Maria Rita Mariano (best known as MARIA RITA) is a Brazilian singer, daught… Read Full Bio ↴Maria Rita Mariano (best known as MARIA RITA) is a Brazilian singer, daughter of famed pianist/arranger César Camargo Mariano and the late Brazilian singer legend Elis Regina. She was born in São Paulo, Brazil, on September 9, 1977. Maria Rita graduated in Latin American studies and communications in New York University, and worked as a journalist in a magazine for teenagers.
Maria Rita began to sing professionally aged 24, even though she began to sing since she was 14. Her first CD, 'Maria Rita', launched her career, with the first cut on her first album, "A Festa (The Party)", written by Milton Nascimento, a Brazilian singer-songwriter. The CD was platinum and was a hit worldwide. After that album she became an international star. Her mother's career as a renowned singer had a major influence in Maria Rita's life as a singer; She was always conscious of being the single daughter of a great singer. Despite having her mother's vocal DNA, Maria Rita developed her own jazzy vocal style, influenced by singers, like among others, Ella Fitzgerald. She won the 2004 Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist in the General Area. Her debut album, 'Maria Rita', won the Best MPB (Popular Brasilian Music) Album award of that year. Rita is pronounced "HEE-taaa".

Conceição dos coqueiros
Maria Rita Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Ia dessa maneira
Subindo o morro bem devagar
Boca da alma cantando
Senhora dos coqueiros
Chego mais perto e me ilumino
Eu que já vim de tão longe do mar
Daqui se vê o mar
Também se vê a dor e o mal

Gente que reza e sofre tanto
Leva ao ouvido de Deus
O meu lamento
Por nós

Chuva derrete o gesso
Ó, Conceição estende o manto
Vira do avesso esse canto
Desce dessa janela
Venha soprar vela por vela
Sopre de novo esperança
Vem cá
Vem desabençoar
Essa tristeza intrusa
Faz a ciranda na ladeira
Sopra no ouvido de Deus
Esse lamento...
Vem desabençoar

Essa tristeza intrusa
Faz a ciranda na ladeira.

Overall Meaning

The song "Conceição dos Coqueiros" by Maria Rita talks about a pilgrimage to a spiritual place where the author sings to the "Lady of Coconut Trees". The first verse describes the singer's journey up a hill, singing from the soul to the spiritual figure. She reflects on how far she has come, presumably from the sea, and how close she feels to the Lady of Coconut Trees. From this higher point, she can see both the beauty of the sea and the suffering of people who pray and suffer so much, and she puts her own prayerful lament into the mix.

The second verse brings in some religious imagery, asking for rain to wash away pain and to "turn the song inside out". She calls upon the Lady of Coconut Trees to come down from her window and blow away feelings of sadness, replacing them instead with hope. The song ends with a repetition of the call to the Lady to help banish sadness, and with a reference to a "circle dance" on the hill, suggesting a sense of community and connection.

Overall, the song offers a deeply spiritual and reflective experience, full of longing, reflection, and the desire for change. The singer connects with nature, religion, and community, all in a quest for some kind of enlightenment or release from grief and sadness.

Line by Line Meaning

Ia dessa maneira
I was going in this way

Subindo o morro bem devagar
Climbing up the hill slowly

Boca da alma cantando
Mouth of the soul singing

Senhora dos coqueiros
Lady of the coconut trees

Chego mais perto e me ilumino
I get closer and enlighten myself

Eu que já vim de tão longe do mar
I who came from so far from the sea

Daqui se vê o mar
From here you can see the sea

Também se vê a dor e o mal
You can also see the pain and the evil

Gente que reza e sofre tanto
People who pray and suffer so much

Leva ao ouvido de Deus
Take to the ear of God

O meu lamento
My lament