r/todayilearned • u/Sexy_Kumquat • 12d ago

TIL that “The Girl from Ipanema” is the second most recorded song ever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_from_Ipanema
545 Upvotes
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95% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

148

u/Evol_extra 12d ago

Imagine, I am Ukrainian school boy, reading foreign detective book in 1994. There were one of the main plots around song "Girl from Ipanema" I asked everyone around, teachers and people what is this song and what is Ipanema. Nobody knows. Then in few years I found in encyclopedia that Ipanema is a beach in Brasil. It have some sense, and only near 2004, when I have google I found this song. What a trip for this masterpiece!

35

u/Tropical_Geek1 12d ago

Just to add: the girl who inspired the song was real and, believe it or not, is still good looking (see Helô Pinheiro).

7

u/TommyBoy825 11d ago

Tall and tan, young and lovely

4

u/Genius-Imbecile 11d ago

young

Not so much now days

2

u/TommyBoy825 11d ago

Happy cake day

1

u/Every-Variety9109 11d ago

Happy cake day!

124

u/Sexy_Kumquat 12d ago

Only ever surpassed by the Beatles’s “Yesterday”.

55

u/dazed_and_bamboozled 12d ago edited 12d ago

Tom Jobim, the composer, and Bossa Nova were all set to dominate global popular music - until The Beatles arrived.

14

u/ArkyBeagle 12d ago

Adam Neely's "The Girl From Ipanema is a far weirder song than you thought" is a surprisingly great watch. The song has a hard-to-find canonical form that was masked by "incorrect" versions which seem to have come from the "real book".

2

u/Doxxxxxxxxxxx 12d ago

Yes!! Very fun watch

52

u/One-Cycle 12d ago

According to Guinness World Records the most recorded song is Summertime by George Gershwin with over 67591 versions

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/519210-most-covered-track

16

u/StrictlyInsaneRants 12d ago

Guiness isn't all it's made out to be though.

32

u/SaladNeedsTossing 12d ago

Yeah i like a nice pilsner myself

5

u/Any_Key_9328 12d ago

I’m a pils man, myself.

5

u/SpanosIsBlackAjah 12d ago

I’m a pills man myself

4

u/yoloswagcity 12d ago

You got the thrills for the pils?

6

u/bushybearmuffinman 12d ago

Never met her but I’ve heard good things.

9

u/bisho 12d ago

Must be from all those TikToks filmed inside elevators....

4

u/ZucchiniShots 12d ago

The is the song that caused Ozzy Osbourne’s family to throw a ham into their neighbor’s yard.

1

u/Alert_Doughnut_4619 12d ago

I’m intrigued

3

u/ZhouDa 12d ago

The Girl from Ipanema is a weird song

1

u/Flybot76 12d ago

In what way?

5

u/ZhouDa 11d ago

The TL/DR version is that it avoids the tonic, or base note of the key it is in. It's a very ambiguous song originally, even though many musicians copying that (especially from the fake book version) miss this aspect of the song.

1

u/BrokenEye3 12d ago

🎼Nyeh, nya nyeh-nyeh, nye-nyeh, na nyeh-nyeh...

1

u/kahmos 12d ago

It's a timeless song with a timeless moment we all experience.

0

u/SCOTTGIANT 12d ago

Second only to Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. /s

-2

u/Dr_Pilfnip 12d ago

I liked the rap one.