Antonio Carlos Jobim, music · Aloysio de Oliveira, Portuguese lyrics · Ray Gilbert, English lyrics (If You Never Come to Me) · On record from 1964
Inútil Paisagem
Inútil Paisagem is a 1964 by Antonio Carlos Jobim, with Portuguese words by Aloysio de Oliveira. English singers know it as If You Never Come to Me, with words by Ray Gilbert. You can hear it from Wanda Sá, Frank Sinatra, Elis Regina and Esperanza Spalding.
Listen in this order
Eight versions follow the song from Brazil to the wider world: a 1964 Brazilian singer, Jobim's own record, Frank Sinatra in English, Elis Regina with Jobim, a voice and guitar duo, a tenor saxophone, a piano trio and two singers. Each step gives one thing to listen for and one thing to try.
“If You Never Come to Me”, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
Frank Sinatra sings the English version, with words by Ray Gilbert, on his 1967 Reprise album with Jobim. Claus Ogerman arranged and conducted a studio orchestra, and the sessions took place at United Western Recorders in Hollywood.
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Listen for
Sinatra sings the English words under the title If You Never Come to Me, with Claus Ogerman's orchestra behind him. The track is just over two minutes long.
Try it on your instrument
Play 9 to 12: , , and . Bars 9 and 10 hold two each. If those are new, play , , and G7 and hear how each chord leads to the next.
Elis Regina and Jobim made this album at MGM Studios in Los Angeles between February 22 and March 9, 1974. Aloysio de Oliveira, who wrote the Portuguese words to the song, produced the original edition.
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Listen for
Elis Regina and Jobim sing together, and Jobim plays the piano. Listen for how their two voices share the song.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole loop once at a slow tempo, then again while you hum the melody. A smaller version: play only the last four bars, , , and , and stop on Cmaj7.
Tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson recorded the song under its English title, Useless Landscape, for his 1995 Blue Note album For One Who Knows. Craig Street produced the album.
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Listen for
Javon Jackson plays tenor saxophone, and the track runs almost six minutes. Notice how the saxophone carries the tune.
Try it on your instrument
Improvising over these takes real practice. A smaller version: play only the root of each chord, one per (C, B, B♭, A, D, D, F, B♭), as a bass line under the recording.
Pianist Aaron Goldberg plays the song as Inutil Paisagem on his album Worlds, released on Sunnyside in May 2006. Goldberg produced the album with Jason Olaine.
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Listen for
At almost seven minutes, this is the longest version in this path. Follow the piano first, then listen for how the bass and drums stay with it.
Try it on your instrument
A trio arrangement takes advanced skill, so try a smaller version: play the chart's with your left hand and the melody with your right, and slow the recording down to follow along.
Esperanza Spalding and Gretchen Parlato sing this track together on Chamber Music Society, released in 2010. The two singers arranged the vocal parts, and the album was recorded at Bennett Studios in New Jersey.
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Listen for
Two voices, Esperanza Spalding's and Gretchen Parlato's, carry the song between them. Listen to how they share the tune.
Try it on your instrument
Learn the melody by ear from this track, then add the chart's underneath it. A smaller version: sing it softly over just the first four chords, , , and .
Jobim writes the song with Portuguese words by Aloysio de Oliveira. Wanda Sá records it in 1964, Jobim records it with Nelson Riddle's arrangement in 1965, and Frank Sinatra sings it in English in 1967.
1970s
Elis Regina and Jobim record it together at MGM Studios in Los Angeles in 1974 for the album Elis & Tom. Jobim sings and plays piano on the track.
1990s
Joyce Moreno and guitarist Toninho Horta record it as a voice and guitar duet. Tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson plays it on his 1995 Blue Note album For One Who Knows.
2000s
Pianist Aaron Goldberg plays it with his trio on the 2006 album Worlds. Esperanza Spalding starts recording her album Chamber Music Society, which holds her version with Gretchen Parlato, in October 2009.
2010s
Esperanza Spalding's Chamber Music Society comes out in 2010, with Gretchen Parlato singing on the song. Luciana Souza includes it on her 2012 album Duos III.
More great versions
5 more, from 1964 to 2012. Tap a cover to play it here.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
C majorusual key
16 barsA form
C → D m → Ckey centers
A16 bars
C
D m
C
The tune is one with no repeated section. It opens with four that step down one at a time, , , and . Bars 5 to 8 begin in , with for two bars, and then and pull away from it. Bars 9 to 12 run , A7♭9, and , each chord leading to the next and back toward C. Bars 13 to 16 are , , Cmaj7 and , which leads into the next chorus.