The Girl from Ipanema

By Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes & Norman Gimbel
1962

A beautiful song unfairly twisted by the rock-obsessed baby boomer generation into the epitome of elevator music, Jobim's greatest hit is anything but dull. A breathtaking bossa nova tune inspired by a real-life girl Jobim and Moraes admired on the beach in Rio, it became an international smash hit and the famous Astrid Giberto recording won the Grammy in 1965. It was originally introduced by Pery Ribeiro, and English lyrics later added by Gimbel.

Lyrics:

Tall and tan and young and lovely,
The girl from Ipanema goes walking.
And when she passes, each one she passes goes, "Ahhh..."

When she walks she's like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gentle,
That when she passes, each one she passes goes, "Ahhh..."

Oh, but I watch her so sadly.
How can I tell her I love her?
Yes, I would give my heart gladly.
But each day when she walks to the sea,
She looks straight ahead, not at me.

Tall and tan and young and lovely,
The girl from Ipanema goes walking,
And when she passes, I smile, but she doesn't.
She just doesn't see.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Stan Getz
Lou Rawls
Peggy Lee
Ella Fitzgerald

Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

By Antonio Carlos Jobim & Gene Lees
1963

One of the songs Jobim wrote for his groundbreaking collaboration with Stan Getz, this was first sung by the sublime Astrud Gilberto. The album, Getz/Gilberto, won the Grammy for Album of the Year and introduced Jobim and the bossa nova craze to the U.S. That same album also included another seminal bossa standard, "The Girl from Ipanema". It was originally written in Portuguese as "Corcovado".

Lyrics:

Quiet nights of quiet stars,
Quiet chords from my guitar,
Floating on the silence that surrounds us.

Quiet thoughts and quiet dreams,
Quiet walks by quiet streams,
And a window that looks out on the mountains and the sea, how lovely.

This is where I want to be,
Here with you so close to me,
Until the final flicker of life's ember.

I, who was lost and lonely,
Believing life was only
A bitter tragic joke, have found with you,
The meaning of existence, my love.

Recorded By:

Miles Davis
Sergio Mendes
Oscar Peterson
Blossom Dearie
Andy Williams

Brazil

By Ary Barroso & S.K. "Bob" Russell
1939

Written as a patriotic samba by Barroso, the greatest Brazilian composer of the standards era, this song was first recorded by Aracy Cortes with its original Portoguese lyrics. It became a runaway American hit when Russell added English lyrics to it in 1941. It was originally known as "Aquarela do Brasil", but the name was shortened in the U.S. It's been featured in an unusual amount of films and TV shows, ranging from Disney's 1942 animated picture Saludos Amigos, to 2008 Oscar favorite Australia.

Lyrics:

Brazil,
The Brazil that I knew,
Where I wandered with you,
Lives in my imagination.
Where the songs are passionate,
And a smile has flash in it,
And a kiss has art in it,
For you put your heart in it,
And so I dream of old Brazil.

Brazil,
Where hearts were entertaining June,
We stood beneath an amber moon
And softly murmured “someday soon”.
We kissed and clung together,
Then tomorrow was another day,
The morning found me miles away.
With still a million things to say

Now, when twilight dims the sky above,
Recalling thrills of our love,
There’s one thing I’m certain of;
Return, I will,
To old Brazil.

Recorded By:

Django Reinhardt
Frank Sinatra
Ray Conniff
Antonio Carlos Jobim
Rosemary Clooney