Água de Beber, meaning Water to Drink, is a bossa nova and jazz standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes, and was originally recorded for the 1963 album The Composer of Desafinado, Plays. The English lyrics were written by Norman Gimbel. The tune has a Brasília origin story: in 1959, during the construction of Brazil’s new capital, Jobim and Moraes stayed at Catetinho and were told by a guard, “You don’t know? It’s where there is water to drink,” which inspired the song. It has been covered by many artists, with notable versions by Astrud Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald, and remains a staple of the bossa nova repertoire.
