"Sabiá" (also known as "The Song of the Sabiá") is a Brazilian song composed in 1968 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 ...
, with lyrics by
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...
. English-language lyrics were written later 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 wit ...
.
In 1968, "Sabiá" won first place at Brazil’s III Festival Internacional da Canção (International Festival of Song), where it was performed by Cynara and Cybele. After Buarque wrote the original lyrics, he traveled to Italy, and, while he was away, Jobim added a last verse, which was included in the performance at the Festival but was not well received. Buarque convinced Jobim to drop the verse, and it has not been used since.
The ''sabiá'' is a songbird (
Rufous-bellied thrush
The rufous-bellied thrush (''Turdus rufiventris'') is a songbird of the thrush family (Turdidae). It occurs in most of east and southeast Brazil from Maranhão south to Rio Grande do Sul states, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and central regions of Ar ...
in English) and the
national bird
This is a list of national birds, including official birds of overseas territories and other states described as nations. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status.
National birds
See al ...
of Brazil. Buarque's lyrics allude to the sabiá in the famous Brazilian poem "
Canção do exílio
"Canção do exílio" (, ''Exile song'') is a poem written by the Brazilian Romantic author Gonçalves Dias in 1843, when he was in Portugal studying Law at the University of Coimbra. The poem is a famous example of the first phase of Brazilian R ...
", written in 1843 by
Gonçalves Dias
Antônio Gonçalves Dias (; August 10, 1823November 3, 1864) was a Brazilian Romantic poet, playwright, ethnographer, lawyer and linguist. A major exponent of Brazilian Romanticism and of the literary tradition known as " Indianism", he is f ...
Will Friedwald
Will Friedwald (born September 16,
1961) is an American author and music critic. He has written for newspapers that include the ''Wall Street Journal'', ''New York Times'', ''Village Voice'', '' Newsday'', '' New York Observer'', and ''New Yor ...
questions why "Sabiá" was ever left off the original album, calling it "a soft, mystical piece on the order of the first album's 'Dindi'.... revealing Jobim as a Brazilian Billy Strayhorn." He says that trombonist
Milt Bernhart
Milt Bernhart (May 25, 1926 – January 22, 2004) was a West Coast jazz trombonist who worked with Stan Kenton, Frank Sinatra, and others. He supplied the solo in the middle of Sinatra's 1956 recording of '' I've Got You Under My Skin'' conducted ...
, who was on the session and had recorded with Sinatra many times dating back to 1953, thought "Sabiá" was "one of the most gorgeous things he ever heard Sinatra sing."
Charles L. Granata included "Song of the Sabiá" in his list of "Fifty Songs that Define the Essence of Sinatra" in his book ''Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording'' (Chicago Review Press, 1999).
Other recorded versions
*
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...
- ''Não Vai Passar'' (rec. 1968, released in 1990)
*
Clara Nunes
Clara Nunes (, August 12, 1942 – April 2, 1983) was a Brazilian samba and MPB singer, considered one of the greatest of her generation. She was the first female singer in Brazil to sell over 100,000 copies of a record,
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career o ...
- ''
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career o ...
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 ...
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 ...
Nara Leão
Nara Lofego Leão (; January 19, 1942 – June 7, 1989) was a Brazilian bossa nova and MPB (popular Brazilian music) singer and occasional actress. Her husband was Carlos Diegues, director and writer of '' Bye Bye Brasil''.
Life
Leão was bor ...
- ''
Dez Anos Depois
''Dez Anos Depois'' () is a 1971 double album of bossa nova standards by Brazilian singer Nara Leão.
The first LP is entirely acoustic. The arrangements and accompaniment, made by Brazilian guitarist Tuca, with occasional piano lines, were reco ...
Elis Regina
Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 2002), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and Pedro Mariano.
She became national ...
- ''Saudade do Brasil'' (1980)
*
Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.
Biography
Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, ...
Gal Costa
Gal Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos (born Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos; 26 September 1945 – 9 November 2022), known professionally as Gal Costa (), was a Brazilian singer of popular music. She was one of the main figures of the tro ...
&
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 ...
Eliane Elias
Eliane Elias BrowseBiography.com, 20 November 2011; retrieved 10 September 2014. is a Brazilian
Eliane Elias Plays Jobim'' (1990)
*
Susannah McCorkle
Susannah McCorkle (January 1, 1946 – May 19, 2001) was an American jazz singer.
Life and career
A native of Berkeley, California, McCorkle studied Italian literature at the University of California at Berkeley before dropping out to move to ...
- ''Sabia'' (1990)
*
Jaques Morelenbaum
Jaques Morelenbaum (() born 18 May 1954) is a Brazilian instrumentalist, arranger, conductor, composer and music producer.
Morelenbaum was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of conductor Henrique Morelenbaum and piano teacher Sarah Morelenbaum. Hi ...
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...