Luiz Floriano Bonfá was born in Rio de Janeiro. He began teaching himself to play guitar as a child. He studied in Rio with Uruguayan classical guitarist Isaías Sávio from the age of 12. These weekly lessons entailed a long, harsh commute by rail and on foot from his family home in the western rural outskirts of Rio de Janeiro to the teacher's home in the hills of Santa Teresa. Given Bonfá's extraordinary dedication and talent for the guitar, Sávio excused the youngster's inability to pay for his lessons.
Bonfá first gained widespread exposure in Brazil in 1947 when he was featured on Rio's Rádio Nacional, then an important showcase for up-and-coming talent. He was a member of the vocal group Quitandinha Serenaders in the late 1940s. Some of his compositions were recorded and performed by Brazilian crooner Dick Farney in the 1950s. It was through Farney that Bonfá was introduced to Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, the leading songwriting team behind the worldwide explosion of Brazilian jazz/pop music in the late 1950s and 1960s. Bonfá collaborated with them and with other prominent Brazilian musicians and artists in productions of de Moraes' anthological play Orfeu da Conceição, which several years later gave origin to Marcel Camus' film Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro in Portuguese). In the burgeoning days of Rio de Janeiro's thriving jazz scene, it was commonplace for musicians, artists, and dramatists to collaborate in such theatrical presentations. Bonfá wrote some of the original music featured in the film, including the numbers "Samba de Orfeu" and his most famous composition, "Manhã de Carnaval" (of which Carl Sigman later wrote a different set of English lyrics titled "A Day in the Life of a Fool"), which has been among the top ten standards played worldwide, according to The Guinness Book of World Records.
As a composer and performer, Bonfá was at heart an exponent of the bold, lyrical, lushly orchestrated, and emotionally charged samba-canção style that predated the arrival of João Gilberto's more refined and subdued bossa nova style. Jobim, João Donato, Dorival Caymmi, and other contemporaries were also essentially samba-canção musicians until the sudden, massive popularity of the young Gilberto's unique style of guitar playing and expressively muted vocals transformed the music of the day into the music of the future. Camus' film and Gilberto's and Jobim's collaborations with American jazzmen such as Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd did much to bring Brazilian popular music to the attention of the world, and Bonfá became a highly visible ambassador of Brazilian music in the United States beginning with the famous November 1962 Bossa Nova concert at New York's Carnegie Hall.
Bonfá worked with American musicians such as Quincy Jones, George Benson, Stan Getz, and Frank Sinatra, recording several albums while in United States. Elvis Presley sang a Bonfá composition, "Almost in Love", in the 1968 MGM film Live a Little, Love a Little. Also of note is his "The Gentle Rain".
Bonfá died in Rio de Janeiro on January 12, 2001. He was 78 years old.
Legacy
In 2005, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings released an album of Bonfá's work, entitled, Solo in Rio 1959, which included previously unreleased material from the original recording session.
In 2008, Universal Music France released a coffee table book containing two CDs which included previously unreleased material of Black Orpheus soundtrack, and a DVD. Also in 2008, Universal Music released The Brazilian Scene, Braziliana and Black Orpheus celebrating the 50th anniversary of the bossa nova.
Bonfá's major legacy continues to be his compositions from the Black Orpheus soundtrack, most notably the instantly recognizable bossa nova classic "Manhã de Carnaval". But Bonfá's discography also attests to his uniquely inventive mastery of Brazilian jazz guitar. Bonfá's guitar style was brassier and more penetrating than that of his major contemporary, João Gilberto, and Bonfá was a frequent and adept soloist whereas Gilberto plays his own suave, intricate brand of rhythm guitar almost exclusively. Bonfá often played solo guitar in a polyphonic style, harmonizing melody lines in a manner similar to that made famous by Wes Montgomery in the USA, or playing lead and rhythm parts simultaneously. As a composer and as a guitarist, Bonfá played a pivotal role in bridging the incumbent samba-canção style with the innovations of the bossa nova movement.
Bonfá's "Seville" was sampled by Gotye for his 2011 hit single release "Somebody That I Used to Know". This created the guitar hook, and foundations of a song which reached the 10 top in over 30 countries.
The Song Is You
Luiz Bonfá Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A beautiful theme of every
Dream I ever knew.
Down deep in my heart I hear it play.
I feel it start, then melt away.
I hear music when I touch your hand,
A beautiful melody
Down deep in my heart, I hear it say,
Is this the day?
I alone have heard this lovely strain,
I alone have heard this glad refrain:
Must it be forever inside of me,
Why can't I let it go,
Why can't I let you know,
Why can't I let you know the song
My heart would sing?
That beautiful rhapsody
Of love and youth and spring,
The music is sweet,
The words are true
The song is you.
The Song Is You by Luiz Bonfà and Jorge Henrique is a lyrical masterpiece that expresses the romantic feelings of the singer towards his lover. The opening lines "I hear music when I look at you, A beautiful theme of every dream I ever knew" signifies the immense impact the singer's lover has on him. The use of music as an analogy in the lyrics reflects the emotional state of the singer, who's heart is confident in his love for his partner. When he touches his lover's hand, his emotions are elevated, and he hears "A beautiful melody from some enchanted land" which signifies the beauty and enchantment of their relationship.
In the next passage, the singer reflects on how it seems he is the only one who hears this beautiful music, as no one else has ever heard this melody. He longs to let his lover know about the song in his heart, but he feels restrained by some force he can not comprehend. The lyrics "Why can't I let it go, Why can't I let you know, Why can't I let you know the song My heart would sing?" show his internal struggle in letting his lover know how he truly feels about her. In the end, the singer expresses his heartful appreciation for their relationship through the words "The music is sweet, The words are true, The song is you," which signifies that his partner is the source of his happiness and love.
Line by Line Meaning
I hear music when I look at you,
Your presence fills me with such joy that it feels like a musical theme.
A beautiful theme of every
It's a beautiful theme that embodies all of my dreams.
Dream I ever knew.
It captures every good memory and wish that I ever had.
Down deep in my heart I hear it play.
It's not just a passing melody, but a tune that lingers in the depths of my heart.
I feel it start, then melt away.
Although it fades away, it leaves me with a feeling of warmth.
I hear music when I touch your hand,
It's not only when I see you that I feel such a lovely theme, but even when I touch you.
A beautiful melody
It's a lovely melody that transports me to another place.
From some enchanted land.
It feels like it comes from a magical place.
Down deep in my heart, I hear it say,
Just like before, it's a tune that speaks to me on a deeper level.
Is this the day?
I wonder if today is the day that we'll make beautiful music together.
I alone have heard this lovely strain,
It's a tune that only I can hear.
I alone have heard this glad refrain:
It brings me such happiness, but no one else can hear it.
Must it be forever inside of me,
I wonder if I'll ever be able to share it with anyone else.
Why can't I let it go,
Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to let it go.
Why can't I let you know,
I wish that I could share it with you.
Why can't I let you know the song
I wish that I could express this melody to you.
My heart would sing?
It's something that fills my heart with such love and joy.
That beautiful rhapsody
It's a beautiful composition that tells the story of my heart.
Of love and youth and spring,
It's filled with the promise of love, youth, and the renewal of spring.
The music is sweet,
It's a sweet and tender melody.
The words are true
But the real beauty is in the lyrics, which speak to my soul.
The song is you.
In the end, it's not just about the tune or the lyrics, but about you – the one who inspires such a beautiful melody in my heart.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jerome Kern, Oscar II Hammerstein
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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