Agua De Beber
Words & Music by Vinícius de Moraes & Antonio Carlos Jobim
English lyric by Norman Gimbel
Recorded by Astrud Gilberto, 1959*


Scat Intro:

Am      Am7 Am       D              Dm7
Dee bot unh dah  bah di bah dah bah dah bah

Am      Am7 Am       D              Dm7
Dee bot unh dah  bah di bah dah bah dah bah

Am      Am7 Am  FM7          Am   
Dee bot unh dah  di oom dah  di oom dah.


Am        C   D    F      Dm7       Am
Your love is rain     my heart the flower,

Am E7  Am    G   G7 Dm7 Am E7  C
I need your love     or I will die.

Am      C    D  F      Dm7     Am
My ve - ry life     is in your power;

E7     Am         Am+7     Dm7  E7        Am
Will I wither and fade or bloom    to the sky.


Refrain:

Am      C       D    F         Dm7     Am       Am7  Am
A - gua de be - ber,   A - gua de be - ber ca - ma - ra

Am      C       D    F           Dm7      Am      Am7  Am
A - gua de be - ber,   give the flow - er wa - ter to drink.


Am        C   D    F      Dm7       Am
The rain can fall      on distant deserts,

 Am E7   Am   G   G7 Dm7  Am E7  C
The rain can fall    up - on the sea

Am        C   D   F       Dm7    Am
The rain can fall    up - on the flower,

E7       Am     Am+7  Dm7       E7      Am
Since it has to rain     let it fall on me.


Repeat Refrain:


Am         C   D  F      Dm7       Am
I'll nev - er see   an - oth - er spring time,

 Am  E7    Am  G   G7 Dm7  Am   E7   C
I'll nev - er feel    the sum - mer sun

Am          C     D    F      Dm7        Am
Un - less you're there    to share that spring time,

    E7        Am           Am+7    Dm7     E7        Am
And, like the rain and the flow'r,    our hearts are one.



Repeat Scat Intro:



*Okay, I "got some esplainin' to do" here. First off, since I'm not Jobim, this arrangement is a "dumbed-down" version of a very elegant (and unfortunately, very complex) composition. Second, this is obviously a synthesis of numerous charts -- most influential being those by Gilberto, Salena Jones and Ella Fitzgerald. Gilberto's 1959 version fits the feel of the song best, so I'm crediting her here -- but her lyric isn't sung in English. The lyrics here are principally those Jones used in her 1994 recording. The scat refrain/intro (which I think kicks things off with an appropriate feel and actually helps me capture the mood of the song and which makes an equally suitable "outro") is that used by Gilberto, as phonetically close as I could come to it, and the final verse is Fitzgerald's which I've not heard used elsewhere. Third, the refrain itself is also a synthesis -- I'd suggest deciding whether to use the first line or the second, and singing that line twice, rather than mixing the two as I did here (mostly as a convenience to show both options.) Finally, as pronunciation hints, the "de" in "agua de beber" is more close approximated by "jee" than it is by "day," and the "camara" in the refrain is a more evenly accented "cah mah rah" than by thinking of that thing you take pictures with.