A song (and composers) that would be familiar to most Brazilians
But not necessarily for gringos
Edu Lobo, one of the masters of MPB (a genre that translates to, simply, Popular Brazilian Music)
This song was composed for the inaugural edition of the MPB song festival/contest in 1965
It caused quite the stir
Elis Regina sang it for the festival
Interestingly, these festivals/contests were big during the military dictatorship ( which began in Brasil in 1964)
Vinicius de Moraes, “THE poet” wrote the lyrics
Vinicius was a lawyer, diplomat, and author of the most famous poetry of midcdntury Brazil
He wrote “Garota de Ipanema”
The street is now named after him
Running from Ipanema beach to Rio’s lagoon
The highest rent distract in the city
*district
Edu Lobo was a composer’s son
And spent summers with his dad’s family in Recife (birthday
Northeast of Brazil)
Which exercised an important influence on his oevre
He met Vinicius young, and collaborated on a large number of projects
Reactions to the song came fast and strong
It stood in direct contrast to the understated bossa style
Some hated on it, but even more loved it
Edu put out his own version (the one above) on his debut LP on Elenco (the seminal Bossa Nova label)
Luis Eca is likely responsible for the arrangements
He headlined the Tamba Trio
A musical genius with an incredible output spanning multiple genres
Gotta come back to some of his stuff in future doses
The lyrics here describe the fisherman, the tides, and Iemanja, the candomble orisha of the sea
