Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: samba
Song Meaning of “Garota de Ipanema” by Baden Powell
Garota de Ipanema – a jazzy Bossanova poetic song written in 1962 by composer Antonio Carlos Jobim and poet Vinicius de Moraes – is a tale of young, unknown love between a woman from Ipanema, a neighborhood in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, and the “Poet of the People”, a lovable drifter.
The song tells of the gentle beauty of the “girl from Ipanema” walking down the beach, beautiful and graceful, unaware of the head-over-heels effect she has on the enamored Poet of the People. He can only watch from a distance, in silent adoration, as she sways her hips and moves closer and closer along the sand.
In the chorus, the lyrics capture the Poet of the People’s longing for his beloved as he recognizes her youth and innocence, and can only dream of what it might be like to be with her. The verses highlight the contradiction between the two, reflecting the young woman’s innocence and the Poet’s pain of having to settle for nothing more than wishing her from afar.
The clever lyrics reflect the unspoken bond between the two, expressing the bittersweet emotions of love unbeknownst to either of them. The song is a beautiful reminder of young love, and the longing for what could have been.