Which means: Even while the waters of March bring an end to Summer There is still the promise of life in my heart But what about the reversal of seasons? For Brazil, March represents the beginning of autumn, as reflected in his original Portuguese: São as águas de março fechando o verão São promessas de vida no meu coração Later, Jobim discovered that his story was equally poignant when translated into English. In fact, the original Portuguese lyrics draw from many common observations of a life in the Brazilian interior. The skies rained from above while chaos reigned below, as plainly stated in the lyrics: “It’s the mud, it’s the mud…” With plenty of time to contemplate the situation, Jobim created a modern parable for daily life. He had become frustrated with the difficulties the rain was causing for the construction of a new boundary wall along his property line. The story goes that Jobim wrote the song during a visit to his family rancho, in the interior of Rio de Janeiro state amid a steady rainstorm which had turned the roads and landscape to mud. As with other masterpieces, its simplicity is its power the short line form of the lyrics allow us to focus on the strength of each phrase and the revel in its message. “Águas de Março” is a rare and wonderful rhyme about the cycle of life and as such, the lyrics earned a place in our home as a reminder of the beauty, balance and reality of things (years ago I framed a copy of the lyrics in English and Portuguese). Today I’d like to tell you the real story about this famous song. I guess it’s no surprise that spring’s ‘fluid’ nature has found it way into song, and that’s way I like to feature a different version of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s ‘The Waters of March’ in my weekly shows this month.
Brazilian rains can be both powerful and prolonged, and the red clay washes away easily.
March? We can only hope…ĭown south, the seasons are reversed and spring follows the Brazilian summer as the beginning of the rainy season (only the very southern parts of Brazil ever see snow). Some years, we’ll be basking in endless days of 80 degree weather, or facing wind chills driving the cold into single digits.
(Photo courtesy of instituto Jobim) Spring can be the most fickle of seasons, especially here in Chicago.
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