"Água de Beber" ("Water To Drink") is a

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

composed by

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian mu ...

and originally recorded in the key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: : Changes ...

, with lyrics written by

Vinicius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright ...

. The English lyrics were written by

Norman Gimbel Norman Gimbel (November 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes. He wrote the lyrics for songs including "Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Ready to Take a Chance Again" (both with ...

. The story is, as told by Kléber Farias, one of the engineers who helped build

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

: In 1959, when the new capital was being built, the

President of Brazil The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...

Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a prominent Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. His term was marked by economic prosp ...

invited Antonio "Tom" Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes to spend a season at

Catetinho The Catetinho was the first official workplace of the President of Brazil Juscelino Kubitschek. History The name ''Catetinho'' comes from the then official residence of the president, the Catete Palace. Oscar Niemeyer's project, was built in ju ...

(the provisional presidential palace, made of wood) to compose a symphony that would be performed at the inauguration of Brasilia. One evening, Vinicius and Tom were walking near the wooden palace when they heard the noise of the water. They asked the watchman "But what is that noise of water here?" The watchman replied, "Você não sabe não? É aqui que tem água de beber, camará." on't you know? This is where you have drinking water, buddy boy. At that moment, they learnt both the source of water and inspiration for the first song composed in Brasilia. Kléber was one of the first to hear the song, sung by Tom and Vinícius at the city's only hotel, hours after composing it.

Recordings

- ''

Philips 78 rpm Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

'' (1961) *

Maysa Maysa Figueira Monjardim (June 6, 1936 – January 22, 1977), better known as Maysa Matarazzo, was a Brazilian singer-songwriter, performer and actress. She is also associated with Bossa nova music but is widely known as a torch song (''fossa' ...

- '' Canção do Amor mais Triste'' (1962) *

- ''

The Composer of Desafinado, Plays ''The Composer of Desafinado, Plays'' is the first album by Antônio Carlos Jobim. Released in 1963, the album features a dozen instrumentals arranged by Claus Ogerman, whose work would mark the beginning of a lifelong musical relationship with Jo ...

'' (1963) and ''

The Wonderful World of Antonio Carlos Jobim ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1965) *

Astrud Gilberto Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema". Biography Astrud Gilbert ...

(with Jobim) - ''

The Astrud Gilberto Album ''The Astrud Gilberto Album (with Antonio Carlos Jobim)'' is the debut studio album by Astrud Gilberto. With Antonio Carlos Jobim on guitar and the arrangements by Marty Paich, it was released via Verve Records in 1965. It peaked at number 41 on t ...

'' (1965) *

Sérgio Mendes Sérgio Santos Mendes (; born February 11, 1941) is a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his group Brasil '66. He has over 55 releases and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk. He was nominated for ...

- ''

Herb Alpert Presents ''Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66'' is the first album by Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011. Referring to the song " Mas que Nada" Mendes said in 2014: "It was the first time tha ...

'' (1966) *

La Lupe Lupe Victoria Yolí Raymond (23 December 1936 – 29 February 1992), better known as La Lupe, was a Cuban singer of boleros, guarachas and Latin soul, known for her energetic, sometimes controversial performances. Following the release of he ...

(with

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz c ...

) - ''Tú y Yo'' (1965) *

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

(with Jobim) - '' Sinatra & Company'' (1969) *

Juan García Esquivel Juan García Esquivel (January 20, 1918 – January 3, 2002), often known mononymously as Esquivel!, was a Mexican band leader, pianist, and composer for television and films. He is recognized today as one of the foremost exponents of a sophisti ...

- '' The Genius of Esquivel'' (1967) *

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R ...

- ''Glow'' (1976) *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

- ''

Ella Abraça Jobim ''Ella Abraça Jobim'' or ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook'' is a 1981 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, devoted to the songs of Antônio Carlos Jobim. It was reissued on CD in 1991, although the CD version does not inclu ...

'' (1981) and '' Ella A Nice'', Pablo, (1971) *

(plus James Last and his orchestra) (1986) * Joseph Portes (merengue rhythm) - ''

Agua de beber Agua means water in Spanish. Agua may also refer to: Places * ''Agua de Dios'' (God's water), a municipality in Colombia * Volcán de Agua, a stratovolcano located in Guatemala Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Agua'' (film), a 2006 Argentin ...

'' (1988) *

Eliane Elias Eliane Elias
BrowseBiography.com, 20 November 2011; retrieved 10 September 2014. is a Brazilian jazz pianist, sin ...

- '' Eliane Elias Plays Jobim'' (1989) *

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born on January 11, 1952, in Los Angeles, California, United States. At the age of eight he started play ...

- ''A Twist of Jobim'' (1997, various artists) * Charlie Byrd - ''My Inspiration: Music of Brazil'' (1999) * Quarteto Jobim Morelenbaum - ''Quarteto Jobim Morelenbaum'' (2000) *

Sophie Milman Sophie Milman (born 1983) is a Russian-born Canadian jazz vocalist. After emigrating from Russia in the early 1990s, Milman, who is Jewish, spent most of her childhood years in Israel where she listened extensively to jazz. Her family later emigr ...

- ''Sophie Milman'' (2004) *

Meja Meja Anna Pernilla Kullersten (formerly Beckman; born Anna Pernilla Torndahl, 12 February 1969) is a Swedish composer, artist and singer. Among her best known songs are "Private Emotion", a duet with Ricky Martin from his multi-Platinum album ...

- ''Mellow'' (2004) * Ana Paula Lopes - ''Meu'' (2005) *

Tania Maria Tania Maria (born May 9, 1948) is a Brazilian artist, singer, composer, bandleader and piano player, singing mostly in Portuguese or English. Her Brazilian-style music is mostly vocal, sometimes pop, often jazzy, and includes samba, bossa, Afro ...

- ''Intimidade'' (2005) * David Benoit - ''Full Circle'' (2006) *

Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll ...

- ''

Standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

'' (2011)

References

* Bet E & Stef - Jazz/Bossa Nova (2002) Bossa nova songs Brazilian songs Frank Sinatra songs Portuguese-language songs Songs with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim Songs with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes 1963 songs {{1960s-pop-song-stub

Recordings

See also

References