I came to my office today, turned on the computer, opened Winamp, and wondered, what song I decide to listen today….And I chose jazz folder…Then there it came one of my favorite, all time classic bossa nova song, “Garota de Ipanema”, mostly well known as “Girl From Ipanema”, many female actresses change the title to “Boy From Ipanema”.
Interested with the Portuguese lyric, I searched it in the internet. Voila! What I found was an interesting story about the song. Here, I straightly "cut-and-paste" a glimpse of the story from Wikipedia ( I loooove Wikipedia).
The song was inspired by Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto (now Helô Pinheiro), a then 18 year old girl who lived on Montenegro street in the fashionable Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro. Every day, she would stroll past the popular "Veloso" bar-cafe on the way to the beach, attracting the attention of regulars Jobim and Moraes ( hmmm….remember Malena?).
The song was originally composed for a musical comedy entitled Dirigível (Blimp), which was a work in progress of Vinicius de Moraes. The original title was "Menina que Passa" ("The Girl Who Passes by"), and the famous first verse was completely different.
In Revelação: a verdadeira Garota de Ipanema (Revealed: The Real Girl from Ipanema) Moraes wrote that she was:
"o paradigma do bruto carioca; a moça dourada, misto de flor e sereia, cheia de luz e de graça mas cuja a visão é também triste, pois carrega consigo, a caminho do mar, o sentimento da que passa, da beleza que não é só nossa — é um dom da vida em seu lindo e melancólico fluir e refluir constante."
which roughly translates to:
'"the exemplar of the raw Carioca: a golden-tanned girl, a mixture of flower and mermaid, full of brightness and grace, but with a touch of sadness, in that she carries with her, on her route to the sea, the feeling of that which passes by, of the beauty that is not ours alone — it is a gift of life in its constant, beautiful and sad ebb and flow."
Today, "Montenegro Street" is called "Vinicius de Moraes Street", and the "Veloso Bar" is named "A Garota de Ipanema". There is also a "Garota de Ipanema" Park in the nearby Arpoador neighborhood. (for the full story, click here)
Interesting!
Thought the look of the Girl from Ipanema is below my expectation to be honest. I was excepting more latin look girl with dark hair and olive skin, not the “playboy-mates” type. Well never mind...it was just my humble opinion...
Now it’s time to sing a long,People!
Garota de Ipanema
Olha que coisa mais linda, Mais cheia de graça, É ela menina, Que vem que passa
Num doce balanço, caminho do mar
Moça do corpo dourado, Do sol de Ipanema, O seu balançado é mais que um poema
É a coisa mais linda que eu já vi passar
Ah,porque estou tão sozinho,
Ah, porque tudo é tão triste,
Ah, a beleza que existe
A beleza que não é só minha, Que também passa sozinha
Ah, se ela soubesse, Que quando ela passa, O mundo sorrindo se enche de graça
E fica mais lindo, Por causa do amor
pic from Wikipedia
