Vinicius de Moraes
Poet and diplomat who provided bossa nova's lyrical sophistication, writing about love, longing, and beauty with literary weight. Collaborated with Jobim on Black Orpheus and 'The Girl from Ipanema,' among dozens of other bossa nova standards. As Roberto Menescal explained in Paulo Thiago's film, bossa nova reacted to the traditionalist theme of "Nobody wants me, nobody loves me" by talking about the beach, the sea and love—and de Moraes wrote those lyrics with sophistication that matched Jobim's harmonic complexity. About to marry for the seventh time when Clarice Lispector interviewed him in 1969, he told her: "It's true that I love love, but that doesn't mean I didn't love the women I had. I have the impression that, to those I really loved, I gave my all." Author of sonnets that are monuments of the Portuguese language and correspond to those of Camões in importance, he brought literary gravitas to popular song while working for Brazil's Foreign Ministry—once writing an entire film soundtrack over the telephone from Montevideo while Jobim played piano in Rio.