line by Line Meaning
A correnteza do rio vai levando aquela flor
The river's current is taking away that flower
O meu bem já está dormindo
My love is already sleeping
Zombando do meu amor
Mocking my love
Na barranceira do rio o ingá se debruçou
On the river bank, the inga tree leaned over
E a fruta que era madura
And the ripe fruit
A correnteza levou
Was taken away by the current
A correnteza levou, ah
Was taken away by the current, ah
E choveu uma semana e eu não vi o meu amor
And it rained for a week and I didn't see my love
O barro ficou marcado aonde a boiada passou
The mud was marked where the cattle traveled
Depois da chuva passada, céu azul se apresentou
After the rain passed, a blue sky appeared
Lá na beira da estrada vem vindo o meu amor
Over on the edge of the road, my love is coming
Vem vindo o meu amor
My love is coming
Ou danda, ou danda, ou danda, ou danda
Or 'danda', 'danda', 'danda', 'danda'
A correnteza do rio vai levando aquela flor
The river's current is taking away that flower
E eu adormeci sorrindo
And I fell asleep smiling
Sonhando com nosso amor
Dreaming about our love
Sonhando.
Dreaming.
Ou danda.
Or 'danda'.
Writer(s): Bonfa Luiz, Jobim Antonio Carlos
Contributed by Claire W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Richard Norris
on Samba Do Soho
It's "Diadem" which is a fancy headband. Also, I believe this song was written by Jobim's son, Paolo.