The song was composed for a musical comedy titled
Dirigível ("
Airship"), then a work in progress of
Vinicius de Moraes. The original title was "Menina que Passa" ("The Girl Who Passes By"); the first verse was different. Jobim composed the melody on his piano in his new house in Rua Barão da Torre, in
Ipanema. Moraes wrote the lyrics in
Petrópolis, near Rio de Janeiro, as he had done with "
Chega de Saudade" ("No More Blues") six years earlier. While firmly rooted in bossa nova, "The Girl from Ipanema" includes influences from
blues and
Tin Pan Alley. During a recording session in New York with
João Gilberto,
Antônio Carlos Jobim and
Stan Getz, the idea of cutting an English-language version came up.
Norman Gimbel wrote the English lyrics. João's wife,
Astrud Gilberto, was the only one of the Brazilians who could speak English well, and was chosen to sing. Her voice, without any of the mannerisms of trained singers, proved a perfect fit for the song. However, she was never credited or received any royalties, and received only $120 for her part. The
key the song is played in has varied depending upon the origin of the recording. While the original Ribeiro version was in the
key of G, most Brazilian performances use
D♭ and most American versions use
F.
Ella Fitzgerald recorded it for her two-disc set of Brazilian music
Ella Abraça Jobim, released by
Pablo Today in 1981. Ethel Ennis and Nat King Cole have also both recorded the song. A version by Gary Criss titled "The Girl From Ipanema / Brazilian Nights" from his album "Rio De Janeiro" reached number 19 in the Canadian
RPM dance charts in August 1978.
Eliane Elias included the song in her albums
Eliane Elias Sings Jobim (1998) and
Brazilian Classics (2003). ==Inspiration==