60’s Nostalgia – The Girl from Ipanema

By the 60’s Americans were becoming interested in the world. American influence around the globe was growing and new food, new beats and new accents began to show up on the radio, I was memorized in 1964 by the Stan Getz version of the Girl from Ipanema sung by Astrud Gilberto. The beat, the haunting saxophone solos and Astrud’s breathy, unaffected and sensual delivery etched itself indelibly in my brain. I didn’t know bossa nova from boss hog but I would have followed Astrud anywhere and especially Brazil.

At the time, I don’t remember every seeing a picture of Astrud or hearing her perform any other songs. In my imagination, Astrud was the girl from Ipanema, sensual and swaying to the beat because her voice and vocal delivery made the vision real. On the video, Astrud hardly moves or changes her expression. She is dressed primly with an uptight 60’s college girl hairdo. I am shocked and dismayed because Astrud is not the girl from Ipanema. She is only telling a story.

But oh what a story

It is a story that any male twenty-something knows about the beautiful woman who doesn’t know (or care) that you exist. It is also the unrealized fantasy that one day, she will see you and the love you offer and you both sail into the sunset. Astrud tells the story beautifully with here impecable rythyms and clean intonations. She doesn’t show off her voice, belt out the song, interject yelps and bleats and warbles like singers these days do. Am I the only one that longs for real singing these days?  What do you say?  What is your feeling about Astrud and the song?  If you remember this song from th 60’s, how did it affect you then and what do you think about it today. If you were born after the 60’s what do you think about Astrud and the Girl From Ipamena. Was it just a 60’s thing or does the song have emotional impact today.