See Sérgio Mendes.

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)

Anos Dourados
Sergio Mendes Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Parece que dizes
Te amo, Maria
Na fotografia estamos felizes
Te ligo afobado
E deixo confissões no gravador
Vai ser engraçado
Se tens um novo amor

Me vejo ao teu lado
Te amo? Não lembro
Parece Dezembro de um ano dourado
Parece bolero
Te quero, te quero
Dizer que não quero
Teus beijos nunca mais
Teus beijos nunca mais

Não sei se eu ainda
Te esqueço de fato
No nosso retrato pareço tão linda
Te ligo ofegante
E digo confusões no gravador
É desconcertante
Rever o grande amor

Meus olhos molhados
Insanos, Dezembros
Mas quando eu me lembro
São anos dourados

Ainda te quero
Bolero, nossos versos são banais
Mas como eu te espero

Teus beijos nunca mais
Teus beijos nunca mais

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Sérgio Mendes's song "Anos Dourados" (Golden Years) speak of a love that was once strong, but has now faded away. The singer seems to be reminiscing about a past relationship with Maria, as he remembers their happy times together in a photograph. He calls her urgently and leaves confessions on her answering machine, wondering if she has moved on with someone new. The singer reflects on whether he has truly forgotten about Maria or if he still longs for her. He expresses his desperate desire to be with her, but acknowledging that their love is banal and that he must move on from her kisses.

The use of the word "dourados" (golden) in the title and throughout the lyrics is significant as it represents a time when everything was perfect and the future was full of possibilities. This nostalgia for a bygone era is a common feeling that people can relate to. The lyrics are also a reminder that we cannot always hold onto the past, even if it was once beautiful.

Overall, Sérgio Mendes's song "Anos Dourados" is a poignant portrayal of lost love and nostalgia for a time when everything seemed perfect.

Line by Line Meaning

Parece que dizes
It seems like you're saying

Te amo, Maria
I love you, Maria

Na fotografia estamos felizes
In the photograph we are happy

Te ligo afobado
I call you hastily

E deixo confissões no gravador
And leave confessions on the answering machine

Vai ser engraçado
It will be funny

Se tens um novo amor
If you have a new love

Me vejo ao teu lado
I see myself by your side

Te amo? Não lembro
I love you? I don't remember

Parece Dezembro de um ano dourado
It feels like December of a golden year