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.
Double Rainbow
Antônio Carlos Jobim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The rain is falling on the roses
The fragrance drifts across the garden
Like the scent of some forgotten melody
This melody belongs to you
Belongs to me, belongs to no one
See the way the crimson petals
Scatter when the wind blows
That suddenly the heart knows
See how a robin's there among the puddless
And, hopping through the misty rain drops
He's come to tell us it is spring
Look at the double rainbow
The rain is silver in the sun light
A fleeting fox is in the garden
Rain sweet lovin'mother rain
That soaks the earth
That swells the streams
That cleans the sky
And brings the blue
See how the jasmin tree is all in flower!
The little brook of clever waters
Flows into a vast river
Ah! you belong to no one
Ah! you belong to no one
"Double Rainbow" is a song by Antônio Carlos Jobim that celebrates the beauty of nature and explores the universal themes of love, belonging, and transience. The lyrics evoke a sense of peacefulness and tranquility, as if the world were in perfect harmony with itself. The rain falling on the roses and the fragrance drifting across the garden create a soothing atmosphere that invites contemplation and introspection. The forgotten melody that the fragrance brings to mind is a metaphor for the fleeting moments of joy and love that we experience in life, but which are all too often forgotten or lost in the rush of daily routines.
The song also touches on the idea of belonging and the transient nature of human relationships. The melody belongs to no one, just like the beauty of nature cannot be claimed by any single person. The double rainbow symbolizes this idea, as it is a fleeting moment of beauty that can only be appreciated in the present. The rain, which is often seen as melancholic or sad, is presented here as a cleansing force that purifies the earth and brings life to the streams and sky.
Overall, "Double Rainbow" is a beautiful song that encourages us to appreciate the simple things in life and to find a sense of peace and belonging in the natural world.
Line by Line Meaning
Listen
Pay attention and become aware of the surroundings
The rain is falling on the roses
The rain is dropping on the flowers
The fragrance drifts across the garden
The sweet scent of the flowers moves across the garden
Like the scent of some forgotten melody
The fragrance is similar to a lost tune
This melody belongs to you
The melody in reality is pertaining to you
Belongs to me, belongs to no one
The claim to this melody is undecided, ambiguous
See the way the crimson petals
Observe the way the deep-red petals
Scatter when the wind blows
Spread everywhere by the wind
Ah! The secret sigh of love
The unspoken sigh by someone in love
That suddenly the heart knows
Recognized in the heart without notice
See how a robin's there among the puddles
Note how a robin is present amidst the pools of water
And, hopping through the misty raindrops
It hops around in the misty rain
He's come to tell us it is spring
His presence indicates that it is spring season
Look at the double rainbow
Observe the two rainbows
The rain is silver in the sunlight
The sunshine renders the rain silvery
A fleeting fox is in the garden
Momentarily, there is a fox in the garden
Rain sweet lovin' mother rain
Rain, the caring motherly shower
That soaks the earth
The rain saturates the ground
That swells the streams
Rainwater makes the streams enlarge
That cleans the sky
The rain cleanses the atmosphere
And brings the blue
The sky becomes bright blue because of the rain
See how the jasmine tree is all in flower!
Observe how the jasmine tree is fully bloomed
The little brook of clever waters
A smartly flowing small stream
Flows into a vast river
Joins together with a large river
Ah! you belong to no one
There is no single ownership for you
Ah! you belong to no one
You don't have a particular owner
Writer(s): JOBIM ANTONIO CARLOS, LEES GENE, JOBIM ANTONIO CARLOS, LEES GENE
Contributed by Bella M. 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.