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.
Photograph
Antônio Carlos Jobim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Underneath the broken picture glass
Tender face of black and white
Beautiful, a haunting sight
Looked into an angel's smile
Captivated all the while
From the hair and clothes she wore
I'd place her in between the wars
Was she willing when she sat
And posed the pretty photograph?
Save her flowering and fair
The days to come, the days to share
A big smile for the camera
How did she know?
The moment could be lost forever
Forever more
I found this photograph
Stashed between the old joist walls
In a place where time is lost
Lost behind, where all things fall
Broken books and calendars
Letters script in careful hand
Music too, a standard tune by
Some forgotten big brass band
From the threshhold what's to see
Of our brave new century?
The television's just a dream
The radio, the silver screen
A big smile for the camera
How did she know?
The moment could be lost forever
Forever more
Was her childhood filled with rhymes
Stolen hooks, impassioned crimes?
Was she innocent or blind
To the cruelty of her time?
Was she fearful in her day
Was she hopeful, did she pray?
Were there skeletons inside
Family secrets, sworn to hide?
Did she feel the heat that stirs
The fall from grace of wayward girls?
Was she tempted to pretend
The love and laughter, 'til the end?
The song "Photograph" by Antonio Carlos Jobim tells a story about a found photograph. The singer describes a black and white photograph they found under broken picture glass. The woman in the picture has a tender, beautiful face that captivates the singer. From the clothes she's wearing, the singer places her in between the wars, and wonders about her life, whether she was willing when she posed for the picture, and if she knew how precious that moment could be. The song reflects on the passing of time, and how things can be lost or forgotten, but the woman in the photograph remains hauntingly beautiful.
The lyrics also delve into the larger themes of time, history, and the human experience. The song contains a sense of melancholy, and the idea of exploring the past in search of answers or connection. The singer wonders about the woman's childhood, whether she was innocent or blind to the cruelty of her time, and if she had skeletons or family secrets to hide. The song raises larger questions about the human experience, and how we are all connected through time and memory.
Line by Line Meaning
I found this photograph
The singer discovered an old photo.
Underneath the broken picture glass
The photo was found beneath broken glass.
Tender face of black and white
The photo depicts a young woman with a soft expression.
Beautiful, a haunting sight
The artist finds the photo hauntingly beautiful.
Looked into an angel's smile
The woman smiles like an angel in the photo.
Captivated all the while
The singer is mesmerized by the woman in the photo.
From the hair and clothes she wore
The singer attempts to date the photo based on the woman's style.
I'd place her in between the wars
The artist believes the woman in the photo lived between the World Wars.
Was she willing when she sat
The artist wonders if the woman posed willingly for the photo.
And posed the pretty photograph?
The woman in the photo is posing in a pretty way.
Save her flowering and fair
The singer is struck by how young and beautiful the woman was in the photo.
The days to come, the days to share
The artist reflects on the woman's future after the photo was taken.
A big smile for the camera
The woman is smiling for the camera in the photo.
How did she know?
The singer wonders if the woman knew the photo would last this long.
The moment could be lost forever
The singer reflects on how fleeting moments captured in photos can be.
Forever more
The idea of the fleeting nature of captured moments is emphasized with this repetition.
Stashed between the old joist walls
The photo was hidden behind old walls.
In a place where time is lost
The photo was found in a place where time seems to stand still.
Lost behind, where all things fall
The photo was hidden away where things are forgotten.
Broken books and calendars
The hiding spot was full of other old, broken items.
Letters script in careful hand
Other items in the hidden spot included carefully-written letters.
Music too, a standard tune by
There is also old sheet music hidden with the photo.
Some forgotten big brass band
The sheet music is a song by a big brass band that no one remembers anymore.
From the threshhold what's to see
The artist reflects on the current state of the world from their current standpoint.
Of our brave new century?
The singer is questioning whether the future they are living in is justified in calling itself 'brave and new.'
The television's just a dream
The singer reflects on how different the world of the photo must have been from their current world.
The radio, the silver screen
The singer lists other forms of entertainment that the woman in the photo would not have known.
Was her childhood filled with rhymes
The artist wonders about the woman's childhood.
Stolen hooks, impassioned crimes?
The artist is asking rhetorical questions about the kinds of experiences the woman might have had in her youth.
Was she innocent or blind
The singer wonders if the woman was naive or willfully ignorant to the hardships of the world around her.
To the cruelty of her time?
The singer wonders if the woman was shielded from the harsh realities of her surroundings.
Was she fearful in her day
The artist wonders if the woman lived in fear of her surroundings.
Was she hopeful, did she pray?
The artist wonders if the woman found solace through religion or hope for a better future.
Were there skeletons inside
The artist is asking whether the woman had hidden secrets or painful experiences.
Family secrets, sworn to hide?
The singer wonders if the woman's family had secrets that were kept from the outside world.
Did she feel the heat that stirs
The artist wonders if the woman felt the same societal pressures as many other young women.
The fall from grace of wayward girls?
The singer reflects on the societal pressures that put young women at risk of losing their reputations.
Was she tempted to pretend
The singer wonders if the woman ever pretended to be someone she was not in order to fit in.
The love and laughter, 'til the end?
The singer is asking if the woman was able to find love and happiness in spite of the hardships of her time.
Contributed by Alice D. 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.