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)
Saudade Fez um Samba
João Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sabe tudo sem você
Não acredito que o meu samba
Só dependa de você
A dor é minha em mim doeu
A culpa é sua o samba é meu
Então não vamos mais brigar
Saudade fez um samba em seu lugar
Deixa que o meu samba
Sabe tudo sem você
Não acredito que o meu samba
Só dependa de você
A dor é minha em mim doeu
A culpa é sua o samba é meu
Então não vamos mais brigar
Saudade fez um samba em seu lugar
Deixa que o meu samba
Sabe tudo sem você
Não acredito que o meu samba
Só dependa de você
A dor é minha em mim doeu
A culpa é sua o samba é meu
Então não vamos mais brigar
Saudade fez um samba em seu lugar benzinho
Saudade fez um samba em seu lugar
In João Gilberto's song "Saudade Fez um Samba," the lyrics express the idea that the singer's samba can exist and thrive without the presence of his or her lover. The samba is personified and given agency as if it knows everything and can feel the singer's pain. The singer blames their lover for the pain they feel, but ultimately claims ownership of the samba, asserting that it does not solely depend on the lover's presence. The concept of saudade, a feeling of intense longing and nostalgia for something or someone, is a central theme in the song, as the singer acknowledges the pain of missing their lover but insists that the samba is now in control.
The repetition of "deixa que o meu samba" ("let my samba") is a powerful mantra throughout the song, emphasizing the singer's ownership and control over the music. The line "a dor é minha, em mim doeu" ("the pain is mine, it hurt in me") further highlights the singer's personal connection to the samba and the emotions it expresses. The final exclamation "saudade fez um samba em seu lugar, benzinho" ("saudade made a samba in your place, my dear") is a powerful ending that encapsulates the central theme of the song.
Overall, "Saudade Fez um Samba" is a poignant expression of the power of music to express deep emotions and transcend relationships. The singer's samba becomes a symbol of resilience and strength, transcending the pain of missing their lover and representing a brighter future without them.
Line by Line Meaning
Deixa que o meu samba
Let my samba be
Sabe tudo sem você
It knows everything without you
Não acredito que o meu samba
I don't believe that my samba
Só dependa de você
Only depends on you
A dor é minha em mim doeu
The pain is mine and it hurt me
A culpa é sua o samba é meu
The fault is yours, but the samba is mine
Então não vamos mais brigar
So let's not fight anymore
Saudade fez um samba em seu lugar benzinho
Longing made a samba in your place, my dear
Saudade fez um samba em seu lugar
Longing made a samba in your place
Lyrics © Spirit Music Group
Written by: Carlos Lyra
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ppmbbarbosa
Deixa que o meu samba
Sabe tudo sem você
Não acredito que o meu samba
Só dependa de você
A dor é minha em mim doeu
A culpa é sua, o samba é meu
Então não vamos mais brigar
Saudade fez um samba em seu lugar
Deixa que o meu samba
Sabe tudo sem você
Não acredito que o meu samba
Só dependa de você
A dor é minha em mim doeu
A culpa é sua o samba é meu
Então não vamos mais brigar
Saudade fez um samba em seu lugar
Deixa que o meu samba
Sabe tudo sem você
Não acredito que o meu samba
Só dependa de você
A dor é minha em mim doeu
A culpa é sua o samba é meu
Então não vamos mais brigar
Saudade fez um samba em seu lugar (benzinho)
Saudade fez um samba em seu lugar
@OnlyCuscuz
fico impressionado! tem muito estrangeiro que reconhece mais a cultura brasileira do que os próprios brasileiros, enfim musica boa tem que ser apreciada
@riverjunior3965
Seba Morais sou francês e concordo. Benzinho rsrs
@gerardocharles5850
Eu acho que eso acontece pra todas as culturas. Muitos brazileiros sabem mas da cultura e historia dos estados unidos do que muitos americanos
@joaovictorpinheiro6838
Ouvindo esta hoje, com a noticia que perdemos o gigante Carlos Lyra. Obrigado por toda contribuição para a construção da cultura Brasileira!
@djmz1969
I know Spanish, and I sort understand it but vaguely, I looked for courses here in California and haven't found any. I just love Portuguese, it's so hard to describe it's like a playful lullaby from heaven lost in a tropical paradise. Hahhhh.....any suggestions are welcome.
@bostongirlsandy
Here in Massachusetts there is a large Portuguese speaking population from Portugal, Brazil and Cape Verde as well as Angola and Mozambique.
@lairarebeca3783
eu queria você vivo mestre, pra acompanhar o teu olhar e tuas poesias da forma mais próxima possível...
@themastroiannis
gem after gem after gem... what an exquisite, unique, timeless, irrepetible album... Salve Joao!
@djmz1969
Que lindo! After English I'm learning Portuguese, en una bella lengua de a mi ninha!
@Joaquin_Z
Rest in peace João Gilberto ❤️