Wow

Wow, I guess I had forgotten that people actually read this blog. Apparently I’ve somehow ended up becoming the voice for the Obama generation. You’d never guess I’m a fan of many (though certainly not all) of the views of Barry Goldwater. I’ll have to be more careful who I make fun of in the future. Elephants have very thick skin, but people don’t. 🙂

On a somewhat less politically fraught note, the answer to the mystery from the other day: The song I hear wherever I go, in restaurants, shops, train stations, and just about everywhere else in seemingly every city of every country around the world is Jobim’s “Garota de Ipanema”, better known in english as “The Girl from Ipanema”.

7 thoughts on “Wow”

  1. You should never be careful about who you make fun of… We should all be able to make fun of others as well as ourselves. It’s just not that interesting without a little fun thrown in here and there.

  2. Since you’d made the suggestion we might look at the tune, I thought I’d give it a shot. It’s a interesting exercise. Assuming that there is something remarkable about the song, I’d make a wild conjecture that these three features make listening a memorable experience – in order of perceived importance:

    Harmony
    (In F:) F7 G7 Gm7 Gb7 F7
    It barely moves up, then slinks back down into I, hitting all the interesting harmonies it can on the way. F7 fills in all the “odd notes” of the scale, while G7 fills in the “evens”.

    Melody
    Starts on the note that the harmony is about to move into, so it has the effect of “pulling” the harmony up to its pitch. Repetitive but moves. Finally “rests” on the fifth, unusually.

    Rhythm
    The syncopated bossa nova rhythm keeps things moving with a conversational pace.

    Each of these elements is pretty subtle, so together they produce a lot of bang for little expended energy, making the mystery look easy. There seems to be something unremembered about the tune when hearing it played, I think because the melody sticks in the mind, but the harmony can’t be rendered easily in the head (at least by me). Perfect for elevator music the world over, and that’s no insult.

  3. Dan, I love your analysis. I think it ends on an unresolved chord because the guy doesn’t get the girl – as in “For No One” by the Beatles, I think all of the songs that emerged from Jobim’s legacy have that quality of complex jazz chord changes under simple calm melodies. It creates a mood of emotional complexity, and often regret, beneath an apparently placid exterior. Which is a pretty good description of the way most people are most of the time – hence the popularity of the genre.

    The latest comment is a surprising take on it. Jobim was never known as a great vocalist. I would argue that it’s not so much Jobim’s voice as the voice of Joao Gilberto that could seduce anybody (and Astrud on the English part doesn’t hurt).

    My favorite “elevator music” moment was the first time I heard the Stones’ “(I Can’t get No) Satisfaction” as Muzak. That was when I realized the world had changed.

  4. well, yeah – wasn’t that gilberto’s voice? i never said jobim…astrud on the english part is good, but the ‘lp’ version that cuts gilberto completely really does a serious injustice to the song. i mean, this is the album that beat sgt pepper’s for the grammy! respect must be paid.

  5. Oops, sorry. I didn’t realize you were referring to Gilberto. Yes, I agree completely. His voice is mesmerizing. I saw Joao Gilberto in concert a few times. Whenever he sings, the entire audience is under a spell.

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