"Once I Loved" ("O Amor Em Paz") is a bossa nova and jazz standard song composed in 1960 by Antônio Carlos Jobim, with lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes.
In a few early cases, the song was also known as ("Love in Peace"), a translation into English of the original Portuguese title.
[2] Jobim recorded an instrumental version of the song in 1963 on his debut album, The Composer of Desafinado Plays.
For the most part, they are slow pieces, delicate ballads that sacrifice rhythmic drive in exchange for a ruminative self-questioning.
The composition works best at a medium tempo, almost as if the lingering nostalgia of the lyrics needs to tussle with the forward momentum of the bossa nova beat.