Seu Jorge, David Bowie, and The Life Aquatic Magic

There has always been something quietly magical about Wes Anderson’s 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It drifts along at its own pace, whimsical and melancholy at the same time, and a huge part of that atmosphere comes from its music. For me, those songs have a deeply calming effect, like ocean waves set to melody, anchoring the film’s offbeat emotions and giving them room to breathe.

At the heart of that soundtrack is Seu Jorge, born Jorge Mário da Silva in 1970, a celebrated Brazilian musical artist, singer-songwriter, and actor. Known for revitalizing Brazilian pop samba by blending it with soul and funk influences, Seu Jorge carries a warmth and intimacy in his voice that feels both timeless and personal. He gained international recognition for his powerful acting roles in City of God and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, but it was his distinctive acoustic interpretations of David Bowie songs, sung in Portuguese, that truly captivated audiences around the world.

For The Life Aquatic, Wes Anderson invited Seu Jorge to reinterpret several Bowie classics as stripped-down, guitar-driven performances woven directly into the film’s narrative. Sung in Portuguese, the songs feel less like covers and more like emotional echoes, familiar yet transformed, floating through the film like memories. About a year after the movie’s release, Jorge collected these performances into an album, allowing listeners to experience the music as its own cohesive journey.

More recently, Seu Jorge returned to this material in a beautiful and heartfelt way. A few weeks ago, to mark the tenth anniversary of David Bowie’s passing, he released an hour-long performance dedicated to those songs. The set feels like a gentle tribute not only to Bowie, but also to the enduring emotional pull of The Life Aquatic. It is reflective, soothing, and deeply human, reminding us how music can cross languages, cultures, and time, and still feel like it was written just for us.