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.
Praias desertas
Antônio Carlos Jobim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Esperando por nós dois
A este encontro eu não devo faltar
O mar que brinca na areia
Está sempre a chamar
Agora eu sei que não posso faltar
O mato onde não vai ninguém
Tudo me diz
Não podes mais fingir
Porque tudo na vida há de ser sempre assim
Se eu gosto de você
E você gosta de mim
As praias desertas continuam
Esperando por nós dois
These lyrics are from the song "Praias desertas" by Antônio Carlos Jobim. The song talks about deserted beaches waiting for two people to visit them. The singer expresses his commitment to not miss this encounter. The playful sea that caresses the sand forever calls out to them. The singer realizes that he cannot afford to be absent from this meeting. The wind blowing outside and the untrodden grass convey a message that he can no longer pretend or hide his feelings. The final lines reiterate that the deserted beaches still wait for them, symbolizing the ongoing anticipation of this rendezvous.
Overall, these lyrics evoke a sense of longing and desire for a romantic encounter that seems to be delayed or yet to happen. The imagery of deserted beaches represents the isolation and anticipation of this moment. The sea's playful nature suggests the allure and pull of love, while the wind and untouched grass emphasize the importance of acknowledging one's true feelings and not pretending any longer.
Line by Line Meaning
As praias desertas continuam
The empty beaches persist
Esperando por nós dois
Waiting for us both
A este encontro eu não devo faltar
I must not miss this meeting
O mar que brinca na areia
The sea that frolics in the sand
Está sempre a chamar
Is always calling
Agora eu sei que não posso faltar
Now I know I can't be absent
O vento que venta lá fora
The wind that blows outside
O mato onde não vai ninguém
The wilderness where no one goes
Tudo me diz
Everything tells me
Não podes mais fingir
You can no longer pretend
Porque tudo na vida há de ser sempre assim
Because everything in life must always be like this
Se eu gosto de você
If I like you
E você gosta de mim
And you like me
As praias desertas continuam
The empty beaches persist
Esperando por nós dois
Waiting for us both
Lyrics © Editora e Importadora Musical Fermata do Brasil Ltda., CORCOVADO MUSIC CORPORATION
Written by: Antonio Carlos Jobim
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Minadeletras
Ouvindo durante a pandemia e me debulhando de chorar....
@melissalai8173
só beautiful, thank you for sharing this performance 💖
@stevemartin4249
I have to be careful when I listen to this piece, make sure that I am alone ... because I WILL cry.
@gregorypatriciaandjiyajais8819
The Abandoned Beaches are there waiting for us. One of Jobim s most beautiful songs. He wrote the wonderful lyrics as well
@limasenar7522
I know the song is written in Portuguese, but this song always takes me back to a certain moment of me strolling the streets of Paris on a winter evening. This kind of song makes time freeze.
@DeGrate-bb5bo
Lima Senar--what a lovely image your comment evokes--even for someone never in Paris in winter--moi! You've given more evidence that music is a universal language. Why not write a poem?
@limasenar7522
DeGrate1896 thank you. Unfortunately my imagination often times runs its course much faster before inspiration for words could ever come out. Good food for thought, nonetheless. :)
@JoaoOliveiraPT
Lindo demais. Uma das minhas músicas favoritas
@bernardovisconti6605
Simplesmente singular essa canÇão com a voz aveludada da Paula Morelebaum.deve ter sido composta pelo Maestro soberano antônio Carlos Jobim nos idos do final dos anos 50.
@Arthursabbatinibuoro
Lançada em 1958.