Cover of the 1942 musical score of “Brazil,” with
lyrics in English, Portuguese and Spanish

Aquarela do Brasil
Ary Barroso (1939)

Brasil
Meu Brasil brasileiro
Meu mulato inzoneiro
Vou cantar-te nos meus versos
Ô Brasil, samba que dá
Bamboleio, que faz gingá
Ô Brasil do meu amor
Terra de Nosso Senhor
Brasil! Brasil!
Prá mim... prá mim...

Ô, abre a cortina do passado
Tira a Mãe Preta do serrado
Bota o Rei Congo no congado
Brasil! Brasil!
Deixa cantar de novo o trovador
À merencória luz da lua
Toda canção do meu amor
Quero ver a “Sá Dona” caminhando
Pelos salões arrastando
O seu vestido rendado
Brasil! Brasil!
Prá mim... prá mim...

Brasil
terra boa e gostosa
Da morena sestrosa
De olhar indiscreto
Ô Brasil, verde que dá
Para o mundo se admirá
Ô Brasil do meu amor
Terra de Nosso Senhor
Brasil! Brasil!
Prá mim... prá mim...

Ô, esse coqueiro que dá côco
Oi, onde amarro a minha rêde
Nas noites claras de luar
Brasil! Brasil!
Ah, ouve essas fontes murmurantes
Aonde eu mato a minha sede
E onde a lua vem brincá
Ah, este Brasil lindo e trigueiro
É o meu Brasil brasileiro
Terra de samba e pandeiro
Brasil! Brasil!
Prá mim... prá mim...

See versions in other languages.

Aquarela do Brasil
Ary Barroso
(João Gilberto’s version)

Brasil, meu Brasil brasileiro
Meu mulato inzoneiro
Vou cantar-te nos meus versos
Brasil, samba que dá
Bamboleio, que faz gingar
Ô, Brasil do meu amor
Terra de Nosso Senhor

Abre a cortina do passado
Tira a mãe preta do serrado
Bota o rei congo no congado
Canta de novo, trovador
À merencória luz da lua
Toda canção do seu amor
Quero ver essa dona caminhando
Pelos salões arrastando
O seu vestido rendado

Esse coqueiro que dá côco
É onde amarro a minha rêde
Nas noites claras de luar
Ô, essas fontes murmurantes
Onde eu mato a minha sede
Onde a lua vem brincar
Ô, esse Brasil lindo e trigueiro
É o meu Brasil brasileiro
Terra de samba e pandeiro

Brasil, terra boa e gostosa
Da morena sestrosa
De olhar indiferente
Brasil, samba que dá
Para o mundo se admirar
O Brasil do meu amor
Terra de Nosso Senhor

Aquarela
do Brasil

“Aquarela do Brasil” is, arguably, the greatest popular song of all times.

In November 1997 it was voted Best Brazilian Song of the Century by a jury of thirteen experts assembled by the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

Better known to the world as “Brazil,” this samba has been recorded innumerable times by all manner of artists, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Composed in early 1939, the song heralded a new genre in Brazilian Popular Music: samba-exaltação, a samba exulting in the beauties of the land. “Aquarela do Brasil” was first performed in the theatrical revue Entra na Faixa on 16 June 1939 by the popular singer Araci Cortes. Incredible as it may seem, her rendition passed virtually unnoticed, which led the composer to overlook her when it came time to record what turned out to be his most famous song.

Ary picked a namesake of the first singer—Aracy de Almeida, who had recently recorded his “Camisa Amarela” to great acclaim—to record “Aquarela do Brasil.” An RCA Victor artist, Aracy went to Leslie Evans—the much-feared American artistic director of her label, known to all as Mister Evans—and told him about the wonderful new samba she wanted to record. Evans hated samba and sambistas.

Ary wanted “Aquarela do Brasil” to be recorded with a full orchestra, and Aracy communicated this condition to Evans. The director, used to having his way, was unwilling to commit more than a conjunto regional (a small choro ensemble) to the recording. As a result, Aracy recorded another samba, now forgotten, while Francisco Alves gained the distinction of being the first artist to record Brazil’s greatest song, on the Odeon label.

Ary Barroso relaunched “Aquarela” on 28 June 1939 in Henrique Pongetti’s musical revue Joujoux e Balangandãs (with songs by Ary, Lamartine Babo, and Antônio Nássara), where it was sung to great acclaim by the lyric tenor Cândido Botelho in an orchestral arrangement by maestro Radamés Gnattali. Botelho naturally wished to record the song but couldn’t reach Ary, who was out of town. In the meantime, the record label Odeon sent a telegram to Ary seeking exclusivity for its own planned recording with the great singing star Francisco Alves, O Rei da Voz. Alves recorded “Aquarela” with Radamés Gnattali and his orchestra in August 1939, and the record was released in October of the same year. The six-minute arrangement was too long to fit on one side of a 78-rpm disc and was recorded in two parts that occupied both sides of the single. Several other recordings, including one by Alves‚ main rival, Sílvio Caldas, followed in quick succession.

In August 1941, Walt Disney visited Brazil on a U.S. State Department Good Neighbor Policy mission. In Belém do Pará, he complained to journalist Celestino Silveira that the hotel band was playing only North American tunes. Silveira asked the musicians to play Brazilian music, and the pianist played “Aquarela do Brasil,” reportedly badly. On the flight from Belém to Rio de Janeiro, Disney discussed the creation of the Zé Carioca character and the kind of song that should accompany it. He remembered “Aquarela” and asked Silveira if he knew the composer. Silveira told him that he could present him the next day. The following day, Disney and Barroso met at a cocktail party given by the U.S. consulate at the hotel Glória in Rio. They conversed about the song, and right there it acquired the title “Brazil” (see English lyrics).

The first U.S. recording of “Brazil” was made on 4 September 1941 by pianist and bandleader Eddy Duchin, who had just returned from an engagement at the Cassino de Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro. On this recording, vocalist Tony Leonard sings in Portuguese. Next came Xavier Cugat and his Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra, who recorded their first version on 30 December 1941 with vocalist La Chata and chorus singing in Portuguese. On 17 May 1942 Cugat recorded a radio transcription with Dinah Shore, followed on 31 May 1942 by André Kostelanetz and his Orchestra with vocalist Allan Jones and on 14 July by Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra with vocalists Bob Eberly & Helen O’Connell. Despite all this activity, it wasn’t until 1943 that “Brazil” finally became a Top Ten hit in the USA, when one of Cugat’s versions attained the number 2 spot on the hit parade.

Both “Aquarela” and Ary’s other monster hit, “Na Baixa do Sapateiro” (aka “Bahia” or “Baía”) were incorporated into animated segments in Disney’s films: “Aquarela” in Saludos Amigos (1942) and “Na Baixa” in The Three Caballeros (1944). In both cases, the singers were Brazilian. “Aquarela do Brasil” was performed in Portuguese by Aloysio de Oliveira, founder of the pioneer vocal-instrumental group Bando da Lua, musical director for Carmen Miranda, and later the most important bossa-nova recording magnate in Brazil. “Na Baixa do Sapateiro” gained English lyrics by Ray Gilbert and was sung by Nestor Amaral.

By 1945 “Aquarela” had been performed more than two million times on U.S. radio and TV. It also enjoys the dubious honor of being the seventh most frequently played song in hotels and restaurants.

During Ary Barroso’s life, his most important interpreters were Carmen Miranda, Sílvio Caldas, Francisco Alves, Aracy de Almeida, Orlando Silva and Elizeth Cardoso. The foremost living Ary Barroso interpreter is, without a doubt, João Gilberto, who gave many of Ary’s tunes a new lease on life and whose three recordings of “Aquarela do Brasil” are widely regarded as the definitive versions of this song. As he is sometimes wont to do, João Gilberto modified the song to suit his own style, replacing several words and omitting the refrain Brasil, prá mim, prá mim, prá mim.