BONUS EP. (Milton Nascimento - Maria Maria)

Salve! This is a preview of our bonus episode exclusive for paid subscribers!

Every episode is a different song. This is the song today:

"Maria Maria", by Milton Nascimento (Nascimento/Brant)

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Nascimento was 36 years old, with 10 studio albums, an international career, and a collaboration with Wayne Shorter behind him. Yet it wasn't until then that he released what would become his most famous song. "Maria, Maria" appears on Clube da Esquina 2 as the second track on side D of the double album, and against all odds, it became the album's biggest hit. Originally written for a musical about slavery, the piece had no lyrics at first—only Nascimento's voice. The words were later written by Clube da Esquina collaborator Fernando Brant, inspired by the true story of a woman who lived by the railroad tracks in the town where he grew up.

"Maria, Maria" is structured like a classic folk song, but instead of the traditional verse-chorus-verse format, it follows a verse-verse-chorus-chorus pattern. The song became even more famous through Elis Regina's recording, and Nascimento later recorded it again for his live album A Barca dos Amantes, featuring Wayne Shorter.

Check out the translation of this beautiful song, provided by Translationsmith.