I present you my song - The Bossa Nova "Maria"

I write poems for a while now and I have the intention to publish a poem book with some of my drawings. I will let you know once I accomplish that dream!

So, I have a friend called Carol Naine who is a samba singer. She sings for a band called "Cama de Viga" here in Rio de Janeiro. She read some of my poems and decided she could make music out of it. The poem entitled "Maria" was the one selected for this challenge. As per Carol, it is a great challenge to transform a modern poem without any metrics into a bossa nova song.

Here is the result. This video was recorded in the Sarau Criar in which the song was firstly presented. Notice that this is an infornal version and that the piano, the base, the percussion gotit by ear at the moment. They did not know the song. Only Carol, the singer, and the guitar guy knew it. For that, I beleive it is just marvellous!

Here is the lyrics in portuguese

MARIA

(musica registrada)

Maria é linda, mas distante
Maria diz alegrias, mas destrói minhas fantasias
Ah, Maria!
sabe poemas de cor, mas não sabe quem é
Maria faz cafuné
Maria diz que é minha, mas é também de João e do Pedro Mormaço
Maria sempre come o meu último pedaço
Não sabe nem onde fica meu peito, mas entende tudo ao meu respeito
Já é mãe mesmo não sendo, me dá remédio, merenda, beijo na testa

mas já diz dos meus amigos o que não presta
Maria faz melodias, mas não tem nenhuma harmonia
Ah, Maria!
Compõe trovas em dó, mas não usa nada em ré
Maria faz o que quer
Maria é linda, mas distante demais
Amo Maria, mas queria Maria sem mas

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I know that by translating the lyrics into a totally different idiom and trying to explain its meaning,
I ran the risk of killing it to the audience. But I will try this time as this blog is now in 28 different countries and have huge number of viewers that do not speak Portuguese, but English.


MARIA
(registered song)

Maria é linda, mas distante
Maria is pretty, but distant
Maria diz alegrias, mas destrói minhas fantasias
Maria says happiness (joyful things), but destroys my fantasies
Ah, Maria!
Oh, Maria!
sabe poemas de cor, mas não sabe quem é
She knows poems by heart, but doesn’t know who she is….
Maria faz cafuné
Maria caresses me
(cafuné is a tender caress on the scruff)
Maria diz que é minha, mas é também de João e do Pedro Mormaço
Maria says that she’s mine, but is also João’s and Pedro Mormaço’s
(mormaço here means a guy that is always tan)
maria sempre come o meu último pedaço
but Maria always eats my last bite
Não sabe nem onde fica meu peito, mas entende tudo ao meu respeito
She doesn’t know where my chest is, but understands all my feelings
Já é mãe mesmo não sendo, me dá remédio, merenda, beijo na testa
She’s already a mom without being, she gives me medicine, lunch, kiss on the forehead
mas já diz dos meus amigos o que não presta
but she points out which of my friends are not worthy
Maria faz melodias, mas não tem nenhuma harmonia
Maria makes melodies, but has no harmony
Ah, Maria!
Oh, Maria!
Compõe trovas em dó, mas não usa nada em ré
She composes ballads in C (dó), but doesn’t use any in D (ré)
(dó also means pity and ré also means backwards)
Maria faz o que quer
Maria does what she wants
Maria é linda, mas distante demais
Maria is pretty, but too distant
Amo Maria, mas queria Maria sem mas
I love Maria, but I wanted Maria without "buts"


I am so excited about it. I really hope you like it!
Please, pass along this link to yur friends and post it in Facebook.
I would also love to receive review and critics, feel free.