“Garota de Ipanema” (the girl from Ipanema) was written in 1962 by Antônio Carlos Jobim and the poet Vinicius de Moraes, who used to watch a young woman walk past their favourite bar on her way to the beach. The song is that moment: she goes by, swaying, so lovely, and the singer is left sighing at how lonely beauty can make you.
The 1964 recording by Stan Getz and João Gilberto, with Astrud Gilberto singing in English, became one of the most recorded songs in history and made bossa nova famous worldwide.
The Portuguese is soft and slow, and the vocabulary is simple: look, the girl, to pass, the sea, so lovely. A perfect song for hearing the gentle music of Brazilian Portuguese.