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 more 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 except 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 (listen to excerpt) turned into a hit, launching Gilberto’s career and the bossa nova craze. Besides a number of Jobim compositions, the album featured older sambas and popular songs from the 1940s and ’50s, but 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 North American jazz musicians such 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. 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, 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.
O Grande Amor
Joao Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Há sempre um homem
Para uma mulher
E há de sempre haver para esquecer
Um falso amor
E uma vontade de morrer
Seja como for
Há de vencer o grande amor
Como um perdão
Pra quem chorou
The Portuguese lyrics of Joao Gilberto feat. Stan Getz's song O Grande Amor convey the nature of love and the perseverance it demands from individuals seeking to find it. The opening line, "Haja o que houver," suggests the idea that no matter the obstacles that come one's way, there is always a man for a woman. It is a reaffirmation that in this vast world, individuals are destined to find their soulmates. Moreover, the song suggests that there will always be failed attempts, false love, and a desire to die, but it is essential that individuals keep chasing after true love.
Furthermore, the lyrics suggest that individuals should never give up on the pursuit of genuine love. Eventually, they will find a great love that will always be present in their hearts, like a cleansing or purifying power for those who have been in pain. It also implies the act of forgiveness, which is a critical component for building a successful relationship. The lyrics show that people must continue to chase love, despite the risk of heartbreaks, because love is the ultimate goal of every individual.
Line by Line Meaning
Haja o que houver
Regardless of what may happen
Há sempre um homem, para uma mulher
There is always a man for a woman
E há de sempre haver para esquecer
And there will always be someone to help forget
Um falso amor e uma vontade de morrer
A false love and a desire to die
Seja como for há de vencer o grande amor
No matter what, true love will prevail
Que há de ser no coração
It will be in the heart
Como um perdão
Like an act of forgiveness
Pra quem chorou
For those who have cried
Lyrics © VM ENTERPRISES INC, CORCOVADO MUSIC CORPORATION
Written by: Marcus Vinicius Da Cruz De M. Moraes, Antonio Carlos Brasileiro De A Jobim
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Dicedude
A very rough translation:
Whatever there is,
There is always a man,
For a woman
And she will always be there to forget,
A false love
And a will to die.
Anyway
The great love must overcome,
What is to be in the heart,
As a pardon for those who cried.
@joelbyrne
Haja o que houver,
Há sempre um homem, para uma
mulher
E há de sempre haver para esquecer, um falso amor e uma vontade
de morrer.
Seja comofor há de vencer o grande amor, que há de
ser no coração,
como perdão pra quem chorou.
@bjap1563
Haja o que houver,
Há sempre um homem, para uma
mulher
E há de sempre haver para esquecer, um falso amor e uma vontade
de morrer.
Seja comofor há de vencer o grande amor, que há de
ser no coração,
como perdão pra quem chorou.
Just for reference.
@horivispictures
La fin d'un long voyage pour un monument de la musique qui nous a tout laissé en héritage.
Le père de la bossa nova João Gilberto, de son nom complet João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira.
Il nous a tant fait voyager par ses ballades musicales que l'évasion avait fini par avoir juste un goût de paradis.
À lui seul, il était la vitrine de la musique Brésilienne.
Charles-Christian Bimpoudi
@pietrasureda2036
No matter what happens
there is always a man
for a woman
and there will always be
to forget
a fake love
and a will to die
for whatever there is
great love has to win
and has to be like forgiveness
for someone who has cried before
@HannoverXavi
Voice/Guitar: João Gilberto
Saxophone: Stan Getz
Piano: Antônio Carlos Jobim
Lyrics: Vinicius de Morais
Perfection!
@rott10bird
This is possibly THE most beautiful song I have ever heard. I first heard it in 1964 and promptly purchased the album. I don't know any of the words, but just listening to it causes so many emotions to surface. It was the last song I listened to before I was to go into the Air Force (the next day) in 1967. I was alone, it was raining outside and I had a sense of sadness that I was leaving home - this song still brings back that day and how I was feeling.
@richardmason5670
Nice story!
@Dicedude
A very rough translation:
Whatever there is,
There is always a man,
For a woman
And she will always be there to forget,
A false love
And a will to die.
Anyway
The great love must overcome,
What is to be in the heart,
As a pardon for those who cried.
@malvasia17
I accidentally listened this song and I think I have just discovered a new planet
@angiefromChi
@A D yesssss 🎵🥰🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
@MrDanielperchey
1
@wallacefreitas3468
Descanse em paz Joao Gilberto. Sua música vivera pra sempre no coracao de cada brasileiro, pois graças a musicos como você, nossa cultura foi levada ao mundo inteiro..
@krzysztofkolodziejski2386
Soy polaca , a mi me gusta mucho musica de Joao!,,,,
@rehoupta
Eu não sou brasileiro Cara, mais o mestre João foi minha fonte de inspiração para aprender a lingua que agora é minha terceira Lingua. Parabéns a João, que agora canta no céu perto de Deus.