Released April 1939 (1939-04) Writer(s) Dorival Caymmi | Genre Samba Language Portuguese | |
 | ||
English title What Does a Banana Have? Label Odeon (Brazil)
Decca (U.S.) | ||
O que é que a baiana tem? (English: What Does a Banana Have?) is a song composed by Dorival Caymmi in 1939 and recorded by Carmen Miranda.
The song was immortalized in the voice of the Portuguese artist Carmen Miranda, who played this samba in the film Banana da Terra (1939), directed by Wallace Downey. Besides the film Banana da Terra, "O que é que a baiana tem?" was presented by Miranda in the Broadway musical revue The Streets of Paris between 1939 and 1940, and in the movie Greenwich Village (1944).
Legacy
In 2009, the recording was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress. The music helped to introduce both the samba rhythm, as Carmen Miranda to American audiences.
References
O Que É Que A Baiana Tem? Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA