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.
Passarim
Antônio Carlos Jobim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Porque o tiro feriu mas não matou
Passarinho me conta então me diz
Porque que eu também não fui feliz
Me diz o que eu faço da paixão
Que me devora o coração
Que me devora o coração
Que me maltrata o coração
E o mato que é bom, o fogo queimou
Cadê o fogo, a água apagou
E cadê a água, o boi bebeu
Cadê o amor, o gato comeu
E a cinza se espalhou
E a chuva carregou
Cadê meu amor que o vento levou
(Passarim quis pousar, não deu, voou)
Passarim quis pousar, não deu, voou
Porque o tiro feriu mas não matou
Passarinho me conta então me diz
Por que que eu também não fui feliz
Cadê meu amor minha canção
Que me alegrava o coração
Que me alegrava o coração
Que iluminava o coração
Que iluminava a escuridão
Cadê meu caminho a água levou
Cadê meu rastro, a chuva apagou
E a minha casa, o rio carregou
E o meu amor me abandonou
Voou, voou, voou
Voou, voou, voou
E passou o tempo e o vento levou
Passarim quis pousar, não deu, voou
Porque o tiro feriu mas não matou
Passarinho me conta então, me diz
Por que que eu também não fui feliz
Cadê meu amor minha canção
Que me alegrava o coração
Que me alegrava o coração
Que iluminava o coração
Que iluminava a escuridão
E a luz da manhã, o dia queimou
Cadê o dia, envelheceu
E a tarde caiu e o sol morreu
E de repente escureceu
E a lua então brilhou
Depois sumiu no breu
E ficou tão frio que amanheceu
(Passarim quis pousar, não deu, voou)
Passarim quis pousar não deu
Voou, voou, voou, voou, voou
The song "Passarim" by Antônio Carlos Jobim tells the story of a bird who tried to land but was shot, wounded but not killed, and flew away. The bird's flight triggers introspection in the singer, who questions why he too has not found happiness. He wonders what to do with the passion that devours his heart, as he reflects on the impermanence of love and the transience of life.
The song uses natural imagery to illustrate the fleeting nature of love and life. The fire that once burned in the grass has been put out by water, the water the cows drink has disappeared, and the love that once existed is gone, devoured by the cat or carried away by the wind. Similarly, the traces of the singer's path have been erased by rain, his house carried away by the river, and his love lost in flight like the bird.
The closing stanza of the song is perhaps the most poignant, as it conveys a sense of hopelessness and resignation in the face of a cold, dark, and indifferent world. The sun has died, the moon has disappeared, and a deep chill has set in. The song ends with the refrain "voou, voou, voou" (flew, flew, flew), which echoes the bird's flight and suggests a sense of finality, as if to say that love, like the bird, has flown away and cannot be brought back.
Line by Line Meaning
Passarim quis pousar, não deu, voou
A bird wanted to rest, but left instead
Porque o tiro feriu mas não matou
It left because it was hurt but not fatally
Passarinho me conta então me diz
The singer asks the bird to tell them
Porque que eu também não fui feliz
Why the artist was also unhappy
Me diz o que eu faço da paixão
The artist asks what they should do with their passion
Que me devora o coração
That is consuming their heart
Que me maltrata o coração
And is hurting their heart
E o mato que é bom, o fogo queimou
The good things like the forest were destroyed by fire
Cadê o fogo, a água apagou
And the fire was put out by water
E cadê a água, o boi bebeu
Then the water was consumed by the animals
Cadê o amor, o gato comeu
Just like the love that disappeared without a trace
E a cinza se espalhou
And the ash was scattered all around
E a chuva carregou
And the rain washed it away
Cadê meu amor que o vento levou
The singer wonders where their love went
Cadê meu amor minha canção
The singer asks where their love and happiness went
Que me alegrava o coração
That used to bring joy to their heart
Que iluminava o coração
That used to illuminate their life
Que iluminava a escuridão
That used to light up the darkness
Cadê meu caminho a água levou
The singer's path was washed away by water
Cadê meu rastro, a chuva apagou
Their marks and signs were erased by the rain
E a minha casa, o rio carregou
Even their home was carried away by the river
E o meu amor me abandonou
And their love left them behind
Voou, voou, voou
It flew away
E passou o tempo e o vento levou
Time passed and the wind took everything away
E a luz da manhã, o dia queimou
The morning light was consumed by the sun
Cadê o dia, envelheceu
The day passed and aged quickly
E a tarde caiu e o sol morreu
The evening came and the sun set
E de repente escureceu
And suddenly it got dark
E a lua então brilhou
And then the moon shone
Depois sumiu no breu
But then it disappeared into the darkness
E ficou tão frio que amanheceu
And it became so cold that morning came
Passarim quis pousar não deu
The bird wanted to rest, but couldn't
Voou, voou, voou, voou, voou
So it flew away, far away
Contributed by Christopher K. 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.