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)
Desafinado
João Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Saiba que isto em mim provoca imensa dor
Só privilegiados têm ouvido igual ao seu
Eu possuo apenas o que Deus me deu
Se você insiste em classificar
Meu comportamento anti-musical
Eu mesmo mentindo devo argumentar
O que você não sabe nem sequer pressente
É que os desafinados também têm um coração
Fotografei você na minha Rolleyflex
Revelou-se a sua enorme ingratidão
Só não poderá falar assim do meu amor
Este é o maior que você pode encontrar, viu?
Você com a sua música esqueceu o principal
Que no peito dos desafinados
No fundo do peito bate calado
No peito dos desafinados
Também bate um coração
The lyrics of João Gilberto's "Desafinado" express the hurt caused by being criticized for singing out of tune. The first verse reads, "If you say that I sing out of tune, my love, know that this causes me immense pain. Only the privileged have ears like yours; I only possess what God gave me." In these lines, the singer admits to his imperfections while implying that he values his own authenticity over technical perfectionism.
In the second verse, the singer defends himself against accusations of being "anti-musical" by arguing that "this is bossa nova, this is very natural." He doesn't deny his lack of technical skill, but rather claims that his style is a deliberate deviation from more traditional forms of music. At the same time, he acknowledges that even those who are out of tune have a heart that feels deeply. This idea is further emphasized in the final stanza, which reads, "In the hearts of the untuned, a heart beats quietly."
The message of the song can be interpreted as a rejection of societal pressure to conform to conventional standards of beauty or perfection. The singer doesn't apologize for being different, instead standing by his unique style and reminding the listener that even those who are criticized or left out have their own kind of beauty.
Line by Line Meaning
Se você disser que eu desafino, amor
If you say that I'm singing off-key, my love, know that it causes immense pain in me.
Saiba que isso em mim provoca imensa dor
Know that it causes immense pain in me.
Só privilegiados têm ouvido igual ao seu
Only privileged people have an ear like yours.
Eu possuo apenas o que Deus me deu
I only possess what God has given me.
Se você insiste em classificar
If you insist on classifying
Meu comportamento de antimusical
My behavior as antimusical
Eu mesmo mentindo devo argumentar
Even lying, I must argue
Que isto é bossa nova, que isto é muito natural
That this is bossa nova, that it's very natural.
O que você não sabe nem sequer pressente
What you don't know or even suspect
É que os desafinados também têm um coração
Is that the out-of-tune also have a heart.
Fotografei você na minha Rolleyflex
I photographed you with my Rolleyflex.
Revelou-se a sua enorme ingratidão
Your enormous ingratitude was revealed.
Só não poderá falar assim do meu amor
You can't speak like that about my love.
Este é o maior que você pode encontrar, viu?
This is the greatest you can find, you know?
Você com a sua música esqueceu o principal
You, with your music, forgot the main thing.
Que no peito dos desafinados
That in the hearts of the out-of-tune
No fundo do peito bate calado
Silently beats in the depth of the heart
No peito dos desafinados
In the hearts of the out-of-tune
Também bate um coração
A heart beats too.
Lyrics © Editora e Importadora Musical Fermata do Brasil Ltda., CORCOVADO MUSIC CORPORATION, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Newton Mendonca, Tom Jobim
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
meepy arshnarf
According to my history of jazz class, here is a translation:
If you tell me that I'm out of tune, darling
You should know that it causes me great pain
Only privileged people have hearing like yours
And I have only the one God gave me
If you insist on labeling
My performance as unmusical
Even if I lied I should argue that:
This is Bossa Nova, This is very natural
What you don't know, nor can you foresee
Is that those who sing out of tune do also have a heart
I photographed you with my Rolleiflex
It exposed your great ingratitude
You just can’t talk this way about my love
It is the greatest that you can find
You, with you music, forgot the essential:
In the chest of those who sing out of tune
Deep inside, it softly beats
In the chest of those who sing out of tune
A heart is beating as well.
aida omirgali
Se você disser que eu desafino amor
Saiba que isto em mim provoca imensa dor
Só privilegiados têm ouvido igual ao seu
Eu possuo apenas o que Deus me deu
Se você insiste em classificar
Meu comportamento de antimusical
Eu mesmo mentindo devo argumentar
Que isto é bossa nova, que isto é muito natural
O que você não sabe, nem sequer pressente
É que os desafinados também têm coração
Fotografei você na minha Rolleiflex
Revelou-se a sua enorme ingratidão
Só não poderá falar assim do meu amor
Este é o maior que você pode encontrar, viu?
Você com sua música esqueceu o principal
Que no peito dos desafinados
No fundo do peito, bate calado
No peito dos desafinados também bate um coração
Diego Sánchez Mori
Se voce disser que eu desafino amor,
Saiba que isso em mim provoca imensa dor
Só privilegiados tem ouvido igual ao seu,
Eu possuo apenas o que Deus me deu.
Se voce insiste em classificar,
Meu comportamento de antimusical
Eu, mesmo mentindo devo argumentar,
Que isto é bossa nova, Que isto é muito natural
O que voce nao sabe, nem sequer pressente,
É que os desafinados também tem um coraçao
Fotografei voce na minha Rolleiflex,
Revelou-se a sua enorme ingratidao
Só nao poderá falar assim do meu amor,
Este é o maior que voce pode encontrar, viu
Voce com a sua música esqueceu o principal,
Que no peito dos desafinados
No fundo do peito bate calado,
Que no peito dos desafinados,
Também bate um coraçao.
meepy arshnarf
According to my history of jazz class, here is a translation:
If you tell me that I'm out of tune, darling
You should know that it causes me great pain
Only privileged people have hearing like yours
And I have only the one God gave me
If you insist on labeling
My performance as unmusical
Even if I lied I should argue that:
This is Bossa Nova, This is very natural
What you don't know, nor can you foresee
Is that those who sing out of tune do also have a heart
I photographed you with my Rolleiflex
It exposed your great ingratitude
You just can’t talk this way about my love
It is the greatest that you can find
You, with you music, forgot the essential:
In the chest of those who sing out of tune
Deep inside, it softly beats
In the chest of those who sing out of tune
A heart is beating as well.
Guilherme Gomes
I'm Brazilian and that's a right translation
23popa
Accurate
Marvin Dias
You’re the goat tysm I never knew this absolutely beautiful lyrics
Kaydijdrah Black
Lovely
Lisa LX Chiu
thanks so much for the translation. such beautiful lyrics! and the music as well!
aida omirgali
Se você disser que eu desafino amor
Saiba que isto em mim provoca imensa dor
Só privilegiados têm ouvido igual ao seu
Eu possuo apenas o que Deus me deu
Se você insiste em classificar
Meu comportamento de antimusical
Eu mesmo mentindo devo argumentar
Que isto é bossa nova, que isto é muito natural
O que você não sabe, nem sequer pressente
É que os desafinados também têm coração
Fotografei você na minha Rolleiflex
Revelou-se a sua enorme ingratidão
Só não poderá falar assim do meu amor
Este é o maior que você pode encontrar, viu?
Você com sua música esqueceu o principal
Que no peito dos desafinados
No fundo do peito, bate calado
No peito dos desafinados também bate um coração
Jean Simões
1:54 Começa um dos solos mais antológicos da história da música. Salve Stan Gatz.
Sam Torrisi
i'm 38 now and have the memory of being in my father's arms as a child while he hummed this to me. RIP wonderful dad
Tubbs
Why am i crying