" Desafinado" (a Portuguese word, usually rendered into English as " Out of Tune", or as " Off Key") is a 1959 bossa nova song and jazz standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics (in Portuguese) by Newton Mendonça.
Background
“Desafinado” was originally composed as a response to critics who claimed that the bossa nova genre was created for singers who cannot sing. The song has multiple English-language adaptations.
Jon Hendricks, along with The Richmond Organisation (credited under the pseudonym “Jessie Cavanaugh”), created lyrics that employ consonance to reframe the concept as a love song about lovers who have fallen “slightly out of tune.” These Hendricks lyrics were notably recorded by
Ella Fitzgerald on her 1962 single and by
Perry Como on his 1963 album, The Songs I Love.
A separate English adaptation, written by
Gene Lees and more closely aligned with the original Portuguese lyric (though not a direct translation), appears on select recordings.
Chart performance
The version by
Stan Getz and
Charlie Byrd (from the album
Jazz Samba) was a major hit in 1962, reaching number 15 and number 4 on
Billboard′s pop and easy-listening charts, respectively; their definitive rendering also reached number 11 in the UK. In Canada the song was co-charted with the Grammy nominated version by Pat Thomas where they reached No. 14.
Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd
Accolades
The song was voted by the Brazilian edition of
Rolling Stone as the 14th greatest Brazilian song.
The 1959 João Gilberto album
Chega de Saudade contained the song and was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.
Other recordings
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Also in 1962, Ella Fitzgerald's version made number 38.
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An instrumental version was included on The Lonely Bull by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (1962).
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Astrud Gilberto and George Michael recorded a version for the 1996 compilation album Red Hot + Rio.
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Ana Caram covered the song on her 2001 album Bossa Nova.
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Kali Uchis recorded an English cover of the song that was included on .
See also
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List of bossa nova standards
External links
