Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, each one she passes goes - ah
Who doesn't know this song? The beautiful song, composed by Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim, is one of the most played songs in the world and was performed by many artists worldwide.
Recently, Scott Vogel published an interesting article in the Washington Post entitled "The girl from Ipanema, a cruise to the muse". There, the journalist reaffirmed a story that many people in Brazil believe to be truth: Vinicius de Moraes wrote the lyrics of the song in a bar in Ipanema called Veloso (now Garota de Ipanema bar), inspired by a beautiful young girl named Heloísa or Helô. Scott Vogel writes about the trip he made to Brazil to meet her and about the fun he had in a cruise ship along the coast of the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. When he finally meets Helô, a tall, tan, lovely and not so young woman anymore, she gives her testimony on how she became aware of the rumors about having inspired the song.
Another version of the story, however, is explained by Ruy Castro in his book "Bossa Nova: The story of the Brazilian Music that Seduced the World" (p. 239-240):
It has already been explained, but people find it hard to accept the truth: Jobim and Vinícius did not write "The Girl from Ipanema" in the Veloso bar (today called Garota da Ipanema). It was never the duo's style to write music sitting at a table in some bar, although they had probably spent the best hours of their lives in them. Jobim composed the melody meticulously on the piano at his new home in Rua Barro da Torre, and it was originally intended for a musical comedy entitled Blimp, which Vinícius already had worked out in his head but had not yet committed to paper. Vinícius, in turn, had written the lyrics in Petrópolis, near Rio, as he had done with "Chega de Saudade" six years earlier, and it took him just as much work. To begin with, it wasn't originally called "Garota da Ipanema," but "Menina que passa" (The Girl Who Passes By"), and the entire first verse was different. As for the famous girl, Jobim and Vinícius did in fact see her pass by as they sat in the Veloso bar, during the winter of 1962— not just once, but several times, and not always on her way to the beach but also on her way to school, to the dressmaker, and even to the dentist. Mostly because Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto, better known as Helô, who was eighteen years of age, five feet, eight inches tall, with green eyes and long, flowing black hair, lived in Rua Montenegro and was already the object of much admiration among patrons of the Veloso, where she would frequently stop to buy cigarettes for her mother—and leave to a cacophony of wolf-whistles.
I am among the ones that find it hard to accept the truth. I prefer to believe in Vogel's version. It is more romantic. Besides, because of Helô, many girls like me grew up dreaming of one day finding an artist to inspire. And speaking of artists, let's check this video with Tom, Vinicius, and their masterpiece:
And when she passes, each one she passes goes - ah
Who doesn't know this song? The beautiful song, composed by Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim, is one of the most played songs in the world and was performed by many artists worldwide.
Recently, Scott Vogel published an interesting article in the Washington Post entitled "The girl from Ipanema, a cruise to the muse". There, the journalist reaffirmed a story that many people in Brazil believe to be truth: Vinicius de Moraes wrote the lyrics of the song in a bar in Ipanema called Veloso (now Garota de Ipanema bar), inspired by a beautiful young girl named Heloísa or Helô. Scott Vogel writes about the trip he made to Brazil to meet her and about the fun he had in a cruise ship along the coast of the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. When he finally meets Helô, a tall, tan, lovely and not so young woman anymore, she gives her testimony on how she became aware of the rumors about having inspired the song.
Another version of the story, however, is explained by Ruy Castro in his book "Bossa Nova: The story of the Brazilian Music that Seduced the World" (p. 239-240):
It has already been explained, but people find it hard to accept the truth: Jobim and Vinícius did not write "The Girl from Ipanema" in the Veloso bar (today called Garota da Ipanema). It was never the duo's style to write music sitting at a table in some bar, although they had probably spent the best hours of their lives in them. Jobim composed the melody meticulously on the piano at his new home in Rua Barro da Torre, and it was originally intended for a musical comedy entitled Blimp, which Vinícius already had worked out in his head but had not yet committed to paper. Vinícius, in turn, had written the lyrics in Petrópolis, near Rio, as he had done with "Chega de Saudade" six years earlier, and it took him just as much work. To begin with, it wasn't originally called "Garota da Ipanema," but "Menina que passa" (The Girl Who Passes By"), and the entire first verse was different. As for the famous girl, Jobim and Vinícius did in fact see her pass by as they sat in the Veloso bar, during the winter of 1962— not just once, but several times, and not always on her way to the beach but also on her way to school, to the dressmaker, and even to the dentist. Mostly because Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto, better known as Helô, who was eighteen years of age, five feet, eight inches tall, with green eyes and long, flowing black hair, lived in Rua Montenegro and was already the object of much admiration among patrons of the Veloso, where she would frequently stop to buy cigarettes for her mother—and leave to a cacophony of wolf-whistles.
I am among the ones that find it hard to accept the truth. I prefer to believe in Vogel's version. It is more romantic. Besides, because of Helô, many girls like me grew up dreaming of one day finding an artist to inspire. And speaking of artists, let's check this video with Tom, Vinicius, and their masterpiece:
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