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)
Ligia
João Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nunca fui ao cinema
Não gosto de samba não vou a Ipanema
Não gosto de chuva nem gosto de sol
E quando eu lhe telefonei, desliguei foi engano
O seu nome não sei
Esqueci no piano as bobagens de amor
Eu nunca quis tê-la ao meu lado
Num fim de semana
Um chopp gelado em Copacabana
Andar pela praia até o Leblon
E quando eu me apaixonei
Não passou de ilusão, o seu nome rasguei
Fiz um samba canção das mentiras de amor
Que aprendi com você
É Lígia Lígia
E quando você me envolver
Nos seus braços serenos eu vou me render
Mas seus braços morenos
Me metem mais medo que um raio de sol
Lígia Lígia
The lyrics to João Gilberto's song "Ligia" tells the story of a man who claims to have never dreamt of Ligia, never gone to the cinema, never liked samba nor been to Ipanema, and who hates both rain and sunshine. Moreover, the man even accidentally hung up on Ligia when he attempted to call her, admitting that he does not even remember her name, as he forgot it while he was playing the piano practicing the "nonsense of love" he would say to her. The singer implies that he has never wanted to be with Ligia nor to spend weekends with her, chilling with a cold beer in Copacabana, and walking on the beach to Leblon. However, the story exposes the untruth of these statements as the singer further admits to falling in love with her but denying it, and ultimately writing a song inspired by her.
The song carries a sense of irony as the man repeatedly mentions his apathy in regards to everything that would usually excite a person about life, like love, sunshine, rain, music or spending time with friends, while only end up revealing the depth of his longing for Ligia. The chorus of the song could be interpreted as a way of convincing himself that all he said about not caring for her or falling in love with her was true, while the phrase "Ligia Ligia" becomes more like a mantra to reinforce that self-deception. Overall, the song is an enticing reflection on the essence of love and the way we deny or confront it, as well as a testimony of the skill and grace in João Gilberto's performance.
Line by Line Meaning
Eu nunca sonhei com você
I never imagined being with you
Nunca fui ao cinema
I never went to the movies with you
Não gosto de samba não vou a Ipanema
I don't like samba and I don't go to Ipanema
Não gosto de chuva nem gosto de sol
I don't like rain or sun
E quando eu lhe telefonei, desliguei foi engano
When I called you, I hung up by mistake
O seu nome não sei
I don't know your name
Esqueci no piano as bobagens de amor
I forgot the silly things of love that I was going to say to you on the piano
Que eu iria dizer, não, Lígia Lígia
Things that I was going to say, no, Lígia Lígia
Eu nunca quis tê-la ao meu lado
I never wanted you by my side
Num fim de semana
On a weekend
Um chopp gelado em Copacabana
A cold beer in Copacabana
Andar pela praia até o Leblon
Walking on the beach until Leblon
E quando eu me apaixonei
And when I fell in love
Não passou de ilusão, o seu nome rasguei
It was just an illusion, I tore your name apart
Fiz um samba canção das mentiras de amor
I made a samba song about the lies of love
Que aprendi com você
That I learned from you
É Lígia Lígia
It's Lígia Lígia
E quando você me envolver
And when you envelop me
Nos seus braços serenos eu vou me render
In your serene arms I will surrender
Mas seus braços morenos
But your dark arms
Me metem mais medo que um raio de sol
Frighten me more than a ray of sun
Lígia Lígia
Lígia Lígia
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@lordkek7896
Lindíssimo! Em minha opinião, a versão de Lígia de João Gilberto é com certeza a melhor.
@andrecoelho9973
Amigo francês, toque por favor a versão do João Gilberto para o Hino Nacional Brasileiro.
No mais, um abraço.
@ken262849
Sensacional! Essa mudança que ele fez em Tokyo, parece q a música ficou mais incrível! Sensacional novamente! Obrigado Christophe, me sinto abençoado demais por escutar essa música.
@DaniSchaeffer
A versão do João é sensacional, melhorou demais a letra tbm! Tira Terra Que Não Treme do Novos Baianos por favor😄😄
@joharbeth
Muito bom, esse é um clássico ainda mais a modo João Gilberto
@lucasalmeida6650
na minha opinião, a versão do Ao vivo em Tokyo é a melhor de Lígia. Ver o senhor tocando me deu empurrão que precisava para comprar um violão e aprender a tocar, a primeira música que gostaria de aprender era Lígia.
@auguusto
Você pega um violão pra aprender e já quer começar com essa música? Calma, lá, camarada.
@retep7232
arrebenta irmao!
@lucasw1223
É aprender os acordes que você já toca. Não é bicho de sete cabeças. Agora tocar igual o joão gilberto é mais complicado; rsrs
@EDV223
Muito lindo. Seu canal é muito importante pra mim. Se puder dar uma olhada num arranjo que eu desenvolvi procurando respeitar a tonalidade da música explode coração do gonzaguinha eu ficaria muito grato. Não pare jamais.