Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz perform "The Girl From Ipanema, 1964. Source: FabTV/Youtube
Tall and tan and young and lovely, “The Girl From Ipanema” is an undisputed musical classic. Released in the mid 60s, it was one of the few singles that succeeded in dethroning the massive hits cranked out by the Beatles on the American charts, if only for a short while. Today, more than 50 years later, it has been remixed and reinterpreted more times than it’s possible to count.
It also holds a special place in the hearts of Brazilians. And with Brazil at the center of the world stage thanks to the Rio Olympics, it was only natural for the song to be featured in the opening ceremony of the games. Organizers even picked out famous Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen to represent the girl from Ipanema, proudly strutting out on the catwalk assembled in the middle of the Maracaná stadium.
Gisele Bundchen as the girl from Ipanema at Rio's 2016 Olympics. Photo: New York Times
But English speaking listners familiar with the standard English translation of the lyrics would be surprised to find that they have almost nothing to do with the literal meaning of the original Portuguese lyrics. How different? We’ve put together a handy, 3 column comparison of the original lyrics in Portuguese, the literal translation of them in English, and the standard version of the song most English speakers usually hear:
What a difference! First of all, it’s clear why the official translation is always used. It flows much better with the melody of the original, and brings in a rhyming scheme that would be hard to add to a more literal version of the lyrics.
But it’s amazing to see how, despite mixing in some of the original words (“tan”, “sway”, etc.), the official translation flips the narrative of the original song around. In the original, listeners can perhaps picture a guy laying out on the beaches of Rio, watching a pretty girl go by, knowing he doesn’t have a chance and finding it to be a bit of a downer, but nonetheless finding a positive spin to put on it: that the “smiling world fills with grace, and becomes prettier because of love.” On the other hand, the official translation has a much sadder tone, that of a hopeless lover, desperate for the admiration of a beach beauty, but completely shot down, and without any consolation from a smiling world as the song wraps up to a few gentle toots from a tenor sax. Is there any explanation for such a difference? Looking at how the song was composed, and later translated, might give us a clue. The original music for the song was composed by Antonio Carlos “Tom” Jobim (the namesake of Rio de Janeiro’s airport), with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The pair composed the song in 1962, during a get-together near (where else?) Rio’s Ipanema beach, in admiration of one of the prettier girls walking by. Though the song was recorded in Portuguese immediately after it was written, the authors had no intention of translating it into English. Little did they know that, as they were relaxing on the beach, ogling hot girls, the well-known American sax player Stan Getz was getting ready to introduce their musical style, samba, to a US audience. Getz got the idea from guitarist Charlie Byrd, who toured Brazil the year before. Together, they released “Jazz Samba” in 1962, including a song written by Jobim. It was an immediate success in the States, leaving Americans eager for more. In response to this, Getz brought in Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto to record a new album, "Getz/Gilberto" on which Gilberto was to sing a few Brazilian classics in Portuguese. But since Gilberto didn’t feel comfortable singing in English (his English skills only extended to a few sentences), his English-speaking wife Astrud was brought in to sing in English. Though Astrud Gilberto didn’t do the translating herself (that was done by Norman Gimbel) and it wasn’t her husband doing the ogling, it’s hard not for her to imagine getting a bit of pleasure singing out the story of a man, possibly an unfaithful husband, getting shot down as he goes after pretty young things on the beach when he should be at work. But, despite the comparatively less upbeat tone of the song, it went on to be a huge hit. And there were even versions of the song made in other languages too: Spanish, French, and even Japanese! Comments are closed.
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