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.
Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Você
Antônio Carlos Jobim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Teu caminho é de paz e amor
A tua vida
É uma linda canção de amor
Abre os teu braços e canta
A última esperança
A esperança divina
De amar em paz
Se todos fossem
Iguais a você
Que maravilha, viver
Uma canção pelo ar
Uma mulher a cantar
Uma cidade a cantar, a pedir, a sorrir a cantar
A beleza de amar
Como o sol, como a flor, como a luz
Amar sem mentir nem sofrer
Existiria a verdade
Verdade que ninguém vê
Se todos fossem no mundo iguais a você
The lyrics to Antonio Carlos Jobim's song Se todos fossem iguais a você (If everyone was like you) convey a message of peace, love, and hope. The singer encourages the listener to embrace their life and walk a path of peace and love. They describe the listener's life as a beautiful love song which they should embrace fully. The singer urges the listener to open their arms and sing about the ultimate hope and divine hope for peace and love.
The chorus of the song expresses the singer's wish that everyone in the world could be like the listener. They imagine how wonderful life would be if everyone were a source of beauty and love, celebrating the joy of living as a woman sings in the air and the city joins in with smiles and song. In such a world, the beauty of love would thrive like the sun, the flowers, and the light, and people would love without pretending and suffering.
The song's message is one of love, hope, and a desire for a world that is full of people who embody these values. The poetic language and beautiful melody of the song add to its emotional impact, inspiring listeners to embrace these ideals in their own lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Vai tua vida
Go on with your life
Teu caminho é de paz e amor
Your path is that of peace and love
A tua vida
Your life
É uma linda canção de amor
Is a beautiful love song
Abre os teu braços e canta
Open your arms and sing
A última esperança
The last hope
A esperança divina
The divine hope
De amar em paz
To love in peace
Se todos fossem
If everyone was
Iguais a você
Just like you
Que maravilha, viver
What a wonder, to live
Uma canção pelo ar
A song in the air
Uma mulher a cantar
A woman singing
Uma cidade a cantar, a pedir, a sorrir a cantar
A city singing, asking, smiling, singing
A beleza de amar
The beauty of love
Como o sol, como a flor, como a luz
Like the sun, like the flower, like the light
Amar sem mentir nem sofrer
To love without lying or suffering
Existiria a verdade
Truth would exist
Verdade que ninguém vê
Truth that nobody sees
Se todos fossem no mundo iguais a você
If everyone in this world was just like you
Writer(s): Vinicius de Moraes, Antonio Carlos Jobim
Contributed by Camden J. 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.