Waters of March

Almost nothing happens in the lyrics of the classic Antonio Carlos Jobim song “Waters Of March.” It’s kind of my favorite thing.

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

These are just a few of the seemingly endless images the song offers. (Here are the full lyrics.)

I find the song almost hypnotic in its flow of imagery, with no traditional focus on story or expression of a specific emotion. It’s joyful, but it’s almost impossible to find a lyrical source for the joy (just a description “it’s the joy in your heart”, well after you’ve already found the joy yourself). The melody is equally interesting as an anti-melody – it’s an almost mantra-like repetition of a simple melodic fragment.

There are many fabulous versions of “Waters of March.” I’m partial to these two: