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.
Méditation
Antônio Carlos Jobim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you're gone and I'm all by myself
And I need your caress
I just think of you
And the thought of you holding me near
Makes my loneliness soon disappear
Though you're far away
And you are back to stay
I just close my eyes
And the sadness that missing you brings
Soon is gone and this heart of mine sings
Yes I love you so
And that for me is all I need to know
I will wait for you
Til the sun falls from out of the sky
For what else can I do
I will wait for you meditating
How sweet life will be
When you come back to me
The lyrics of Antônio Carlos Jobim's "Meditation" express the feelings of a person clinging to the thought of their beloved in moments of solitude. The opening line sets the stage for the rest of the song as the singer talks about the painful void and silence that's created when their lover leaves their side. But then the singer conjures up the memory of their lover's touch and how it comforts them. This sense of lovelorn longing is heightened in the third stanza when the singer says they'll "wait for you/Til the sun falls from out of the sky/For what else can I do." At this point, the singer is standing at the edge of despair, uncertain of when they'll see their lover again.
But the mood shifts in the final stanza as the song becomes a meditation on the future reunion with the lover. Here, the singer is able to imagine that happy day when they will once again be in each other's arms. The phrase "meditating how sweet life will be/When you come back to me" captures Jobim's theme of the redemptive power of love - even in the face of adversity, the thought of love can sustain us.
The song is gentle and slow, reflecting the tender emotion of the lyrics. The orchestration is also understated, with only a piano and strings accompanying the vocalist. The simplicity of the music conveys the raw emotion expressed in the words.
Line by Line Meaning
In my loneliness
During the time I'm alone
When you're gone and I'm all by myself
When you're absent and I'm solitary
And I need your caress
And I long for your loving touch
I just think of you
I envisage you in my mind
And the thought of you holding me near
And the notion of you embracing me closely
Makes my loneliness soon disappear
Eases my loneliness and comforts me
Though you're far away
Although you're distant
I have only to close my eyes
I simply shut my eyes
And you are back to stay
And you reappear and linger
I just close my eyes
I simply shut my eyes
And the sadness that missing you brings
And the sorrow that your absence causes
Soon is gone and this heart of mine sings
Quickly vanishes, and my heart exults
Yes I love you so
Yes, I adore you immensely
And that for me is all I need to know
And that is all important for me to be aware of
I will wait for you
I will patiently anticipate your return
Til the sun falls from out of the sky
Until the sun sets forever
For what else can I do
Since there's nothing else I can do
I will wait for you meditating
I'll meditate while waiting for you
How sweet life will be
How joyful life will become
When you come back to me
Once you return back to me
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM, NEWTON MENDONCA, NORMAN GIMBEL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@straightawayproject
Quem acreditou
No amor, no sorriso, na flor
Entao sonhou, sonhou...
E perdeu a paz
O amor, o sorriso e a flor
Se transformam depressa demais
Quem, no coraçao
Abrigou a tristeza de ver tudo isto se perder
E, na solidao
Procurou um caminho e seguiu,
Já descrente de um dia feliz
Quem chorou, chorou
E tanto que seu pranto já secou
Quem depois voltou
Ao amor, ao sorriso e à flor
Então tudo encontrou
E a própria dor
Revelou o caminho do amor
E a tristeza acabou
Composição: Newton Mendonça / Tom Jobim
@bondish53
first heard it in bierut on our terrace overlooking the med in 1966 on bbc radio. I was 12 years old and blown away.
@RichieALevy
One of my top 5 Bossa Nova songs. I totally agree with you Ric. I've been singing,and playing this for decades . Saha@
@cliftonboyz1959
Ric Lewis what a beautiful setting...the French Riviera of the ME.....now look at it.
@marcogil6665
Thanks for sharing your memory, I traveled in my mind to that setting,never been to beirut.
@colinpadley1897
Lovely story, music is international.
@DynamicVibeCraft
I’ve never thought this song could be that “old”. This song is so amazing and fantastic. You are very lucky that you could overlook the med at the age of 12. My dad was born in 1954 too, when he was 12, he was suffering from starvation.
@JorgeVergaraV.
Que belleza de canción, que gran belleza caray!! ...recuerdo una noche de 1978 al terminar de trabajar, en el centro de Lima, me compré el mejor disco de Antonio Carlos Jobim, tiene obras tan hermosas como Chica de Ipanema, A felicidade, Insensatez y otras así. Me quitó mi ansiedad y problemas que estaba enfrentando ... así es la música! - Gracias señor bad901!
@jhana.2023
My country .. Brazil is full of talent in music. The maestro Tom Jobim is just one of them. Too beautiful ... too much ...
@imaginativelads
I didn't know all these fans existed. Fell in love with Bossa Nova 15 yrs ago and never fallen out of love like so many genres before it. The Bossa Nova finds you, when you're ready.
@atimtambaby
***** I love it, "The Bossa Nova finds you when you are ready." Touche!