The document summarizes the author's love affair with bossa nova music. It traces how he was exposed to various genres of music from a young age while growing up in Manila. In his teens, he discovered bossa nova music which had a unique style. He discusses some of the popular bossa nova artists he enjoyed like Astrud Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim. His appreciation further grew while studying abroad in Europe where he discovered classic bossa nova albums. He provides background on the origins and rise in popularity of bossa nova music from Brazil in the late 1950s and 1960s. He highlights some of his favorite bossa nova songs and the poetic nature of the Portuguese lyrics.

1. My Love Affair with Bossa Nova
I’m a third generation “Manila Boy”. My mother’s family has been living in the Makati-Singalong
area since the era old-timers called “peace time”. My father as a lad shined combat boots of
American soldiers who liberated Manila from the Japanese Imperial Army.
While we do not have professional musicians from both sides of the family, I have been exposed to
Western pop music at an early age. I have Titos and an elder brother, who loved to sing, play the
guitar, and collect vinyl records. They’re not into the the Tom Jones or Perry Como stuff but more
into rock and roll. The place I grew up in Singalong, if I may say, was also “up to date” in music
appreciation. I remember that when I was old enough to be let out of the house by my parents, I
would go and listen to “combos” (musical bands as they were called then) practicing in some
neighbor’s house. Some of the bands came from their gigs in Vietnam playing for American GIs.
The bands were playing rock and R&B, the music young Americans listened to while waging war
against the Vietcong commies.
Back then, our place was a mecca for bohemians. We have neighbors working in the entertainment
industry so we see artists visiting or just plain hanging out. We saw fashion designers, stage actors,
relatively famous pop singers and dancers, even professional basketball players come and go.
Perhaps the reason they visited was no one cared to bother them. They can let their hair down
because we were not stars-trucked with them.
Music was everywhere as bands practicing and polishing their repertoire were common. Even the
“istambays” (groups who hang around) can whip their versions of the country and folk music of
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Jim Croce, Seals and Crofts, James Taylor, etc., while indulging in
their favorite drinks in front of the “sari-sari” (local convenience) store.
Despite the music around me, I never learned to play any musical instrument, especially the guitar.
Folks said that I didn’t have the “oido”, the “ear” for music. I could not translate the notes that I hear
into my fingers. So instead, I compensated my inability to play any musical instrument by imbibing
all genres of music available to me. I have a considerable number of music files in my iTunes, all
ripped from my CD collection before Spotify became a popular app.
So when did my love affair with bossa nova began? It was serendipitous.
When I was in my early teens, I chanced upon a music that to my ears was relatively fresh and
unheard of. I heard a particular song from a friend's record which had a different flair to it. The
male singer was singing softly as if whispering, accompanied by a peculiar guitar play with a
distinct strumming rhythm and heavily accentuated by percussion instruments. The lyrics talk
about people named Coltrane and Miles. The singer was also crooning about Brazil and its famous
city, Rio de Janeiro. The long-haired, mustached guy certainly didn’t look like a hippie, he looked
well-kept and wholesome. That was how I first discovered Michael Franks and his song “The Lady
Wants to Know”. The people mentioned in the song, I learned later, were jazz greats - John
Coltrane and Miles Davis. I also found out that his songwriting was heavily influences by a
variance of Latin jazz known as bossa nova.
In the late seventies I began listening to smooth jazz, a commercial form of jazz fusion, which at
that time was becoming a part of the musical mainstream. There was a local FM station which
played popular and radio-friendly jazz music, introducing Filipinos to the genre. Previous to that,
jazz like classical music was only appreciated by musical purists and the cognoscenti. Once in a
while, the station featured other forms of jazz including bossa nova that developed my love for the
music.
I started out with the more popular bossa nova hits of Astrud Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim. In
addition to her hit “The Girl from Ipanema”, Astrud sang covers of American songs arranged with a
touch of Brazilian jazz rhythm. Jobim, on the other hand, had his songs interpreted by a lot of solo
singers and groups like Sergio Mendez and Brazil ’66. In the mid- to late 70s, Bong Peñera and his

2. band Batucada were considered the main proponent of Brazilian-influenced Philippine jazz.
Peñera’s famous work is “A Samba Song” which was unmistakably Brazilian in melody but with
Filipino and English lyrics.
My college barkadas in UP were into rock and heavy metal. I enjoyed listening to Black Sabbath,
Led Zeppelin and Van Halen but I was afraid that I would be the subject of my friends’ ridicule if
they found out that I was listening to Astrud Gilberto in my contemplative and quiet moments. It
was something that you enjoyed doing but don’t tell your friends about it. Up to this day when the
old boys meet up, it’s still heavy metal that permeates our drinking sessions.
Bossa nova became popular music in the Philippines in the mid-2000s when Sitti Navarro did
covers of contemporary western songs. Some relatively-unknown artists followed suit but the
proliferation of their music sort of relegated bossa nova to being lounge if not elevator music cliche.
It was definitely not the music that I fell in love with.
My love affair with bossa nova actually blossomed when I studied in Europe in 1988. In December
of that year, alone and far from family to spend Christmas with, my friends and I decided to spend
our winter school break in London. While promenading along Oxford Street, I went inside Virgin
Record Shop where I was awed by the wide array of records the likes of which I have not seen
before. I bought a collection of vintage but digitally re-mastered bossa nova classics. Reading
through the CD jacket, I marveled at how the origins of the music were intertwined with the political
and cultural history of Brazil. On that day, I was introduced to the music of composer and arranger
Antônio Carlos Jobim, guitarist João Gilberto, poet and lyricist Vinicius de Moraes, saxophonist
Stan Getz, guitarist Luis Bonfá, and chanteuse Elis Regina.
The Birth of Bossa Nova
Bossa nova (slang for “new thing” or “new style”) was born on the 10th of July, 1958 at the old
Odeon recording studios in Rio de Janeiro, when João Gilberto recorded “Chega de Saudade”. It
was considered as the very first bossa nova song and the beginning of a musical and worldwide
cultural phenomenon. Gilberto’s version of the song was arranged by Antônio Carlos Jobim, a
classically-trained Rio de Janeiro-born pianist who also played the guitar and sang and wrote his
own songs.
Bossa nova gained popularity in the US when Gilberto took up residence in New York in 1963 with
his young wife, Astrud (Weinert) Gilberto. That year João Gilberto collaborated with Getz on the
album “Getz/Gilberto,” which included the Jobim-de Moraes song “Garota da Ipanema,” sung by
both Astrud in a wispy but beguiling girlish voice in English, and João in Portuguese. The song was
released as “The Girl From Ipanema.” 1964 saw the global breakthrough of a new kind of jazz-
infused music that blended sinuous, caressing melodies with subtle syncopated rhythms, when
“The Girl From Ipanema” won the 1964 Grammy for Record of the Year. “Getz/Gilberto” was also
named Album of the Year, which marked the first time a jazz album received the accolade. It also
won Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group and Best Engineered Album, Non-
Classical. “The Girl From Ipanema” transformed Astrud into an international star and she who
would go on to make records as a solo artist from 1965 onwards. After the phenomenal
commercial success and critical acclaim of “The Girl From Ipanema” and the release of
“Getz/Gilberto”, bossa nova fever gripped the US and the whole world.
Political Movement
Behind the beautiful songs, introduced by João Gilberto and made popular by Jobim, that millions
of people around the world fell in love with are its historical context that are interesting as the
music.
João Gilberto took strains of Brazilian samba and American pop and jazz and reconfigured them
for a new class of young, smart, middle class Brazilians who were flooding into the cities as the
economy boomed in the late 1950s. It helped turn bossa nova into a global symbol of an urbane,

3. modern, open, forward-looking, and confident Brazil that left behind its colonial past. Gilberto’s
music ushered the relative prosperity and optimism during the presidency of Juscelino Kubitschek,
a social democrat who made great strides in industry, education, health and labour rights.
"This is a music that comes from a specific point in Brazilian cultural history," says musician and
musicologist Arthur Nestrovski. "It's a product of a brief period of democracy, between the early
1950s and the mid-60s, in between two spells of military dictatorship. We had a new capital city,
Brasilia, designed by a radical young architect called Oscar Niemeyer. Our football team won the
World Cup twice in a row! And we had the bossa nova, the highest flowering of Brazilian culture.”
This period in Brazilian musical history was depicted in the Netflix period drama, “Girls from
Ipanema” (previously titled “Coisa Mais Linda” in Portuguese and translated into “Most Beautiful
Thing”). Set to the seductive strains of bossa nova, the show has for its title, "Coisa Mais Linda”
that was inspired by the opening line of “Garota de Ipanema”:
Olha que coisa mais linda, mais cheia de graça.
Amidst the stunning set design and costumes of the early 60s and great-music vibes, the show’s
heroine, Maria Luiza, represented Brazilians at the time when bossa nova was gaining popularity.
Critics describe the series as a "lush look at a woman stuck between her conservative life in São
Paulo and the more open life in Rio” combined with a "unique blend of aesthetic beauty and
character chemistry enough to keep this one engaging and watchable throughout”. If you like a
soap with R-rated scenes spiced up by good musical scoring, then “Girls from Ipanema” is a must
watch for you.
The musical lyrics of the late 1950s depicted the easy life of the middle to upper-class and often
spoke of love, the beach, and beautiful women, a depiction of the lyricist’s bohemian life rather
than the darker side of the daily struggles of the majority working class. While bossa nova was
reaping success in the US, Brazil saw the ouster of Kubitschek’s left-wing civilian government and
the arrival in 1964 of a military regime.
Bossa nova, the music style associated with complacence, is considered by many as responsible
for the birth of the protest music of the 1960s in Brazil that denounced the then prevailing political
uproar leading to the 1964 military coup. Bossa nova then went into retreat musically in
conjunction with political developments in Brazil until it finally gave way to music that featured
politically charged lyrics and referred explicitly to the struggle of the working class.
The Poetry Behind Bossa Nova
An evolution of Afro-Brazilian music, bossa nova infuses samba with jazz and blues to create a
nostalgic yet heart-warming sound describing intimate lyrical themes of love, sadness, passion,
and longing. Summing up the appeal of the music, Sérgio Mendes, arguably the most famous
Brazilian artist, described it:
“I think it’s very sensual, it’s very romantic, and you can also dance to it. Those three
components make it very, very beautiful. And it has great melodies – melodies that you can
remember.”
Bossa nova reflects literary eloquence over music that tastefully utilizes shades of jazz and soul.
Its poetic lyrics set in delicate melodies and lush harmonies, and sang in hushed intimacy continue
to enthrall music enthusiasts. The music has an indescribable quality that epitomize coolness,
mesmerizing the listener to transcend time and be transported to another place. It suggests a
serene and romantic seduction but at the same time is restless. Perhaps my fondness for poetry
was also one reason I was lured to the music.

4. Take the case of “Corcovado” where João Gilberto merges his nasal speech-like vocal style, quiet
and timid, to a guitar as he sings a romantic ode to the famous landmark in Rio de Janeiro where
Christ the Redeemer stands:
“A little corner and a guitar, This love, a song, To make those who love themselves happy,
Calm down to think. And have time to dream.”
Vinicius de Moraes’ poem and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s arrangements produced the iconic, “Garota
de Ipanema”, a song about an older man looking, if not lusting, at a younger woman knowing fully
well that the lass is beyond his reach. The translated Portuguese lyrics depict both feelings of new-
found joy and loss:
“Look, such a sight, so beautiful, so filled with grace,
It’s her, this girl who comes and who passes,
With a sweet swing, on her way to the sea.
Girl with body of gold from the sun of Ipanema,
Her swing is more than a poem,
Is a sight more beautiful than I have ever seen pass by
Ah, why am I so alone? Why is there so much sadness?
This beauty that exists, this beauty that is not only mine, that also passes by alone
Ah, if she but knew, that when she passes by, the world smiles, is filled with grace,
And becomes more beautiful, because of love.”
The original Portuguese version is a seamless weave of lyrics of stunning sensuality. De Moraes'
Portuguese lyric: “'Olha que coisa mais linda/ Mais cheia de graça … ' scans very differently (from
the English lyrics). It's languid, swinging, irregular. The rhythm is displaced. It has an extraordinary
mobility which mimics the movement of the girl passing by”.
My most favorite bossa nova song is “Insesatez” better known in its English version as “How
Insensitive” though it translates more accurately to "How Foolish” or “Senselessness”. Jobim’s
background in classical music and Impressionism was evident in “Insensatez", which was inspired
by Frederick Chopin’s “Prelude in E-Minor (op.28 no. 4)”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef-4Bv5Ng0w
The lyrics were written in Portuguese by Vinícius de Moraes and in English by Norman Gimbel. De
Moraes’ poetry in the song lyrics perfectly captures the essence of triste, or sadness, which is
interpreted as “a touch of sadness”. It captures a sweet and certain sadness; a cool, gentle sadness
that almost takes pleasure from heartbreak. There's a soft kind of sadness in it, but not in a
depressing way but can be described as a nostalgic feeling like a “good memory” arising from a sad
event. There is elegance and sophistication, a tune that is so lush that it just slow-drips on you like
sweet sensuous drops of honey. You don’t understand a single word but it goes right into your heart
and soul.
The song was sang by Maria Helena Toledo, with the Stan Getz -- Luiz Bonfa Septet and
appeared in the 1963 album “Jazz Samba Encore!”. The haunting song served as a musical
backdrop for a video of the 1961 film, “La Notte” ("The Night”), an Italian drama directed by
Michelangelo Antonioni and starred heartthrob Marcello Mastroianni.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o5OaRM4YWw
Vinícius de Moraes’ Portuguese lyrics in “Senselessness” transpose to the listener a feeling of a
love affair long lost and gone:
“Ahh, senselessness
What have you done?
A careless heart

5. You caused your love to cry with pain
A so delicate love.
Ahh, why were you so weak like this?
In this heartless way!
Ahh, My Heart, one who never loved does not deserve to be loved!
Go on, My Heart, listen to reason! Use only sincerity!
One who sows wind, says reason, only reaps storm.
Go on, My Heart, ask for forgiveness! Passionate forgiveness!
Go on, My Heart, because one who does not ask for forgiveness, will never be forgiven.”
Why do I love bossa nova? She is my mistress, a seductress showing rare glimpses of her flesh to
tease my imagination. Her songs like a siren’s call, work on my mind to stimulate my fantasies, to
keep me wanting for more and creating patterns of both hope and despair. And when I fall for her
charms, she lures me away from my reality and gets me to spend time in a world of sensual
pleasure and desire. She takes pleasure in creating a delightful edge of unreality, as if the seducer
and the seduced are acting out in a magical realm of fiction. In my lover’s arms, there is no
repressed emotions and moral judgments. I show no hesitation, I abandon all restraint, I let myself
be taken back and I lose all control. She knows my moment of ultimate surrender. She takes her
time, creates anticipation and when our act is consummated, I am further enslaved.
Alas, when I have given up everything for my lover, like the English lyrics of Gimbel in “How
Insensitive”, she sings a swan song to our love affair:
“How insensitive, I must have seemed when you told me that you loved me
How unmoved and cold, I must have seemed when you told me so sincerely
Why you must have asked did I just turn and stare in icy silence
What was I to say, what can you say when a love affair is over
Now you've gone away and I'm alone with a memory of your last look
Vague and drawn and sad, I see it still all your heartbreak in that last look
Why, you must have asked did I just turn and stare in icy silence
What was I to say, what can you say when a love affair is over.”
And while I wallow in tears and sadness, suddenly I find happiness in sorrow. Life imitates art in
Michael Franks’, “I Don’t Why I’m So Happy I’m Sad”, a cut from his 1975 album, “The Art of Tea”.
Love is always blue…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7yBxdXpcqY
References:
Brown, Sarah. “Top 15 Bossa Nova Songs to Add to Your Playlist Right Now.” Culture Trip. 02
October 2017. https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/brazil/articles/top-15-bossa-nova-songs-to-
add-to-your-playlist-right-now/. Accessed 22 June 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bossa_nova. Accessed 21 June 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls_from_Ipanema. Accessed 21 June 2020.
Lewis, John. “Why Bossa Nova is 'The Highest Flowering of Brazilian Culture’". 01 October 2013.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/01/bossa-nova-highest-culture-brazil. Accessed 21
June 2020.

6. Ratliff, Ben. “João Gilberto, an Architect of Bossa Nova, Is Dead at 88.” The New York Times. 06
July 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/06/arts/music/joao-gilberto-dead-bossa-nova.html.
Accessed 22 June 2020.
Reily, Suzel Ana. “Tom Jobim and the Bossa Nova Era.” Popular Music, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp.
1–16. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/931201. Accessed 21 June 2020.
“The Secret History Of Bossa Nova.” BBC,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2013/37/r4-bossa-nova-tues Accessed 22 June 2020.
“A Tribute to Bossa Nova.” https://www.etno-muzej.si/en/razstave/a-tribute-to-bossa-nova.
Accessed 21 June 2020.
Waring, Charles. “Bossa Nova: The History Behind Brazil’s Quiet Revolution.” Udiscovermusic, 16
April 2020, https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/bossa-nova-history-brazil/. Accessed 21 June
2020.
WikiPilipinas.org; http://dancepinoy.blogspot.com.br/ cited in
http://www.philembassybrasilia.org/pdf/Setenta!.pdf. Accessed 21 June 2020.