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.
O Grande Amor
Antônio Carlos Jobim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Há sempre um homem
Para uma mulher
E há de sempre haver para esquecer
Um falso amor
E uma vontade de morrer
Seja como for
Há de vencer o grande amor
Como um perdão
Pra quem chorou
The lyrics of "O Grande Amor" by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto and Stan Getz reflect on the power of love and the human experience. The lines, "Haja o que houver/ Há sempre um homem, para uma mulher/ E há de sempre haver para esquecer/ Um falso amor e uma vontade de morrer," speak to the idea that no matter what happens, there will always be someone for someone else, and there will always be heartbreak and the desire to forget a false love. The next lines, "Seja como for há de vencer o grande amor/ Que há de ser no coração/ Como um perdão/ Pra quem chorou," convey the message that, despite the difficulties and pain that come with love, the true and great love will always prevail and provide comfort to those who have previously suffered.
Overall, "O Grande Amor" is a song about love's saving grace, its ability to heal wounds, and its persistence even in challenging times. The lyrics speak to the universality of this experience, and the song's simple yet beautiful melody captures the range of emotions that come with falling in and out of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Haja o que houver
No matter what happens, come what may
Há sempre um homem, para uma mulher
There is always a man for a woman
E há de sempre haver para esquecer
And there will always be someone to forget
Um falso amor e uma vontade de morrer
A false love and a will to die
Seja como for há de vencer o grande amor
In any case, the great love will prevail
Que há de ser no coração
Which will be in the heart
Como um perdão
Like a forgiveness
Pra quem chorou
For those who cried
Lyrics © VM ENTERPRISES INC, CORCOVADO MUSIC CORPORATION
Written by: Marcus Vinicius Da Cruz De M. Moraes, Antonio Carlos Brasileiro De A Jobim
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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.