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)
Like a Lover
Sergio Mendes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Slowly rises and kisses you awake
Your smile is soft and fuzzy
As you let it play upon your face
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the morning sun to you
Like a lover, the river wind
Upon your cheek it lingers
Never having known a sweeter place
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the river wind to you
How I envy a cup that knows your lips
Let it be me, my love
And a table that feels your fingertips
Let it be me, let me be your love
Bring an end to the endless days and nights
Without you
Like a lover, the velvet moon
Shares your pillow and watches while you sleep
Its light arrives on tiptoe
Gently taking you in its embrace
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the velvet moon to you
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the river wind to you
How I envy a cup that knows your lips
Let it be me, my love
And a table that feels your fingertips
Let it be me, let me be your love
Bring an end to the endless days and nights
Without you
Like a lover, the velvet moon
Shares your pillow and watches while you sleep
Its light arrives on tiptoe
Gently taking you in its embrace
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the velvet moon to you
I might be like the velvet moon to you
I might be like the velvet moon to you
The lyrics to Sergio Mendes's song "Like a Lover" describe the dream of being able to love someone as gently and intimately as the morning sun, the river wind, and the velvet moon. The morning sun, as it slowly rises and kisses the person awake, brings a smile to their face. The river wind ripples its fingers through their hair, leaving a sweet lingering sensation on their cheek. The velvet moon watches over them as they sleep, taking them in its gentle embrace. The singer of the song dreams of being like these natural elements, able to love their significant other with the same tenderness and care.
The lyrics also express a longing for intimacy and a desire to be close to the person they love. The singer envies objects that have touched their lover's lips and fingers, wishing they could be the one to experience that intimate connection. The endless days and nights without their loved one are painful, and the dream of being able to love them like the morning sun, river wind, and velvet moon is a way to cope with the distance.
Overall, "Like a Lover" is a romantic and poetic song about the desire for intimacy and the dream of being able to love another person in a gentle and tender way.
Line by Line Meaning
Like a lover, the morning sun
The morning sun rises and kisses you awake with the warmth and affection of a lover.
Slowly rises and kisses you awake
The sun's warm rays gently and softly awaken you from sleep with a tender kiss.
Your smile is soft and fuzzy
Your smile is warm and full of love, bringing a sense of comfort and safety to those around you.
As you let it play upon your face
You allow your smile to light up your face and radiate joy to all those around you.
Oh, how I dream
The artist longs and yearns deeply for a relationship with the other person.
I might be like the morning sun to you
The singer desires to bring warmth, light, and vitality to the other person's life, just like the morning sun.
Like a lover, the river wind
The river wind blows gently and softly, caressing the person's hair with a lover's touch.
Sighs and ripples its fingers through your hair
The gentle breeze delicately ripples through your hair, creating a soothing sensation and a sense of calmness.
Upon your cheek it lingers
The breeze lingers on your cheek, leaving a pleasant, refreshing feeling and a memory of its touch.
Never having known a sweeter place
The gentle breeze has never been in a more exquisite and delightful place than by the person's side and in their hair.
How I envy a cup that knows your lips
The singer is jealous of an inanimate object, a cup, that has the privilege of being close to the person's lips and feeling their touch.
Let it be me, my love
The artist begs and pleads for the person to let them be that privileged object that is close to their lips.
And a table that feels your fingertips
The singer longs for the privilege of being the table that the person touches, feeling their warmth and their grasp.
Bring an end to the endless days and nights without you
The singer is tormented by the endless days and nights without the person and desires an end to this suffering.
Like a lover, the velvet moon
The velvet moon, round and soft, watches over the person like a lover, with tenderness and protection.
Shares your pillow and watches while you sleep
The moon shares the person's bed and watches over them protectively while they sleep.
Its light arrives on tiptoe
The moonlight arrives softly and delicately, just like a lover arrives on tiptoe to avoid disturbing their partner's slumber.
Gently taking you in its embrace
The moon's light wraps the person in a gentle and loving embrace, creating a sense of warmth and comfort.
I might be like the velvet moon to you
The singer desires to be like the velvet moon, watching over the person with tenderness and love, and protecting them from harm.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Spirit Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Alan Bergman, Dorival Tostes Caymmi, Marilyn Bergman, Nelson Motta
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@AT-gp9kd
Lyrics
Like a lover, the morning sun
Slowly rises and kisses you awake
Your smile is soft and fuzzy
As you let it play upon your face
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the morning sun to you
Like a lover, the river wind
Sighs and ripples its fingers through your hair
Upon your cheek it lingers
Never having known a sweeter place
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the river wind to you
How I envy a cup that knows your lips
Let it be me, my love
And a table that feels your fingertips
Let it be me, let me be your love
Bring an end to the endless days and nights
Without you
Like a lover, the velvet moon
Shares your pillow and watches while you sleep
Its light arrives on tiptoe
Gently taking you in its embrace
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the velvet moon to you
[Bridge:]
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the river wind to you
How I envy a cup that knows your lips
Let it be me, my love
And a table that feels your fingertips
Let it be me, let me be your love
Bring an end to the endless days and nights
Without you
Like a lover, the velvet moon
Shares your pillow and watches while you sleep
Its light arrives on tiptoe
Gently taking you in its embrace
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the velvet moon to you
@lisatorres7743
My Wonderful Father, Melvin, played all these songs on his Fischer Stereo System and it was so Awesome. I was 7 yrs old then and still listen to them at 63, As we speak my 96 yr. Old Father is passing from Alheimerz''s,. All these songs are for you Dad!!! I Love You so much, Dad!!!
@jmrodas9
Well thank GOD he lived a long life, and I hope he recovers. Regards.
@edwinlipton
So glad you got too know a father like that.
@crisoliveira1542
God bless your dear father 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
@douglasrowland3722
A good father is IRREPLACEABLE.....We All Have One Father... WE Will Be Following Him Shortly....
take. a. look. around
👁️👁️
@thomasgabruk6592
I enjoy all of them today and loved them in my teens😍😍😍😍
@jeffreymorton2883
Brasil 66 is the sound of my childhood and I'm a white boy from Kentucky! My parents were into Burt Bacharach, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana brass and even though I was in front row seat to watch their crumbling marriage, we had our Zenith console stereo and this music was what soothed my heart and will forever. Lani, I love you so much. You're so beautiful and your voice is my sanity. Thank you!!!!
@jeffreymorton2883
The look of love is my favorite eternally. Teamo Lani Sergio and all you geniuses of Brasil 66. I'm 60 now and your music is TIMELESS!
@tomlynntigard
Like a Lover was the flip side of The Look of Love 45. I started liking Like a Lover because the arrangement, especially the strings is insanely beautiful; also Sergio repeating the lines Loni sang because he sounded a lot like Peter Tork of the Monkees, just slightly off-key, you can't "unhear" that. This song is timeless and it's lyrics describe love perfectly.
@edwinlipton
You were blessed,, and lucky.