Waters of March

[oenophile]

We all have had songs that draw us in and we really don't know why at least at first. One such song for me is Waters of March written by the Brazilian composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim. Probably you are more familiar with another of his more famous songs, The Girl from Ipanema.

Just a few minutes ago, I was listening to it sung by Luciana Souza from her The New Bossa Nova CD and its meaning hit me like a ton of bricks. This after being a lover of Waters of March nearly my entire life!

Waters of March

A stick, a stone,

It's the end of the road,

It's the rest of a stump,

It's a little alone

It's a sliver of glass,

It is life, it's the sun,

It is night, it is death,

It's a trap, it's a gun

The oak when it blooms,

A fox in the brush,

A knot in the wood,

The song of a thrush

The wood of the wind,

A cliff, a fall,

A scratch, a lump,

It is nothing at all

It's the wind blowing free,

It's the end of the slope,

It's a beam, it's a void,

It's a hunch, it's a hope

And the river bank talks

of the waters of March,

It's the end of the strain,

The joy in your heart

The foot, the ground,

The flesh and the bone,

The beat of the road,

A slingshot's stone

A fish, a flash,

A silvery glow,

A fight, a bet,

The range of a bow

The bed of the well,

The end of the line,

The dismay in the face,

It's a loss, it's a find

A spear, a spike,

A point, a nail,

A drip, a drop,

The end of the tale

A truckload of bricks

in the soft morning light,

The shot of a gun

in the dead of the night

A mile, a must,

A thrust, a bump,

It's a girl, it's a rhyme,

It's a cold, it's the mumps

The plan of the house,

The body in bed,

And the car that got stuck,

It's the mud, it's the mud

Afloat, adrift,

A flight, a wing,

A hawk, a quail,

The promise of spring

And the riverbank talks

of the waters of March,

It's the promise of life

It's the joy in your heart

A stick, a stone,

It's the end of the road

It's the rest of a stump,

It's a little alone

A snake, a stick,

It is John, it is Joe,

It's a thorn in your hand

and a cut in your toe

A point, a grain,

A bee, a bite,

A blink, a buzzard,

A sudden stroke of night

A pin, a needle,

A sting, a pain,

A snail, a riddle,

A wasp, a stain

A pass in the mountains,

A horse and a mule,

In the distance the shelves

rode three shadows of blue

And the riverbank talks

of the waters of March,

It's the promise of life

in your heart, in your heart

A stick, a stone,

The end of the road,

The rest of a stump,

A lonesome road

A sliver of glass,

A life, the sun,

A knife, a death,

The end of the run And the riverbank talks

of the waters of March,

It's the end of all strain,

It's the joy in your heart.

Simple lyrics. Simple melody. Just streams of consciousness with very little to connect them together except the refrain:

And the riverbank talks of the waters of March,

(da dada da da)

It's the joy in your heart.

Joy may arise from within us and reflected back to us in some unusual forms and occasions, even as "a pain... a sting... a death..." or more often "as nothing at all." Yet joy that is in all of us needs no form or reason to be. It just is. So much of life is transitory, marked with impermanance, hills of elation and deep crevasses of woe. Yet the simple joy of being alive is with us always. If we are awake to what lessons life may teach, we will not be far from it.

[Mister P-Mosh]

I always got a kick out of this version: <p>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVYCPf2i0Qg <br>

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Edited August 2, 2009 by Mister P-Mosh

[George Aar]

This will always be the definitive version for me:

http://www.imeem.com/porkypiglet80/music/vYxXHNW6/susannah-mccorkle-the-waters-of-march/

[George Aar]

This will always be the definitive version for me:

http://www.imeem.com/porkypiglet80/music/vYxXHNW6/susannah-mccorkle-the-waters-of-march/

(BTW, a few years after recording this, Ms. McCorkle jumped out the window of her 18th floor apartment. So much for the "Joy in her heart"...)

[krys]

(BTW, a few years after recording this, Ms. McCorkle jumped out the window of her 18th floor apartment. So much for the "Joy in her heart"...)

I enjoyed that. George. I had to join to listen to it....but I'll go back and tool around the site....could be interesting.

[Yanagisawa]

This one's pretty good too.

[Yanagisawa]

WTF? Well, it was in the preview. Let me do my homework. It was Eliane Elias and she looked and played spectacular.

[oenophile]

Here you go Yangi. Maybe this will work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L-C2hZ8srg&feature=related

[oenophile]

Here is a version done by Elis Regina, probably Brazil's best songstress. Sadly, as with Susannah McCorkle, we lost her, we lost her much too soon. Her passing was due to a drug overdose. Obviously, she struggled with her own demons. Yet, the joy with which she sung this song is unmistakable.

We all struggle. Some of us struggle with unspeakable loads of sadness and a few of us have seriously considered unburdening ourselves of our mortal coils abruptly in order to find relief. One can only surmise what pushed Susannah and Elis over the brink. Yet, that does not negate the truth that within each of us there is that impulse to embrace what beauty, love and exhaltation may be found here.