Valle's precocious talent was evident from his high school years, which coincided with the height of the Bossa Nova movement in Rio. His classmates included future legends like Edu Lobo and Dori Caymmi, and his composition Sonho De Maria was included on the Avanço album by the highly influential Tamba Trio in 1963. With his brother Paulo Sérgio Valle as his lyricist, he had already built an impressive portfolio of songs, prompting the Odeon label (a subsidiary of EMI) to sign him to a recording contract. His debut album Samba Demais was released early in 1964. His reputation quickly spread, and his contemporaries on the music scene (including Wilson Simonal, Elis Regina, Nara Leão and many others) lined up to record his songs. A second album, O Compositor e o Cantor, followed in 1965, and featured the debut of what would become his most recognizable song, Samba De Verão (known in English as "So Nice (Summer Samba)"), as well as other instant classics as Deus Brasileiro, Gente and A Resposta.
1966 brought Valle's first trip to the U.S., where he and his then-wife Anamaria teamed up with the also recently-emigrated Sérgio Mendes briefly in an embryonic version of what would later become the latter's hugely successful Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66. The threat of being drafted and sent to Vietnam caused him to return quickly to Brazil, however, although the following year saw him return and have a more positive experience which included his debut American release Braziliance! on Warner Bros. Records, several appearances on the Andy Williams TV show. Following session work on Verve records releases by compatriots Walter Wanderley and Astrud Gilberto, the label released Valle's Samba '68 album featuring English-language versions of assorted songs from his earlier Brazilian releases.
Shortly thereafter, feeling homesick, Valle returned to Brazil and entered a new creative phase in his career. 1968's Viola Enluarada album was a more introspective affair, with Valle's songwriting attaining a more mature and reflective tenor far removed from the frothy and lighthearted feel of the "Samba '68" album. The title track became one of Valle's signature compositions and was a duet with the up-and-coming future icon Milton Nascimento. It also featured a surprising political bent previously absent in Valle's work, and the album as a whole pointed to a broader range of musical influences that moved him out of the box marked "bossa nova artist".
This process continued on 1969's Mustang Cor De Sangue, another leap forward that incorporated rock, soul and pop styles, all stamped with Valle's unmistakable melodic style. His work here reflected the sophisticated pop approach of American songwriters such as Jimmy Webb and Burt Bacharach as well as the inescapable influence of The Beatles.
Around this time, Valle was tapped to create theme music for assorted TV programs and "novelas" (soap operas), which over the next few years would become one of the main outlets for his work, along with advertising jingles. 1970's Marcos Valle (often referred to as "The Bed Album" due to its cover shot of Valle in bed) was his most adventurous effort to date as well as his most rock and psychedelic-influenced music up to that point. Backed by Milton Nascimento's backing band Som Imaginário, Valle explored a more eccentric approach, with a number of futuristic tracks and an extended instrumental suite not unlike the work of U.S. composer/producer David Axelrod. 1971's Garra was a career highpoint, a pop masterwork that summed up his music and still stands as one of the finest pop albums of the era, Brazilian or otherwise. Its effervescent pop/jazz/soul/bossa/film soundtrack musical stylings were matched by lyrics that attempted to reconcile Valle's hippie leanings with his status as a wealthy young musician who was also a successful businessman because of his successful novela soundtracks and corporate advertising accounts. Tele-novelas he provided some or all of the music for during this period included O Cafona, Minha Doce Namorada, Pigmalião 70, Os Ossos Do Barão and, most prominently, Selva De Pedra.
1972's Vento Sul album found Valle long-haired and bearded, and backed by the progressive rock band O Terço. His most experimental and left-field effort to date, it was something of a sales flop, although it has accumulated many admirers over the ensuing decades. The following year's Previsão do Tempo fared better and was an innovative effort made in conjunction with the band who initially formed to back Valle at live shows and named themselves after one of his songs, Azimuth (soon to change the spelling to Azymuth). This album had a notable jazz fusion influence due to Azymuth keyboardist José Roberto Bertrami's expertise on the Fender Rhodes keyboard and assorted synthesizers such as the Mini-Moog and the ARP Soloist. This sound would later prove a decisive influence on the Acid Jazz scene in Europe twenty years later.
In 1974 Valle provided the music for "Vila Sésamo", Brazil's version of "Sesame Street". He also released his final album on EMI, another self-titled effort. This album differed yet again from its predecessors in pursuing a piano pop sound reminiscent in turns of Elton John, Todd Rundgren and Bread, and replete with elaborate vocal arrangements. At this point, Valle had grown tired of the strictures of living and working under Brazil's military dictatorship, then in its darkest and bleakest phase. He therefore decided to return to the U.S., where he spent the rest of the decade. Settling in Los Angeles, he entered into collaborations with artists as diverse as Sarah Vaughan, Chicago and rnb singer and songwriter Leon Ware. Valle and Ware found themselves especially compatible, and wrote many songs together, Valle appearing on several of Ware's Elektra album releases.
Nova Bossa Nova
Marcos Valle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Quem vê corpo não vê nada mais perfeito
Quem se chega se amarra no teu jeito
Quem te toca fica louco de paixão
Pra mim não tem saída, você na minha vida
É só tentação
Olha, tou tentando fazer rap Bossa Nova
Escrevendo qualquer coisa muito louca
Pra no fim pedir um beijo em tua boca
Não dá pra esconder
Eu quero te dizer
Você é um avião
É toda vez que eu tento ligar pra você
Tá na secretária ou ta ocupado
É já deixei recado já mandei dizer
Eu não posso mais, estou apaixonado
Olha, qualquer coisa passa aqui num fim de tarde
Tou sozinho, tou morrendo de saudade
Com você a vida tem mais poesia
É uma Bossa Nova de alegria
Na cara e na coragem
Você é uma viagem
Pro meu coração
Pra que levar bagagem
É só pouso e decolagem
Você é um avião... você um avião... você é um avião
The lyrics of Marcos Valle's "Nova Bossa Nova" express the singer's infatuation with a woman, commenting on her beauty and allure. The first stanza speaks about how appearances can be deceiving, noting that it is the person on the inside that matters. The singer reflects on how those who approach her become enamored with her mannerisms and those who touch her become crazed with passion. To him, there is no way to resist her, she is pure temptation.
In the second stanza, the singer expresses his desire to blend the musical styles of rap and Bossa Nova. He amusingly mixes the characters of Don Juan and Casanova, two notorious womanizers, as he writes his poetic and crazy lyrics with the ultimate goal of requesting a kiss from the one he desires. He explains that he has already tried calling her, but to no avail, since she is either busy or simply not picking up. No matter how hard he tries to communicate with her, he cannot ignore his feelings of being in love.
Overall, "Nova Bossa Nova" is a light, upbeat song that captures the smooth vocal and jazzy rhythms characteristic of Bossa Nova, mixed with contemporary rap elements.
Line by Line Meaning
Olha, que vê cara não vê rosto mais bonito
Looks can be deceiving when it comes to beauty
Quem vê corpo não vê nada mais perfeito
Physical appearance doesn't guarantee perfection
Quem se chega se amarra no teu jeito
Your personality is irresistible to those who come close
Quem te toca fica louco de paixão
Your touch can ignite a passionate response
Pra mim não tem saída, você na minha vida
There's no escaping the fact that you belong in my life
É só tentação
You're nothing but temptation to me
Olha, tou tentando fazer rap Bossa Nova
I'm trying to create a new style by blending rap and Bossa Nova
Misturando Don Juan com Casanova
Combining the charm of Don Juan with the seduction tactics of Casanova
Escrevendo qualquer coisa muito louca
Writing something crazy and unconventional
Pra no fim pedir um beijo em tua boca
All leading up to asking for a kiss from you
Não dá pra esconder
I can't hide it
Eu quero te dizer
I want to tell you
Você é um avião
You're a bombshell
É toda vez que eu tento ligar pra você
Every time I try to call you
Tá na secretária ou ta ocupado
You're either busy or your answering machine picks up
É já deixei recado já mandei dizer
I already left a message, I already told someone
Eu não posso mais, estou apaixonado
I can't help it, I'm in love
Olha, qualquer coisa passa aqui num fim de tarde
Anything can happen during a sunset
Tou sozinho, tou morrendo de saudade
I'm alone and missing you terribly
Com você a vida tem mais poesia
With you, life is more poetic
É uma Bossa Nova de alegria
It's a happy Bossa Nova
Na cara e na coragem
With courage and determination
Você é uma viagem
You're an adventure
Pro meu coração
For my heart
Pra que levar bagagem
Why carry baggage
É só pouso e decolagem
It's just takeoff and landing
Você é um avião... você um avião... você é um avião
You're a bombshell... you're a bombshell... you're a bombshell
Contributed by Stella G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Pablo Kalincausky
Esta é a minha música de fundo quando vou correr na praia. Graças a Marco Valle, desfruto de saúde !!! Abraço enorme...
João Abussamra
é isso ai, amigo. Corridinha na praia ao som do grande mestre Marcos Valle é realmente uma experiência única. Abraços.
Luiz Antonio Costa
Obrigatório ( para quem gosta de ótima música) ouvir Marcos Valle
Antonio Dametto
Marcos Valle, preciosidade nacional. Grande compositor, arranjador, musico. Musicas maravilhosas. Sempre se reinventando, atualizado, sem perder o balanço, a melodia, a bossa. Maravilhoso.
William Nelson
Marcos has always been great but he has really improved with age.
Rossy Romero
Fusión de jazz, bossa, samba....una explosión de ricos y contagiosos sonidos
Edna Silva
Marcos Valle é tudo de bom, o cara é fera!
William Nelson
Love Marcos, a great discovery thanks to Youtube, for an old Bossa Nova fan who only knew about Jobim, Gilberto, etc. I actually like Marcos better, esp with collaborations with Cris delano, Menescal and Jose Santiago. hose are all great videos. Title track for this album is lovely and cool.
Paloma Oliveira
Que magnífico esse album, gostoso de ouvir, e da vontade de dançar do inicio ao fim.
FREJAH
Grande intérprete da música brasileira