The daughter of a Brazilian mother and a German father, Gilberto was raised in Rio de Janeiro and moved to the USA in the early 1960s. In her mid-teens, she became part of (her own words) a "musical clan" when she met João Gilberto, whom she described as the clan's musical "guru". She married him a few months later, in 1959. She frequently sang duets with him, or sang while he accompanied her on guitar, and he acted as her musical tutor. She also sang publicly with her husband in a concert at the Rio de Janeiro Faculty of Architecture, but did not sing professionally at that time.
The couple moved to the United States in 1963, where she performed on the influential Getz/Gilberto album with João Gilberto, Stan Getz and Antonio Carlos Jobim. While rehearsing "The Girl from Ipanema", João asked her to sing a verse in English, and then persuaded Getz to include this in the final recording. Getz agreed, and Astrud's professional career began. After the recording Getz told Astrud it would make her famous, and was proved correct.
In the mid-1960s the couple divorced.
The success of Gilberto's vocal work on the song "The Girl from Ipanema" quickly turned her into a jazz star, and soon she started recording solo. She started as an interpreter of Brazilian bossa nova and American jazz standards, but started recording her own compositions in the 1970s.
Gilberto's recordings exposed the nations of the World to the sensuality of Brazilian music and to her unique vocal interpretations of American music, such as "The Shadow of your Smile", "It Might as well be Spring", "Fly Me to the Moon", "Look to the Rainbow" (from her album of the same title, with Gil Evans), "Love Story", etc...
Following the hit with "Ipanema", her recording career quickly took off. Her first solo effort, "The Astrud Gilberto Album", was an immediate best-seller and was itself nominated as album of the year. Her next albums were all chart-toppers and were released on a yearly schedule. Her talents were much in demand in other areas as well as she appeared in two motion pictures, "The Hanged Man" and "Get Yourself a College Girl" and also recorded the soundtrack for "The Deadly Affair", arranged by Quincy Jones. She made appearances in all of the popular US television shows of the time, and had TV specials built around her in Europe, Japan and Africa. For many years she was the voice of Eastern Airlines, having recorded award-winning commercials.
In the early seventies, Gilberto revealed another facet of her talents, her songwriting, which was introduced on the albums "Astrud Gilberto Now" (1972) and "That Girl From Ipanema" (1977). On the "That Girl from Ipanema" album, Gilberto recorded one of her songs, "Far Away" (with lyrics by Hal Shaper), as a duet with the legendary Chet Baker. As she has revealed in interviews, this was one of the most rewarding events of her career, since Baker had been one of Gilberto's idols dating back to her teenage years. In 1976, one of her compositions, "Live Today" (co-written with Jerome Schur), received an award at the Tokyo Music Festival.
In the early eighties, Gilberto formed a group, a sextet comprised of piano, bass, drums, trombone, guitar and percussion. Her son, Marcelo Gilberto, joined her group as bassist. With this group format, she toured Europe, Japan, Canada, and the United States. With the aid of Marcelo's valuable musical contributions, she polished the group's arrangements and entered a different phase in her career, as her music became more diversified and her songwriting more proliferous. Her shows, from the beginning of her career up to her last public appearance (2001), have been usually sold out and at many venues she has broken the house record in attendance. Seeking for a way to overcome her stage fright, which was sometimes overwhelming, Gilberto attended the Stella Adler School of Acting, for a couple of years, in the early eighties. The experience was helpful. Although still shy, Gilberto learned to control the stage fright to the extent that she can "live with it".
Her album "Astrud Gilberto Plus The James Last Orchestra", released in 1987, solidified her career as songwriter. The album includes a few of her own original compositions of which "Champagne & Caviar", "Amor e Som" and "I'm nothing without you" (Astrud's lyrics to A.C. Jobim's melody) are best known. The release of this album combined with the reissuing of some of her early records as CDs has created a whole new generation of fans for Astrud Gilberto all over the world, in addition to her already large number of followers. The "Astrud Gilberto Plus the James Last Orchestra" album was extremely well received by critics, as well as fellow artists.
In 1990, Gilberto, along with her sons Marcelo Gilberto and Gregory Lasorsa, formed Gregmar Productions, Inc. In the years that followed, Gilberto toured extensively, developing her live show and writing new material.
In 1992, Gilberto received the "Latin Jazz USA Award for Lifetime Achievement" for her outstanding contribution to Latin jazz music.
In 1995, the first project by Gregmar studios was released on an album as tribute to Jobim on the label Ps Flag/BMG ("Heirs To Jobim"). The song, "Forever Green", one of Jobim's last compositions before passing away, features saxophonist Michael Brecker. In that same year, in a sold-out Thursday night appearance, Astrud Gilberto became the first "Jazz" Artist to sing at the trendy "House of Blues" in Los Angeles, which had until then presented Blues and Rock acts, exclusively. She has also broken house records at the very popular "Jazz Cafe" club in London.
In early 1996 the first album from Gregmar was released in the Asian territories, including Japan, on the Pony Canyon label. It is comprised of various live performances recorded in NYC in 1989, for which is called "Astrud Gilberto - Live in New York".
The "Desafinado" duet with George Michael, in the Fall of 1996 included on the "Red Hot & Rio" album, gained international attention, and exposed the Bossa Nova style to a large number of Pop music fans. "Desafinado" has also been included on George Michael's 1999 release "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Best of George Michael".
Also in 1996, Gilberto recorded a duet with the famous European vocalist, French Pop star, Ettienne Daho. The song, "Les Bordes de Seine", included on Daho's "Eden" album, was co-written by Daho and Gilberto and was particularly well received by "Hip-Hop" fans.
In late 1997, a studio album (also by Gregmar Productions), produced by Astrud and Marcelo Gilberto, was released in the Asian territories by the Pony Canyon label. Comprised entirely of Astrud Gilberto's original compositions (with the exception of just one American standard), the album bears the title of "Temperance". Yet to be released outside of Asia, the album features guests Michael Franks and the New York Voices.
Gilberto's sold-out performances at the "House of Blues", and her legendary shows at NYC's SOB's continued to be musical "happenings" to her fans up until 2001, when she decided to take indefinite time off the "road", in order to be able to spend more time with her family, and do more writing and painting (she is also a fine art artist (click here to view some of her artwork).
Gilberto's style has been a strong influence in contemporary music. Many artists have revealed the fact that they have been inspired by her musical style, among them: Basia (who recorded a tribute to Astrud, a song named "Astrud"), Sade, Sinead O'Connor, Michael Franks, Pat Metheney, and Suzanne Vega. Several "avant-garde" groups have also professed having Astrud as their "inspiring muse".
Gilberto's work as songwriter has gradually but surely developed from a "side thing" in the beginning of her career, to an integral part of it, in the later years. Since the mid-eighties, her live shows featured a large number of her own original compositions, to which audiences have been just as receptive as they have always been to old standards such as "The Girl from Ipanema", "One Note Samba", or "Quiet Nights".
Gilberto's 2002 "Jungle" album release, is a showcase of her songwriting, as it features ten original new compositions.
In April 2002, Gilberto was inducted into the "International Latin Music Hall of Fame".
In November 2008, Gilberto was awarded by the Latin Recording Academy the "Lifetime Achievement" Grammy Award.
She's A Carioca
Astrud Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Here she comes, here she comes
Ela é carioca
She's a Carioca
Just see the way she walks
Nobody else can be what she is to me
I look and what do I see
I can see the sea
A forgotten road
The caressing skies
And not only that
I'm in love with her
The most exciting way
It's written on my lips
Where her kisses stay
She smiles and all of a sudden
The world is smiling for me
And you know what else
She's a carioca
Ela é carioca
Here she comes
Here she comes
Ela é carioca
Ela é carioca
Basta o jeitinho dela andar
Nem ninguem tem carinho assim para dar
Eu vejo na luz dos seus olhos
As noites do rio ao luar
Vejo a mesma luz
Vejo o mesmo ceu
Vejo o mesmo mar
And not only that
I'm in love with her
The most exciting way
It's written on my lips
Where her kisses stay
She smiles and all of a sudden
The world is smiling for me
And you know what else
She's a carioca
Ela é carioca
Here she comes, here she comes
Here she comes, here she comes
The lyrics of Astrud Gilberto's "She's A Carioca" describe the singer's love for a woman from Rio de Janeiro (a "carioca" is a person from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). The song paints a vivid picture of the woman's beauty and demeanor, with the singer admiring the way she walks and the light in her eyes. These things allow the singer to see the city of Rio through her, as if her beauty reflects the beauty of her home. The love the singer feels for the carioca is all-consuming, plastered across their lips in the form of kisses. When she smiles, it feels like the whole world is smiling just for the singer. The lyrics capture the intoxicating passion of a consuming love, where everything and everyone else fades into the background.
Line by Line Meaning
Here she comes, here she comes
The subject of the song is arriving and the singer is excited to see her
She's a Carioca
The subject of the song is from Rio de Janeiro and embodies the spirit of the city
Just see the way she walks
The subject has a distinctive way of walking that sets her apart from others
Nobody else can be what she is to me
The singer has a unique connection with the subject and sees her as irreplaceable
I look and what do I see
The singer is contemplating the subject's qualities and character
When I look deep in her eyes
The singer is focused on the subject's eyes, which reveal her true self
I can see the sea
Looking into the subject's eyes reminds the singer of the sea, which is an important aspect of Rio de Janeiro
A forgotten road
The subject's presence evokes memories of a road that has been forgotten or left behind
The caressing skies
The subject's presence creates a sense of warmth and comfort, like the gentle touch of the sky
And not only that
In addition to the previous observations, the singer is about to express deeper feelings
I'm in love with her
The singer is deeply in love with the subject
The most exciting way
The love between the singer and subject is passionate and thrilling
It's written on my lips
The singer cannot contain their love and it is expressed through their words and actions
Where her kisses stay
The singer can still feel the warmth and passion of the subject's kisses
She smiles and all of a sudden
When the subject smiles, the singer's mood and surroundings change instantly
The world is smiling for me
The singer feels as though the world itself is responding to the subject's smile and radiance
And you know what else
In addition to everything else the singer has mentioned, there is something special about the subject
She's a carioca
The subject represents the lively, vibrant spirit of Rio de Janeiro
Basta o jeitinho dela andar
The subject's unique way of walking is enough to captivate the singer
Nem ninguem tem carinho assim para dar
No one else has the ability to show the same kind of love and affection as the subject
Eu vejo na luz dos seus olhos
Looking into the light of the subject's eyes, the singer sees something special
As noites do rio ao luar
The subject's eyes remind the singer of the romantic nights in Rio de Janeiro
Vejo a mesma luz
The singer sees the same light in the subject's eyes as they do in the nights of Rio de Janeiro
Vejo o mesmo ceu
The subject's presence reminds the singer of the same skies they see in Rio de Janeiro
Vejo o mesmo mar
The subject's eyes remind the singer of the same sea they see in Rio de Janeiro
Contributed by Lillian O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
just sayin
on Who Needs Forever?
The lyrics of Astrud Gilberto's song "Who Needs Forever?" suggest that time is fleeting and that we should seize the moment instead of worrying about what the future holds. The repetition of the question "Who needs forever?" implies that forever is not a necessary or even desirable outcome. Instead, the song encourages the listener to focus on the present and appreciate the moment, rather than getting lost in concerns about the future.
The lines "Time goes so fast, Don't waste this moment, Let's live this moment like it's the last" evoke the idea of carpe diem, or seizing the day. The idea of living in the moment and not worrying about the future is a recurring theme in literature and music, and it is particularly relevant in a fast-paced world where time seems to slip away all too quickly.
Overall, the lyrics of "Who Needs Forever?" encourage us to enjoy the present moment and not worry about what lies ahead. The song suggests that life is short and that we should make the most of every moment.
this is not the original Song of Astrud Gilberto, the Lyrics are here only fragments of the original Song of Astrud Gilberto
I prefer this Remix of Thievery Corpartion more, but here us the original Songtext of the original Song of Astrud Gilberto
[Verse 1]
Who needs forever? Love me today
Let's forget tomorrow, it's too far away
[Chorus]
So hold me, don't waste this moment
Let's live this moment like it's the last
Time goes so fast
[Verse 2]
Love shouldn't linger, love shouldn't wait
When fates allow a choice of now or never
Who needs forever?
[Chorus]
So hold me, don't waste this moment
Let's live this moment like it's the last
Time goes so fast
[Verse 3]
Love shouldn't linger, love shouldn't wait
When fates allow a choice of now or never
Who needs forever?
Forever, forever