Bebel Gilberto (born Isabel Gilberto de Oliveira on May 12, 1966 in New Yor… Read Full Bio ↴Bebel Gilberto (born Isabel Gilberto de Oliveira on May 12, 1966 in New York City) is an American-born Grammy Award-nominated Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha. Her uncle is singer/composer Chico Buarque. Bebel has been performing since her youth in Rio de Janeiro.

At the age of seven, Bebel made an appearance on her mother's first solo album Miúcha. At age nine, Bebel performed with her mother and jazz saxophonist Stan Getz at a jazz festival in New York's Carnegie Hall. Back in Brazil, Bebel performed and recorded for the soundtrack of the children's musical Os Saltimbancos, written by Sergio Bardotti and Chico Buarque. Later on Bebel joined an experimental theatrical group and was a member of the founding team of the performance space Circo Voador (Flying Circus) at Ipanema Beach. In this group she met singer/songwriter Cazuza, who became a close friend and soon a major rock star in Brazil during the 1980s.

Throughout the 1990s, Bebel collaborated with a variety of musical stars such as Arto Lindsay, Thievery Corporation, David Byrne, Towa Tei, Caetano Veloso and Chico Buarque. In 1996 Bebel was featured in the AIDS charity project Red Hot + Rio, produced by her close friend and collaborator Béco Dranoff. By the mid 1990s, Bebel also had successes as songwriter with the international dance hits "Technova" and "Batucada" in collaboration with producers Towa Tei and Arto Lindsay.

Bebel was featured on the soundtrack of Brad Anderson's film Next Stop Wonderland with Vinicius Cantuária and Mauro Refosco. In the late 1990s, Bebel moved to London where she began to develop the sound featured on her critically acclaimed debut album Tanto Tempo. During this period, she met Suba, the multi-talented Serbian producer living in São Paulo who ended up writing and producing several tracks on Tanto Tempo. While in London, she also worked with DJ/producer Amon Tobin, Dutch duo Arling & Cameron and singer Nina Miranda.

In 2000, Bebel's Tanto Tempo album was released on Ziriguiboom (Crammed Discs sub-label) and has sold over one million copies worldwide. The album was also nominated for two Latin Grammy Awards. Her second album, Bebel Gilberto (2004), was also released to great critical acclaim, receiving a MOBO Award in the UK and also a World Music Grammy nomination.

Also in 2006, Bebel started writing and producing the songs that would become part of her third album Momento, released in April 2007. On this album, Bebel collaborated with UK producer Guy Sigsworth, her friends Didi Gutman and Sabina Sciubba (from NY based band Brazilian Girls) and the Rio based Orquestra Imperial.

Gilberto's most recent album, All In One, was released in the US in September 2009 by jazz imprint Verve.

Amigos de Bar
Bebel Gilberto Lyrics

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Amigos de bar
Papos desconexos
Eu procuro um par
De novo o velho sexo
Fedendo a vexames

Procuro alguém para amar
Na rua deserta

Como as casas sendas
Não me repreendas
São sempre os mesmos proplemas
Não temas
O meu tema sem vida, minha amiga
Só porque eu perdi a vida
O presente mais lindo, um verso, um amor

Paciência comigo
São sonhos tão novos
E amigos antigos
Pra temperar vodka
Gargalhadas gososas
Acrescentar pequenos momentos de silêncio
Conferir a sério
E esperar o troco

É louco viver!

Boa noite, amiga
Prazer em te ver

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Bebel Gilberto's "Amigos de Bar" depict the singer's search for love in a bar full of disconnected conversations and the scent of shame. She longs for someone to love on a deserted street, someone who will not reproach her for her problems. The singer's life seems to lack meaning and purpose as she has lost the most beautiful gift, the love of her life.

The song's chorus emphasizes the importance of being patient with oneself, as life's dreams are often new and the people we choose to surround ourselves with are old. She looks to her old friends for comfort in the form of companionship, laughter, vodka, silence, and sincerity as they wait for change.

The song's lyrics seem to suggest that the singer is looking for a deeper form of love than just sex or a casual fling, which is often found in bars. She desires genuine, meaningful companionship in her life. The song is a reflection of the singer's search for love, purpose, and happiness.

Line by Line Meaning

Amigos de bar
Drinking buddies

Papos desconexos
Disconnected conversations

Eu procuro um par
Looking for a partner

De novo o velho sexo
Old familiar sex

Fedendo a vexames
Stinking of embarrassments

Procuro alguém para amar
Searching for someone to love

Na rua deserta
On the lonely street

Como as casas sendas
Like silent houses

Não me repreendas
Don't scold me

São sempre os mesmos problemas
Always the same problems

Não temas
Don't be afraid