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)
Corcovado
João Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Quiet chords from my guitar
Floating on the silence
That surrounds us
Quiet thoughts and quiet dreams
Quiet walks by quiet streams
And a window that looks out
Oh, how lovely
Um cantinho, um violão
Esse amor, uma canção
Pra fazer feliz
A quem se ama
Muita calma pra pensar
E ter tempo pra sonhar
Da janela vê-se o Corcovado
O Redentor, que lindo
Quero a vida sempre assim
Com você perto de mim
Até o apagar da velha chama
E eu, que era triste
Descrente desse mundo
Ao encontrar você eu conheci
O que é felicidade, meu amor
Quero a vida sempre assim
Com você perto de mim
Até o apagar da velha chama
E eu, que era triste
Descrente desse mundo
Ao encontrar você eu conheci
O que é a felicidade, meu amor
The song "Corcovado" by João Gilberto and Stan Getz is a beautiful and serene ode to quiet thoughts and dreams, with the singer describing the peaceful scenery around him. The gentle guitar chords and the soft, mellow voice perfectly capture the tranquility of the moment.
The lyrics open with the singer describing the stillness of the night, aided by the quiet, soothing sound of the guitar. He visualizes himself drifting along the silence that envelops him, taking in the beauty of everything around him. The scene he describes is idyllic, with quiet streams and a window overlooking Corcovado, the iconic hill in Rio de Janeiro, topped by the statue of Christ the Redeemer.
The second half of the song turns into a love song, with the singer expressing his overwhelming gratitude to have found his happiness and love in his partner. The line "Ao encontrar você eu conheci/O que é felicidade, meu amor" translates to "Upon finding you, I learned what happiness is, my love." The romantic and tender feelings expressed in the lyrics perfectly complement the gentle melody of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Quiet nights of quiet stars
Peaceful evenings full of shining stars
Quiet chords from my guitar
Gentle sounds emitted by my guitar
Floating on the silence
Drifting along on the stillness
That surrounds us
Which envelops us
Quiet thoughts and quiet dreams
Serene ideas and peaceful aspirations
Quiet walks by quiet streams
Tranquil strolls near peaceful streams
And a window that looks out
Also a window overlooking
On Corcovado
Corcovado Mountain in Rio de Janeiro
Oh, how lovely
Oh, how beautiful
Um cantinho, um violão
A little corner and a guitar
Esse amor, uma canção
This love, a song
Pra fazer feliz
To make happy
A quem se ama
The one you love
Muita calma pra pensar
Lots of calmness to think
E ter tempo pra sonhar
And have time to dream
Da janela vê-se o Corcovado
From the window, you can see Corcovado
O Redentor, que lindo
The Redeemer, how beautiful
Quero a vida sempre assim
I want life to always be like this
Com você perto de mim
With you close to me
Até o apagar da velha chama
Until the old flame dies out
E eu, que era triste
And me, who was sad
Descrente desse mundo
Disbelieving in this world
Ao encontrar você eu conheci
When I found you, I learned
O que é felicidade, meu amor
What happiness is, my love
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Antonio Carlos Jobim
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Loren Kirsten
Um cantinho e um violão
Este amor, uma canção
Pra fazer feliz a quem se ama
Muita calma pra pensar
E ter tempo pra sonhar
Da janela vê-se o Corcovado
O Redentor que lindo
Quero a vida sempre assim com você perto de mim
Até o apagar da velha chama
E eu que era triste
Descrente deste mundo
Ao encontrar você eu conheci
O que é felicidade meu amor
O que é felicidade, o que é felicidade
Salti
Chega a ser gratificante escrever seu próprio romance enquanto ouve isso
xalabadai
E a originalidade da obra, zero
Salti
@xalabadai sim, se eu estivesse ouvindo dubstep ia fazer romance com beatbox. Sim sim.
Guilherme Matias
Agora fiquei curioso quanto ao romance...
Davi Silva
matilda casa com pedro?
Wellington Gabriel
A versão que eu mais gosto desta música
Neivaldo Costa
Obrigado João Gilberto você elevou nossa música no mais alto patamar. Gratidão João.
Rebecca T
I've listened to it a thousand times over the course of a long life. I heard it when I was new. It never gets old. What a perfect pairing, Jobim and Gilberto.
Benedita Dias Menezes
Agradeço sempre a Deus por essas vozes brasileiras que tanto prazer nos da para nossa alma.
Paulinho Moreira
obrigado João "eterno"Gilberto!