Song for My Father (Silver-1)

'Song for My Father' is a 1964 jazz standard written by Horace Silver. The first recording was recorded by his quintet on October 26, 1964 for release on Blue Note the next year. It featured Silver on piano, with Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone), Carmell Jones (trumpet), Teddy Smith (bass) and Roger Humphries (drums).

Lyrics were written by Horace SILVER himself:

I wrote a song for my father in hopes it would give him a thrill
After seeing… Brazil.
My father’s music came through me but never got to me until
I went down to… Brazil.

In Rio all day long, I heard my father’s song,
that Bossa Nova beat… so sweet.

I heard the real Bossa Nova but never got over the thrill
when I went to… Brazil.
No other people you meet play guitar with the beat and the skill
as they do in… Brazil.

That Portuguese swing is such a subtle thing,
it makes you sway against… your will.


Recordings exist by Jerry Williams (1979), Ron Kaplan, Tok Tok Tok, Jenny Evans, Johnnie Eason, Dee Daniels, etc.