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THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA

When I think of Rio de Janeiro, my mind always wanders to the song, “The Girl From Ipanema.”

Popular myth has it that it was inspired by Héloisa Pinheiro, a teenage girl who lived on Rua Montenegro in Rio de Janeiro’s fashionable Ipanema district. Every day, she would stroll past the popular Bar Velosa on her way to the beach, attracting the attention of regulars Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.

In fact, it was originally composed for a musical comedy entitled Dirigível (Blimp), which was a work in progress of Vinícius de Moraes. The original title was "Menina que Passa" ("The Girl Who Passes by"), and the famous first verse was completely different. Jobim composed the melody meticulously on the piano at his new home in Rua Barão da Torre, in Ipanema. Vinícius, in turn, had written the lyrics in Petrópolis, near Rio, as he had done with "Chega de Saudade" six years earlier.

The true part of the myth is that the composers did in fact know Héloisa and later connected the song's creation with her. They saw her pass by as they sat in the Veloso bar, during the winter of 1962. They noticed her several times on her way to the beach, to school, to the dressmaker and even to the dentist.

It's not hard to imagine why they'd remember her; she was an attractive 5 feet, 8 inches tall (173 cm) teen. Jobim would later say, “She had long, golden hair, these bright green eyes that shone at you and a fantastic figure; let’s just say that she had everything in the right place.”

Today, Montenegro Street is called “Rua Vinícius de Moraes” and the Veloso Bar is named “A Garôta de Ipanema.”

Garôta de Ipanema

Music – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Lyrics – Vinicius de Moraes

Olha que coisa mais linda
mais cheia de graça
É ela menina que vem e que passa
nun doce balanço, caminho do mar...

Moça do corpo dourado, do sol de Ipanema
O seu balançado é mais que un 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
por causa do amor
por causa do amor

The Girl From Ipanema

Music – Antonio Carlos Jobim
English lyrics – Norman Gimbel

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

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 "aaah!"

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 see
She just doesn't see
No, she doesn't see