Song Spotlight: “Soul Bossa Nova”

April 1, 2025
You can see the art of a person with brown skin and a yellow shirt holding a silver metal drum. Genre label reads, "jazz."
  • Mood: Light hearted
  • Themes: Jazz, Movie Themes
  • Tempo: Moderate 
  • Genre/Style: Jazz, Soul, Funk

Television and film soundtracks are incredibly important to set the mood of the finished product, and in some cases, they can become a key part of pop culture. “Soul Bossa Nova” is a song that was written and produced by Quincy Jones in 1962 for TV and was later seen on screen many times over the years. 

This song was first featured on Judy Garland’s 1963 television show where Judy Garland did a choreographed dance along with the song. It then was featured in the movie The Pawnbroker in 1964 and two other films in the 1960s. In the 1990s, the song appeared in film again, this time as the main theme to the super spy parody film Austin Powers. The song left the world of film and television in 1998 when it became the theme for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The song continues to be themes for TV shows and featured in music samples by other artists. 

Fun facts about this tune:

Quincy Jones wrote this iconic song in only 20 minutes. (Can you believe that?!?) It also features an instrument known as the cuíca, a Brazilian friction drum. The instrument’s name in Portuguese translates to “grey four-eyed opossum,” due to the cry the animal makes. Listen out for the laughing sound in the beginning of the track – that is the cuíca.

Try This:

This is a great song to use in a 1:1 setting or group and would go well with a collection of songs that explore styles of jazz or songs from movie soundtracks. 

Theme: This song would fit well into a jazz or movie soundtrack theme. 

Listen to and watch a recording of the cuíca then listen to the song, trying to pick out the instrument in the recording. 

Watch the episode from the Judy Garland Show featuring choreography to the song. 

Add movement: Invite participants to create movements to go along with the song.  

Look at movie posters of the films that have featured this song. Discuss if there are any similarities or differences to the kinds of movies that have used this song. 


For more song spotlights, visit our Song Spotlights page.

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