País Tropical

"País Tropical" ("Tropical Country") is a song composed by Brazilian singer and composer Jorge Ben Jor. The song was originally recorded by singer Wilson Simonal on 22 July 1969. It was released the following month, and became the biggest hit of the singer's career. In December of that year two more versions of the song were released: One by Gal Costa (on her 1969 album Gal), and one by composer Jorge Ben Jor (on his self-titled album Jorge Ben).

Over the years, the song came to be more and more associated with its author, Jorge Ben Jor, overshadowing the success of Simonal's original recording. The song has also been adapted by many composers and singers, including Sergio Mendes, Maurício Manieri, Ivete Sangalo, Shakira and Claudia Leitte. It was also re-recorded by Jorge Ben Jor himself, on his 1977 album Tropical. In addition, a Hebrew rendition of the song titled Eretz Tropit Yafa (אֶרֶץ טְרוֹפִּית יָפָה, ‘A Beautiful Tropical Country’), performed by Yehudit Ravitz, was included in a project by the same title featuring Hebrew adaptations of Brazilian songs (produced by Matti Caspi, written by Ehud Manor, and arranged by Ahrale Kaminsky), and proved to be an enduring success.