É pau, é pedra, é o fim do caminho

é um resto de toco, é um pouco sozinho

When I was a little girl, my mother loved to listen to Bossa Nova music. She would often have a a Sergio Mendes or Stan Getz album on the record player while she was cleaning the house or just kicking back on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I wish I could say I was a cultured child who embraced music from all countries, but honestly, all I could wonder was why my mother listened to this strange music with nonsensical words. This was not what they were playing on the Top 40 radio stations that “normal” people listened to. Still, as much as I disapproved of her choice of music, one of those strange songs got stuck in my head where it laid dormant for about 15 years.

I don’t know how or why it happened, but as an adult just out of college, I suddenly developed a small obsession with Brasil. I didn’t know a thing about the country, or its people or its customs – all I knew was that they listened to the same Bossa Nova music that my mom loved to play when I was a kid. So, as a means of getting more Brazilian culture in my life, I bought a Bossa Nova compilation CD. When I heard the track named “Aguas de Marco” (Waters of March) I suddenly felt a sense of nostalgia. THIS was the song that I heard so many times as a little girl, and instead of thinking it was strange and different, I found the beat to be familiar and irresistible. But as much as I wanted to sing along, I couldn’t because I didn’t understand any of the words. So what did I do? I went out and bought a Portuguese language tape and a Portuguese-English dictionary and I started to learn. É pau…It is a stick; é pedra…it is a stone; é o fim do caminho…it is the end of the road. The rhythm was measured and relaxed and repetitive and I could listen to it over and over again and drift off to a far away exotic land. Not only did that song represent Brasil, but it also represented travel and new lands and new discoveries. I’ve loved that song ever since I rediscovered it and any time I hear it I want to start packing my bags for Brasil. And apparently I’m not the only fan of this song. I just read that “Aguas de Março” was selected as the all-time best Brazilian song in a poll back in 2001. Who knew I had such great taste? Thanks, mom!