E minor · Camelot 9A · 81 BPM
Samba do avião
by Antonio Carlos Jobim
- 81
- BPM
- E minor
- Key
- 9A
- Camelot
- 32
- Danceability
- 72
- Acousticness
In August 1962, at the Au Bon Gourmet restaurant in Copacabana, "Samba do Avião" received its first performance, sung by Antonio Carlos Jobim with Os Cariocas. Music historian Ruy Castro later called the evening "the bossa nova show to end all bossa nova shows", because it put Jobim, João Gilberto, Vinícius de Moraes and Os Cariocas on stage together for the only time. That October, Elza Laranjeira released the first recording, and Os Cariocas scored a hit with their own rendition the following year.
Jobim had written the piece, original Portuguese lyrics included, for the Italian film Copacabana Palace, shot in Rio, where it was performed by Jula De Palma and I 4 + 4 di Nora Orlandi. The film features cameo appearances by Jobim, Gilberto and Os Cariocas. According to his sister Helena's biography, the idea came from his long walks from Ipanema to Santos Dumont Airport along Guanabara Bay, trips he disguised as errands to buy foreign magazines and newspapers. He feared flying yet loved the airplane's power and aerodynamics, and the lyrics describe landing at Galeão in Rio. Gene Lees supplied English lyrics.
The first English-language version came from Tony Bennett on his 1965 album If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set. Ella Fitzgerald recorded it for Ella Abraça Jobim in 1981, though her version was left off the 1991 CD reissue. In 1999, Galeão airport was renamed Rio de Janeiro–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport in his honor.
Samba do avião runs at 81 BPM, the tempo of boom-bap hip-hop, reggae and slow R&B. In classical terms it sits in andante territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 2.96 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 741 ms. It is in E minor, Camelot 9A, which shares its notes with G major and mixes cleanly with A minor and B minor.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.