Waters of March

"Waters of March" (Portuguese: "Águas de Março") is a Brazilian song composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Jobim wrote both the English and Portuguese lyrics. The lyrics, originally written in Portuguese, do not tell a story, but rather present a series of images that form a collage; nearly every line starts with "É..." (" is..."). In 2001, "Águas de Março" was named as the all-time best Brazilian song in a poll of more than 200 Brazilian journalists, musicians and other artists conducted by Brazil's leading daily newspaper, Folha de São Paulo.

The inspiration for "Águas de Março" comes from Rio de Janeiro's rainiest month. March is typically marked by sudden storms with heavy rains and strong winds that cause flooding in many places around the city. The lyrics and the music have a constant downward progression much like the water torrent from those rains flowing in the gutters, which typically would carry sticks, stones, bits of glass, and almost everything and anything. The orchestration creates the illusion of the constant descending of notes much like Shepard tones.

Read more about Waters Of March:  Lyrics, Uses and Reception, See Also

Famous quotes containing the words waters and/or march:

    “You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.”
    —Heraclitus (c. 535–475 B.C.)

    “‘Oh beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly,
    Play the Dead March as you carry me along;
    Take me to the green valley, there lay the sod o’er me,
    For I’m a young cowboy and I know I’ve done wrong.”
    —Unknown. As I Walked Out in the Streets of Laredo (l. 5–8)