The Inspiration Behind 'The Girl From Ipanema'

Nearly everyone can hum at least a few lines of the famous Bossa nova classic, “The Girl From Ipanema.” But who was the girl who inspired the song? Photo: Heloísa Pinheiro
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[@jennifer86010]

1:15 Listening to these non-singers try to imitate singing this song....still sounds good !! Portuguese is a magical language, which when spoken or sung, even badly, still sounds like music !!

[@bobfeller604]

Timeless classic, just beautiful. I can still hear Astrud Gilberto's voice in my head.

[@continentalgin]

Timeless classic song that helped define the sunny, breezy summer days of the sixties.

[@Robin-Woo]

Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto served as the unwitting muse that inspired Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes to compose The Girl from Ipanema. She was the beguiling young woman who strolled pass the Veloso bar-café each day, galvanizing attention, turning heads, and leaving broken hearts in her wake. She was an unattainable goddess who deigned to walk the earth. This excruciatingly bittersweet longing for the unattainable is a special flavor of melancholy that the Portuguese call “Saudade.” It is a recurring and a defining aspect of Portuguese and Brazilian culture. In the voice of Astrud Gilberto, we can discern the poetic fragility that eloquently conveys - definitively - the meaning of heartbreaking Saudade. Thus, Astrud Gilberto became an ambassador of Bossa Nova and The Girl from Ipanema became one of the most recorded songs in music history. Descanse em paz Astrud

[@sirleneferreira7009]

Helô Pinheiro merecia muito ser homenageada !Ela sim e a verdadeira garota de Ipanema

[@CSProduction12]

I am going to pretend I didn't see this. While the woman that actually inspires the song is lovely, The song itself is much better when the girl from Ipanema is left to the imagination.

[@YeonGi_Lover]

I have the opposite opinion. I fell like so many songwriters try to appeal to as many girls nowadays just so their songs gain more popularity. It feels more authentic knowing that there is actually one real person who left such an impression on the musition. Imo

[@kennethlyneham138]

The Inspiration of course was the girl herself. Like many good songs and other peotry, it is based on truth. The writer would see this beautifil young girl walk by each day, being so young, innocent and beautiful, it was easy to fall in love with her and the least attention she paid, the more he loved her. The best love, love unrequited. Heloisa Pinheiro WAS the paradigm of youthful beauty that all of us know is fleeting, and so it also is sad. Astrud Gilberto's voice transmits all that, when she sang the song, and that, was serendipitous because she had no training in singing and she spoke little English. It is interesting, and good to know, that when the copyright owners sued Pinheiro for calling her boutique, "Garota de Ipanema", they lost. That was because the composers, Jobim and Moraes, had named her 'Garota de Ipanema in a press release and that she was the inspiration for their song.

[@seregodega123]

Astrud Gilberto was already a singer before. João Gilberto, who was her husband at the time, gave her that song to sing as a surprise. The story that she was a housewife discovered by Stan Getz is false. She also already spoke english very well, her father was a language teacher and she’s a polyglot.

[@lalla160]

Siim

[@motogp2008champion]

Helo Pinheiro is so lovely! Thank you Helo!

[@warrenleezy]

Oh . . . Helo is so lovely . . .

[@cristianoguimaraes5982]

Excelente entrevista!!!

[@liemh9290]

She is beautiful

[@jenarogarcia6127]

Que Dios te bendiga mi Helo.

[@BobDiaz123]

Nice to know that the woman who inspired the song wasn't forced to live the fate of the girl of the song. The girl in the song never knew she had someone who loved her, but the real woman did find love and had a family. While the song is sad, the real world has a happy ending.

[@cocoaorange1]

Nice that she has been married over 50 years.

[@Perutti1]

Garota de Ipanema só perde para Yesterday dos Beatles em regravações.

[@FabioValenteOficial]

Afinidade Álbum - Bossa Nova 🌺 Composer Brazilian Fabio Valente Enjoy New Generation Bossa Nova too, Thanks.

[@jimmyratz]

Heliisa, thank you so much for your lovely kiss! I want to wish you a Happy New Year in 2017!

[@jeremyhodge6216]

This song has it's place in music history 😌

[@cordeiro66]

I had Playboy magazine by Helô Pinheiro.

[@michaelbrownlee9497]

One time at band camp.

[@wordeye]

bien linda corazon 1:46

[@ailish3012]

Giseli 😶😶😶

[@guilhermeeuclidiano4177]

she just doesn't see..

[@jaysilverheals4445]

its good to see that she is such a good person but its also sad to see normal people from other countries talking it hits home that we are really a septic tank here in the US. The Japanese and many others come here and view us pretty much the equivalent as if they are seeing homeless people a country totally collapsed and failed in drugs and alcohol. The rest of the world views us as if visiting a gutter bar down next to the railroad tracks.

[@jaysilverheals4445]

in this country on that beach-----------------Charles Manson would be waiting. Instead you have a nice love song. BECAUSE IT IS NOT THIS COUNTRY.

[@piterpraker3399]

Oh pffff we're not that bad. We've got problems, but just about all the problems you'd expect from a sprawling nation that values individual rights and dumps enough money into defense to practically own most of the rest of the world. Our current problem is our focus on diversity - we'll lose our national identity and devolve into tribalism if we continue to disrespect our own culture and history. It would have happened already if part of that disrespect wasn't uniquely American.

[@VoyagerD]

@orionh3000 🤦‍♀️

[@glendadavis4781]

🌬🇧🇷🌬🇧🇷🌬🇧🇷🌬🇧🇷

[@GungaLaGunga]

OK whew, I thought there was some gonna be some sinister abuse thing to be revealed. OK so there are still some things that aren't corrupted and demented.

[@halfnotquantum44]

Here's the legendary musician Bob Strauch's version with his own lyrics: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3XbfZiartmAo5I

[@elvira2448]

She is still beautiful.