A self-taught guitarist and singer, Gilberto moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1950 and joined the vocal group Garotos da Lua ("The Boys of the Moon") as their lead singer. After a year and a half, he was kicked out of the group for his lack of discipline and spent the next several years in a marginal existence. Eventually, he found his way, creating a new way to express himself in voice and on the guitar. The result of his obsessive experiments became known as bossa nova.
Bossa nova is a refined version of samba, deemphasizing the percussive aspect of its rhythm and enriching the melodic and harmonic content. Rather than relying on the traditional Afro-Brazilian percussive instruments, bossa nova usually utilizes a drum set. João Gilberto often eschews all accompaniment, using only his guitar, which he uses as a percussive as well as a harmonic instrument. The singing style he developed is almost whispering, economical, and without vibrato. He creates his tempo tensions by singing ahead or behind the guitar.
This style, which Gilberto introduced in 1957, created a sensation in the musical circles of Rio's Zona Sul, and many young guitarists sought to imitate it. It was first heard on record in 1958 when João Gilberto accompanied singer Elizete Cardoso in a recording of "Chega de Saudade", a song by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes. Shortly after this recording, João Gilberto made his own debut single of the same song, followed by the 1959 LP, Chega de Saudade. The song became a hit, launching Gilberto's career and the bossa nova craze.
Besides a number of Jobim compositions, the album Chega de Saudade featured older sambas and popular songs from the 1940s and '50s, all performed in the distinctive bossa nova style. This album was followed by two more in 1960 and 1961, by which time the singer featured new songs by a younger generation of performer/composers such as Carlos Lyra and Roberto Menescal.
By 1962, bossa nova had been embraced by such North American jazz musicians as Herbie Mann, Charlie Byrd, and Stan Getz, who invited Gilberto and Jobim to collaborate on what became one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, Getz/Gilberto. Through this album, Gilberto's wife, Astrud, became an international star, and the Jobim/de Moraes composition "The Girl from Ipanema" became a worldwide pop music standard for the ages.
João Gilberto continued to perform through the 1960s but did not release another studio album until João Gilberto en México, recorded in 1970 during a period of residence in Mexico. João Gilberto, aka the "White Album" (1973), featured hypnotic minimalist execution and is widely considered to be his best album. The year 1976 saw the release of The Best of Two Worlds, a reunion with Stan Getz, featuring singer Miúcha, sister of Chico Buarque, who had become Gilberto's second wife in April 1965. Amoroso (1977) backed Gilberto with the lush string orchestration of Claus Ogerman, who had provided a similar sound to Jobim's instrumental recordings in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As had been the case for all of Gilberto's albums, the album consisted mostly of Jobim compositions, mixed with older sambas and an occasional North American standard from the 1940s.
Having lived in the US since 1962, João Gilberto returned to Brazil in 1980. The following year saw the release of Brasil, with guests Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, who in the late 1960s had founded the Tropicalia movement, a fusion of Brazilian popular music with foreign pop. The 1991 release, João, with orchestrations by Clare Fischer, was unusual in its lack of even a single Jobim composition, instead featuring songs in English, French, Italian, and Spanish, plus old sambas and the solitary contemporary song "Sampa" (Caetano Veloso). Also released in 1991 was the album Canto Do Pajé by Veloso's sister Maria Bethânia on which Bethânia and Gilberto sing an intimate duet Maria/Linda Flor (Barroso, Peixoto, Vogler, Costa, and Pôrto) accompanied solely by his guitar. João Voz e Violão (2000) was an homage to the music of Gilberto's youth as well as a nod to producer Caetano Veloso.
Evenly interspersed with these studio recordings have been the live recordings, Live in Montreux; João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira; Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar; Live at Umbria Jazz, and Live in Tokyo.
While all of Gilberto's albums since Getz/Gilberto have been released on CD, the first three domestic albums were released in 1988 by EMI on a single CD entitled The Legendary João Gilberto: The Original Bossa Nova Recordings (1958-1961). The disc also included three tracks from the singer's 1959 Orfeu Negro EP: "Manhã de Carnaval," O Nosso Amor, and A Felicidade, the latter two merged into a single medley track to fit within the recording time of a CD. After its release, Gilberto successfully sued to have the title removed from sale as an unauthorized release of his artistic works.
João Gilberto has long had a reputation as an eccentric recluse and a nearly neurotic perfectionist. He lives in an apartment in Leblon, Rio de Janeiro, refusing all interviews and avoiding crowds. He has been known to walk out on performances in response to an audience he considers disrespectful or out of theaters possessing acoustics below his standards, and at times demands that the air conditioning be turned off at concert venues. Yet he continues to perform to sell-out crowds in Brazil as well as in Europe, North America, and Japan.
Discography:
1959 - Chega de Saudade (Odeon)
1960 - O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor (Odeon)
1961 - João Gilberto (Odeon)
1962 - The Boss of the Bossa Nova (Atlantic)
1963 - The Warm World of João Gilberto (Atlantic)
1964 - Getz/Gilberto (Verve)
1965 - Herbie Mann & João Gilberto (Atlantic)
1974 - João Gilberto en Mexico (PolyGram)
1976 - Best of Two Worlds (Columbia)
1977 - Amoroso (Warner Brothers)
1981 - Brasil (Warner Brothers)
1986 - João Gilberto Live in Montreux (WEA)
1991 - João (PolyGram)
2000 - João Voz e Violão (Universal)
2002 - Live at Umbria Jazz (Egea)
2004 - João Gilberto in Tokyo (Verve)
Aos Pés da Cruz
João Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Você se ajoelhou
E em nome de Jesus
Um grande amor você jurou
Jurou mas não cumpriu
Fingiu e me enganou
Pra mim você mentiu
O coração tem razões
Que a própria razão desconhece
Faz promessas e juras depois esquece
Seguindo esse princípio
Você também prometeu
Chegou até a jurar um grande amor
Mas depois esqueceu
The song "Aos pés da Cruz" by João Gilberto is a lament about a lover who has broken a promise to the singer. The song begins with the description of the person kneeling at the foot of the Holy Cross and swearing a great love in the name of Jesus. However, as the song progresses, the singer reveals that the person broke their promise and lied to them, thus sinning not only against the singer but also against God. The song goes on to reflect on the complexities of the heart and how it often makes promises and oaths that it later forgets.
The lyrics to "Aos pés da cruz" are full of religious imagery and symbolism, which adds to the emotion and meaning of the song. The reference to the Holy Cross represents the idea of sacrifice and redemption, highlighting the magnitude of the commitment that the person made when they swore their love. However, as the singer points out, the person was unable to keep their promise, thus betraying both the singer and God.
The song also explores the idea of the conflicting desires of the heart and mind. The line "o coração tem razões que a própria razão desconhece" (the heart has reasons that reason itself doesn't know) speaks to the notion that our feelings can sometimes override our logical thinking. This is reflected in the way that the person made a promise of love but was unable to follow through. Overall, "Aos pés da cruz" is a poignant reflection on the complexities of love and human nature.
Line by Line Meaning
Aos pés da Santa Cruz
You kneeled at the Holy Cross
Voce se ajoelhou
You kneeled down
E em nome de Jesus
And in the name of Jesus
Um grande amor você jurou
You promised a great love
Jurou mas não cumpriu
You promised but didn't fulfill
Fingiu e me enganou
You pretended and deceived me
Pra mim você mentiu
You lied to me
Pra Deus você pecou
You sinned against God
O coração tem razões
The heart has its reasons
Que a própria razão desconhece
That reason itself doesn't know
Faz promessas e juras depois esquece
Makes promises and vows and then forgets
Seguindo esse princípio
Following this principle
Você também prometeu
You also promised
Chegou até a jurar um grande amor
You even swore a great love
Mas depois esqueceu
But then forgot
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Jose Goncalves, Marino Pinto
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Luciarella
So beautiful and simple it hurts. Rest in peace, genius.
@vDuzz
I'm with you
@samuelfusato
Beautiful, not simple, as a matter of fact.
@franceduffoo2867
How can something be so sweet and beautiful yet so brief! I guess that’s part of its charm. Saudade :)
@IlVignochannel
Ciao João :-*
@BIGODIFINIS
Essa música faz muito sentido pra mim😔💔
@GjaP_242
"Jurou, mas não cumpriu, fingiu e me enganou"
@nixonrodriguesdefarias
Pra mim você mentiu, pra Deus você pecou!
@EduardoSonoda
Samba de Marino Pinto e José Gonçalves, gravado originalmente por Orlando Silva em 1942.
@yves-mariereme1646
I am more in love with this song than I can let out.