Ipanema, what a wonderfully sounding word for the name of the neighborhood in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. It is also one of Rio’s most expensive areas. The beach will be crowded with surfers and sunbathers and on Sunday, the street closest to the beach is closed just to bicycles, roller skaters, and walkers.
But the etymology of Ipanema isn’t as wonderful as it sounds. Ipanema comes from the Tupi language meaning “pond stinking”
What about the girl from Ipanema?
Composer Antonio Carlos Jobim and poet Vinicius de Moraes penned the music The Girl from Ipanema in the 1962. And it was written because of an eighteen-year-old Heloisa Eneida Menezes Paris Pinto, a native of Rio, as she walked the area of Ipanema.
One story states the two songwriters were drinking at their favorite watering hole often enough to see the girl of Ipanema strolling by regularly. De Moraes called it “sheer poetry.” The song was composed right there on bar napkins.
But legend has it that the writers were working on a musical comedy called Blimp which featured a Martian landing in Rio during Carnaval. The half-written song The Girl Who Passes By lacked the inspiration they were looking for until they thought of the girl of “sheer poetry.” The song was newly titled Garota da Ipanema.
The song became such a hit that one cover passed the chart of the Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand, topping out at No. 5 and selling two million copies. It was the second-most recorded popular song behind Yesterday.
The girl went on to become a businesswoman and former model. She has a clothing boutique in Rio called “Girl From Ipanema.”
I like the Stan Getz version featuring Astrud Giberto.
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