The Girl from Ipanema

From True Capitalist Radio Wiki

"The Girl from Ipanema" ("Garota de Ipanema" in the original Portuguese, and sometimes pronounced "The Girl from Impanema", or "The Whore from Impanema", by Ghost) is a 1964 Brazilian jazz standard originally composed by bossa nova musician Astrud Gilberto. It is most famous in its instrumental form, in which it has been used in many films as an example of elevator music, to the point of becoming a cliché.

In reference to this, Ghost semi-frequently plays a relaxing instrumental of "The Girl from Ipanema" on True Capitalist Radio whenever he needs to take a break from the broadcast, usually due to Technical Difficulties or simply raging too hard.

The rendition of the song Ghost plays on the show is the version by "Smooth Jazz All Stars", embedded above. Although the song is an instrumental, Ghost sang along with it on Capitalist Episode 232, demonstrating that he knows the lyrics.

History

Ghost introduced the song in Capitalist Episode 228, describing it as "Technical difficulties music" and claiming that it was chosen by the Engineer. Ghost originally didn't like the song very much, describing it as "a way to bore the balls off of people". Prior to introducing "The Girl from Ipanema", Ghost instead played Electric Fence's "TCR Original Song" as Technical Difficulties music, which was heard twice in the previous episode.

"The Girl from Ipanema" can be heard in episodes 236, 297, 441, and many, many others. When an extra-long break is required, Ghost will sometimes play another song, such as in Capitalist Episode 469, when he played Electric Fence's "Pampers and Ponies" after "The Girl from Ipanema."

As a loving nod to Ghost's affinity for the song, Xarahox once played a piano rendition of "The Girl from Ipanema" live on Radio Graffiti.

Ghost's influence

Similar to "Money, Success, Fame, Glamour" and the theme song from Boss Nigger, Ghost credits himself with causing "The Girl from Ipanema" to experience a resurgence in popularity. In Capitalist Episode 501, after learning that the song was included in the My Little Pony movie, Ghost immediately suspected that it may have been in reference to his show, which he desperately hoped wasn't the case.

It's very unlikely that the creators of the film were actually thinking of Ghost when they included the song, as "The Girl from Ipanema" was a famous example of elevator music long before True Capitalist Radio.