Desafinado (Off Key)

Music by Antonio Carlos Jobim
Portuguese Lyrics by Newton Mendonca
English Lyrics by
Jon Hendricks
Jessie Cavanaugh

“Desafinado” (a Portuguese word, usually rendered into English as “Out of Tune”, or as “Off Key”)

“If you say my singing is off key, my love
You will hurt my feelings, don’t you see, my love?
I wish I had an ear like yours, a voice that would behave
All I have is feeling and the voice God gave
You insist my music goes against the rules
Yes, but rules were never made for love sick fools
I wrote this little song for you, but you don’t care
It’s a crooked song, ah, but, all my heart is there
The thing that you would see if you would play your part
Is even if I’m out of tune I have a gentle heart
I took your picture with my trusty Rolleiflex
And now all I have developed is a complex”