Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (January 25, 1927 – December 8, … Read Full Bio ↴Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (January 25, 1927 – December 8, 1994), also known as Tom Jobim, was a Brazilian composer, pianist, songwriter, arranger and singer. Widely considered as one of the great exponents of Brazilian music, Jobim internationalized bossa nova and, with the help of important American artists, merged it with jazz in the 1960s to create a new sound with remarkable popular success. As such he is sometimes known as the "father of bossa nova".

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.

Falando de amor
Antônio Carlos Jobim Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Se eu pudesse por um dia
Esse amor essa alegria
Eu te juro, te daria
Se pudesse esse amor todo dia

Chega perto, vem sem medo
Chega mais, meu coração
Vem ouvir esse segredo

Escondido num choro-canção

Se soubesses como eu gosto
Do teu cheiro, teu jeito de flor
Não negavas um beijinho
A quem anda perdido de amor

Chora flauta, chora pinho
Choro eu, o teu cantor
Chora manso, bem baixinho
Esse choro falando de amor

Quando passas tão bonita
Nessa rua banhada de sol
Minha alma segue aflita
Eu esqueço até do futebol

Vem depressa, vem sem medo
Foi pra ti meu coração
Que eu guardei esse segredo

Escondido num choro-canção
Lá no fundo do meu coração

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Antônio Carlos Jobim's song Falando de amor are a passionate declaration of love and a plea for reciprocation. The song's narrator expresses his desire to give his love and joy to the person he loves, if only for a day, and how that love is felt every day. He invites the object of his affection to come closer, to pay attention to the secret he wants to reveal, which is hidden in the tears of a song. If she only knew how much he loves her, how much he admires her scent and the way she looks, she wouldn't deny him a kiss, especially since he feels lost and in need of love. The singer is moved to tears by the music, which he says is a choro-canção, a style of Brazilian music that is characterized by its melancholic and plaintive melodies.

The lyrics also describe the singer's longing for the woman he loves, and how he becomes preoccupied with her beauty whenever she passes by. He forgets all other concerns, even his love of football. He implores the woman to come to him without fear, asserting that he has kept a secret in his heart, a secret he wants to reveal to her. He longs to be with her, to share in his joy and happiness, and to express his love to her in the truest sense of the word. The lyrics suggest that love is a powerful force that can conquer all, and that even in its absence, it can inspire great beauty.

Line by Line Meaning

Se eu pudesse por um dia
If I could for just one day

Esse amor essa alegria
Give you this love, this joy

Eu te juro, te daria
I swear, I would give it to you

Se pudesse esse amor todo dia
If I could give you this love every day

Chega perto, vem sem medo
Come closer, don't be afraid

Chega mais, meu coração
Come closer, my heart

Vem ouvir esse segredo
Come and hear this secret

Escondido num choro-canção
Hidden in a weeping song

Se soubesses como eu gosto
If you only knew how much I like

Do teu cheiro, teu jeito de flor
Your scent, your flowery ways

Não negavas um beijinho
You wouldn't deny a little kiss