Desafinado

Bossa nova song by Antônio Carlos Jobim

"Desafinado" (a Portuguese word, usually rendered into English as "Out of Tune", or as "Off Key") is a 1959 bossa nova song and jazz standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics (in Portuguese) by Newton Mendonça.

Background

"Desafinado" was originally a response to critics who claimed that bossa nova was a new genre for singers who can't sing. The English language lyrics were written by Jon Hendricks and "Jessie Cavanaugh" (a pseudonym used by The Richmond Organisation). Another English lyric, more closely based on the original Portuguese lyric (but not a translation) was written by Gene Lees, and appears on some recordings as well.

Chart performance

The version by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd (from the album Jazz Samba) was a major hit in 1962, reaching number 15 and number 4 on Billboard′s pop and easy-listening charts, respectively; their definitive rendering also reached number 11 in the UK.

Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd

Chart performance for "Desafinado" by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd
Chart (1962)	Peak position
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)^[1]	11
US Billboard Easy Listening^[2]	4
US Billboard Hot 100^[3]	15

Accolades

The song was voted by the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone as the 14th greatest Brazilian song.^[4] The 1959 João Gilberto album Chega de Saudade contained the song and was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.^[5]

Other recordings

Also in 1962, Ella Fitzgerald's version made number 38.^[6]
The instrumental was included on The Lonely Bull by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (1962).^[7]
Astrud Gilberto and George Michael recorded a version for the 1996 compilation album Red Hot + Rio.
Kali Uchis recorded an English cover of the song that was included on Minions: The Rise of Gru (Official Motion Picture Soundtrack), for the 2022 film of the same name.

References

^ "officialcharts.com". officialcharts.com. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 43.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 128.
^ Duarte, Alexandre (2009). "As 100 Maiores Músicas Brasileiras – "Desafinado"". Rolling Stone Brasil (in Portuguese). Spring. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
^ "Latin GRAMMY Hall Of Fame". Latin Grammy Award. Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. 2001. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
^ "Hits from early December 1962". Everyhit.com.
^ "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved July 4, 2023.