O Morro Não Tem Vez
{{Short description|1962 bossa nova song}}
{{Infobox song|name=O Morro Não Tem Vez|type=Song|language=Portuguese|English_title=The Slums aren't Given a Chance|genre=Bossa nova|composer=Antônio Carlos Jobim|lyricist=Vinicius de Moraes, Ray Gilbert}}
"O Morro Não Tem Vez" (loosely translated as "The Slums aren't Given a Chance"), also known as "Favela", "O Morro", and "Somewhere in the Hills", is a bossa nova jazz standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics written by Vinicius de Moraes. The English lyrics were written by Ray Gilbert.{{Cite web|title=Somewhere in the Hills - Credits|url=https://www.muso.ai/track/28681189|access-date=2021-03-26|website=Muso.AI|language=en}}
The song was first released in 1962 by Pedrinho Rodrigues as an a-side to "O Amor e a Canção". In 1963, it was popularized by Jair Rodrigues.{{Cite web|last=AD|date=2016-02-01|title=Song No. 78 — O Morro Não Tem Vez {{!}} Antônio Carlos Jobim & Vinícius de Moraes (1962)|url=https://brazilliance.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/song-no-77-o-morro-nao-tem-vez-antonio-carlos-jobim-vinicius-de-moraes-1963/|access-date=2021-04-04|language=en}} The most famous versions are by Astrud Gilberto, Antônio Carlos Jobim, and Stan Getz.{{Cite journal|last=Merhy|first=Silvio Augusto|date=March 13, 2010|title=Letra, melodia, arranjo: componentes em tensão em O morro não tem vez de Antonio Carlos Jobim e Vinícius de Moraes|url=http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1517-75992010000200008&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=pt|journal=Per Musi|language=pt|issue=22|pages=90–98|doi=10.1590/S1517-75992010000200008|issn=1517-7599|doi-access=free}}
Context
File:1 rio de janeiro slum 2010.JPG]]
In 1964, not shortly after the song was released, the Brazilian government suffered a coup and was replaced by a military dictatorship. During this time, many musicians and composers, including songwriters Jobim and de Moraes, were arrested and interrogated by the police or had their telephones and mail tapped for creating "subversive" music.{{Cite book|last=Jobim|first=Helena|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/946707314|title=Antonio Carlos Jobim : an illuminated man|date=2011|publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=978-1-4584-2942-1|location=Montclair, NJ|oclc=946707314}}{{Cite web|last=Polack|first=Joachim|date=2020|title=Samba Do Aviao: Transnationalism and Sophistication-as-Modernity in Antonio Carlos Jobim's Early 1970s Repertoire|url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UFE0056994/00001|access-date=2021-03-26|website=ufdc.ufl.edu|page=188|language=en}} While bossa nova has not usually been regarded as having political themes,{{Cite web|title=Getz/Gilberto Fifty Years Later: A Retrospective|url=https://notevenpast.org/getzgilberto-fifty-years-later-a-retrospective/|access-date=2021-03-26|website=notevenpast.org|date=26 February 2014 }} the song became one of the genre's only protest songs due to its subject surrounding the favelas.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/852758591|title=The Routledge history of social protest in popular music|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|others=Jonathan C. Friedman|isbn=978-1-136-44729-7|location=New York|pages=293|oclc=852758591}}{{Cite book|last=Jobim|first=Antonio Carlos|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/30362774|title=Tom Jobim|date=1990|publisher=Lumiar Editora|others=Almir Chediak|isbn=85-85426-49-7|location=Rio de Janeiro|pages=18|oclc=30362774}}{{Cite journal|last1=Pardini|first1=Renata|last2=Umetsu|first2=Fabiana|date=2006|title=Pequenos mamíferos não-voadores da Reserva Florestal do Morro Grande: distribuição das espécies e da diversidade em uma área de Mata Atlântica|journal=Biota Neotropica|volume=6|issue=2|doi=10.1590/s1676-06032006000200007|issn=1676-0603|doi-access=free}}
The phrase "o morro não tem vez" has since been used in opposition of economic injustice in Brazil.{{Cite web|last=Grátis|first=Baixe|date=2020-02-17|title=Ensaio técnico da Mangueira exibe graça de Evelyn Bastos|url=https://br.jetss.com/entretenimento/eventos/2020/02/ensaio-tecnico-da-mangueira-exibe-graca-de-evelyn-bastos/|access-date=2021-03-26|website=Jetss|language=pt-BR}}
Notable recordings
- Pedrinho Rodrigues - O Morro Não Tem Vez / O Amor e a Canção (1962){{Cite web|title=Cover versions of O Morro Não Tem Vez written by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes {{!}} SecondHandSongs|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/work/132443/versions#nav-entity|access-date=2021-03-25|website=secondhandsongs.com}}
- Jair Rodrigues - O Samba Como Ele É (1963)
- Antônio Carlos Jobim - The Composer of Desafinado Plays (1963)
- Stan Getz & Luiz Bonfá - Jazz Samba Encore! (1963)
- Sambalanço Trio - Sambalanço Trio (1964)
- Astrud Gilberto - The Astrud Gilberto Album (1965)
- Antônio Carlos Jobim - The Wonderful World of Antônio Carlos Jobim (1965)
- Elis Regina - 2 Na Bossa (1965)
- Sérgio Mendes Trio - The Swinger From Rio (1966)
- Vince Guaraldi & Bola Sete - Live at El Matador (1966)
- Charlie Byrd - Sugarloaf Suite (1980)
- Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Abraça Jobim (1981)
- Tim Maia - Só Você (Para Ouvir e Dançar) (1997)