And When She Passes, Each One She Passes...

I have always believed that I was born in the wrong decade. And it's music like this that makes me feel that way. Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto and the epic The Girl From Ipanema. I know a lot of people typically consider bossa nova to be kind of cocktail loungy sounding, but for me it makes me want to be lying on a beach in Rio with the sound of palm trees blowing in the breeze and a fruity alcoholic concoction close at hand. And naturally I'd be incredibly tan, thin and wearing some sort of sexy white bikini. Like Bond girl style. Well, we all have our dreams, right? Anyway, who can resist her voice! It's so...melty? I dunno, I just love it and could listen to it all day. But then I'd never get anything done because I'd be drinking in the sun somewhere pretending to be inhaling salty sea air instead of smog.

According to her bio on Pandora, Astrud just kind of randomly got this gig because of her husband, Joao (who co-wrote the song and was already a Brazilian sensation in the jazz world) was paired up with Stan Getz by Verve. The producer on the album wanted some English lyrics to ensure maximum crossover potential (greedy bastard), and Astrud was the only one with any grasp of the language. Joao sang the first verse in Spanish (although this video doesn't include him), Astrud the second in English, and BAM!, a star was born! Kind of a cool story really. I just recently learned that Amy Winehouse also covered this song on her posthumously released album. Poor Amy. All that hair... anyway, it's not bad, but you just can't beat the original on this one.