Agua De Beber
(Water To Drink)
by Antonio Carlos Jobim

“ Agua De Beber ” (Water To Drink) is a bossa nova jazz standard composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and originally recorded in the key of A minor, with lyrics written by Vinicius de Moraes. The English lyrics were written by Norman Gimbel.
The story is, as told by Kléber Farias, one of the engineers who helped build Brasília: In 1959, when the new capital was being built, the President of Brazil, Juscelino Kubitschek invited Antonio “Tom” Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes to spend a season at Catetinho (the provisional presidential palace, made of wood) to compose a symphony that would be performed at the inauguration of Brasilia.
One evening, Vinicius and Tom were walking near the wooden palace when they heard the noise of the water. They asked the watchman “But what is that noise of water here?” The watchman replied, “Você não sabe não? É aqui que tem água de beber, camará.” [Don’t you know? This is where you have drinking water, buddy.]
At that moment, they learnt both the source of water and inspiration for the first song composed in Brasilia. Kléber was one of the first to hear the song, sung by Tom and Vinícius at the city’s only hotel, hours after composing it.

Lyrics

Agua De Beber (Water To Drink)
(English – Translation)