Sérgio Santos Mendes (born Niteroi, 11 February 1… Read Full Bio ↴See Sérgio Mendes.
Sérgio Santos Mendes (born Niteroi, 11 February 1941) is a Brazilian musician. Born the son of a physician in Niteroi, Brazil, Mendes attended the local conservatory with hopes of becoming a classical pianist. As his interest in jazz grew, he started playing in nightclubs in the late-1950s just as bossa nova, a jazz-inflected derivative of samba, was taking off. Mendes played with Antonio Carlos Jobim (regarded as a mentor), and many U.S. jazz musicians who toured Brazil.
Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded Dance Moderno in 1961. Touring Europe and the United States, Mendes recorded albums with Cannonball Adderly and Herbie Mann and played Carnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and cut two albums under the Brasil '65 group name with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records. When sales were tepid, he replaced his Brazilian born vocalist Wanda Sa with the distinctive voice of Chicago native Lani Hall (who learned Mendes' Portuguese material phonetically) and switched to Herb Alpert's A&M label and released Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. (Hall would later marry Alpert). The album ultimately went platinum based largely upon the success of the single Mas Que Nada and the personal support of Alpert, with whom Mendes toured regularly. Though his early singles with Brasil '66 (most notably Mas Que Nada) met with some success, Mendes really burst into mainstream prominence when he performed the Oscar nominated Burt Bacharach/Hal David song "The Look of Love" on the Academy Awards telecast in March 1968. Brasil '66's version of the song quickly shot into the top 10, eclipsing Dusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of the movie, and Mendes spent the rest of 1968 enjoying consecutive top 10 and top 20 hits with his follow-up singles, "The Fool on the Hill" and "Scarborough Fair." Though he continued to enjoy adult contemporary chart successes with Brasil '66 through 1971, he would not experience the mainstream chart hits he enjoyed in 1968 until his comeback album in 1983 generated the biggest single of his career, "Never Gonna Let You Go." However, from 1968 on, Mendes was arguably the biggest Brazilian star in the world, enjoying immense popularity worldwide and performing in venues as varied as stadium arenas and the White House, where he gave concerts for both President Johnson and President Nixon.
Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled in the mid-70s, but he remained very popular in South America and Japan. (This disparity became a Seinfeld in-joke.) His two albums with Bell Records in 1973 and 1974, followed by several for Elektra from 1975 on, found Mendes continuing to mine the best in American pop music and post-Bossa writers of his native Brazil, while forging new directions in soul with collaborators like Stevie Wonder, who wrote Mendes' R&B-inflected minor hit, "The Real Thing." In 1983, he rejoined Alpert's A&M records and enjoyed huge success with a self-titled album and several follow-up albums, all of which received considerable adult contemporary airplay with charting singles. By the time Mendes released his Grammy-winning Elektra album Brasileiro in 1992, he was the undisputed master of pop-inflected Brazilian jazz. The late-1990s lounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' oeuvre, particularly the classic Brasil '66 albums. He has released over thirty-five albums, and still plays his bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk. His newest album, Timeless released in 2006, featured Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas, Q-Tip, Justin Timberlake, and Pharoahe Monch.
(Text taken in whole from the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Mendes on March 30, 2006)
Alibis
Sergio Mendes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But it's there, I swear.
It's not somethin' I'm imaginin'
Each time you call,
I know I'll get your "working late" routine again
Is there someone I should know about?
Tell me why do I have this doubt?
I'm sure your alibis are watertight
And you're where you have to be tonight
Whoa, oh, but I know you're slippin' away from me
[Chorus 2]
I'm know your alibis are watertight
And you're where you say you are tonight
But honey, I can tell
I know the pattern much too well
I don't fool so easily
Slippin' away from me
Your telephone service says you're out again.
Somewhere, out there, you've got another rendezvous
I know the way you work
You'll be someplace where no one can check up on you
You think you're in the clear but don't forget
That's exactly the way we met
[Chorus 1]
[Chorus 2]
Is there someone I should know about?
Tell me why do I have this doubt
[Chorus 1]
[Chorus 2]
[Chorus: Fade]
The lyrics of Sergio Mendes's song "Alibis" revolve around suspicion and doubt in a relationship. The singer expresses the feeling that their partner is not being completely honest with them, using the recurring "working late" excuse as a cover-up for something else. Despite the partner's seemingly airtight alibis and assurances of their whereabouts, the singer still feels like they're "slipping away" and has a sense of unease. The lyrics are ambiguous in terms of what the partner may be hiding, but there's a strong suggestion of infidelity or some kind of betrayal.
The lyrics are particularly effective in conveying the singer's feelings of uncertainty and vulnerability. The use of the phrase "slipping away" creates a sense of something being lost or disappearing, while the repetition of "watertight alibis" emphasizes the partner's attempts to be convincing. The singer's tone is one of resignation rather than anger, suggesting that they've been through this before and know what to expect. The final line, "That's exactly the way we met", adds an extra layer of complexity to the narrative, hinting that the singer may have been in a similar situation themselves in the past.
Line by Line Meaning
It's nothin' I can put my finger on
I can't say for sure what's going on, but something doesn't feel right
But it's there, I swear.
I know there's something off even if I can't explain it
It's not somethin' I'm imaginin'
I'm not making this up
Each time you call,
Whenever you call me,
I know I'll get your 'working late' routine again
I expect to hear your excuse about working late as usual
Is there someone I should know about?
Is there someone else you're involved with that I should be aware of?
Tell me why do I have this doubt?
Can you explain why I feel uneasy about our relationship?
I'm sure your alibis are watertight
I believe your excuses are well-crafted
And you're where you have to be tonight
And you're in the place you said you would be tonight
Whoa, oh, but I know you're slippin' away from me
But I have a sense that you're distancing yourself from me
But honey, I can tell
But sweetheart, I know
I know the pattern much too well
I'm familiar with your behavior and can recognize the signs
I don't fool so easily
I'm not easily deceived
Your telephone service says you're out again.
Your phone company indicates that you're not at home.
Somewhere, out there, you've got another rendezvous
Somewhere else, you're meeting up with someone else
I know the way you work
I understand your modus operandi
You'll be someplace where no one can check up on you
You'll choose a location where nobody can verify your whereabouts
You think you're in the clear but don't forget
You believe you've covered your tracks, but remember
That's exactly the way we met
That's the same method you used to get in touch with me initially
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: MACAULAY, SNOW
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@michiganman4398
Why can’t we get music like this anymore? No digital compression, wide range of instruments, talented vocals. This is talent right here, not a manufactured musical product.
@aeroacro90
We can no longer get quality music like this on the pop music scene because record companies are now more interested in marketing images and gimmicks instead of talented music artists. I used to be a radio announcer, but I don't think I could work for a contemporary music station in this day and age.
@beckmiss1
Agree, miss the 80s music.
@josebrown5961
We can’t get music like this because it costs too much money. Why have a band when you can assemble songs with samples and a computer?
Time to do a concert? Just hire some studio musicians and boom, you have your band.
Look on the credits of any Pop song. You usually have 5-7 writers! Songs used to be written by one or two people. You can bet that everyone in the studio will get a writer credit.
Edit: I am not happy about the way of music today.
@Momsdailyagenda
I can’t stop playing this song! Heard it on the radio the other day, and it’s stuck in my head! 🥰 Love the lyrics!
I remember watching Solid Gold as a kid (8 years old) and learning how to dance by watching the Solid Gold Dancers💕.
@michaellomeli8096
Great Great Song. Watched It Over And Over on VH 1 In 1984.
@liurodriguez5964
Yes me too!
@rhondadixon1180
2023 and this song is just as good as it was when it debuted in 1983!! Timelessly great!! 40 years and it's still a great song!!
@hawaiisown50
Yup. Another forgotten classic is "Sweetheart" by Franke & The Knockouts
@nightfly776
Have always loved this song. Pizzulo's vocal is nothing short of top shelf. Mendes was a brilliant producer/arranger and managed to stay in the forefront of popular music well into the eighties. Thanks for the post.