One of the most beautiful songs ever recorded by Brazilian bossa-nova singer João Gilberto, “Manhã de Carnaval”, composed by Luiz Bonfá and Antônio Maria for a movie based on a play by poet and composer Vinícius de Moares, is also a favourite of several foreign singers, like Frank Sinatra and Tori Amos, whom have record it with two different english lyric versions.
João Gilberto, possibly framed a few moments before he could complain about the lack of air conditioning.
João Gilberto’s recording is imensely delicate, opened by melancholic flute and string arrangements while soft percussion and piano chords prepare the melody for João’s sophisticated guitar and emblematic voice tune. Interestingly, contrary to usual bossa-nova recordings, on this song João Gilberto sings the lyrics with some vibratto – it’s almost imperceptible but if you pay close attention, you can hear it.
João Gilberto – “Manhã de Carnaval” (from Músicas do Filme Orfeu do Carnaval album)
Sinatra: as elegant as his mafia friends but way less dangerous.
Though Frank Sinatra’s recording, “A Day In The Life of a Fool” borrows the delicate atmosphere from the original version, it is done following Sinatra’s musical persona. To suit the singer’s jazzy standard, the string and wind arrangements were converted to a more pompous role on the melody, and the guitar was swapped for the bass to grant the song even more sadness. Sinatra’s singing is also considerably different, since it is done with a more solid and sorrowful pitch.
Frank Sinatra – “A Day In The Life of a Fool” (from My Way album)
Tori Amos: we miss the angry tune as much as the natural curly hair, baby.
Based on different lyrics from Sinatra’s recording, the cover by American singer and composer Tori Amos, which was made for Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack, is the more audacious recording among these ones – and maybe the most daring of all of its covers. Starting with some distant organ notes on a keyboard followed by somber and discrete chords on Tori’s famous Bösendorfer over a programmed drum set, all of them bathed in her sensual and sad singing, the melody as well as the lyrics face a complete transformation on its closing half: turning it into an electronic extravaganza, Tori gets rid of everything used before to open space on the melody to a set of dark synths and electronic drums as full of anxiety and rage as her voice, even when she simply whispers her improvised lyrics – really awesome.
Tori Amos – “Carnival” (from Mission: Impossible 2 album soundtrack)
