There are two artists who use this name:
1. A Brazilian MPB singer and s… Read Full Bio ↴There are two artists who use this name:
1. A Brazilian MPB singer and songwriter
2. A Grammy-nominated American jazz singer

1. Maysa Figueira Monjardim Matarazzo (June 6, 1936, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – January 22, 1977, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), better known as Maysa Matarazzo or simply Maysa, was a Brazilian singer, songwriter and actress, being one of the first female songwriters of Brazil and one of the precursors of the genre samba-canção. She had great success in the 1950s and 1960s, known especially for her pessimistic, hopeless, melancholic and dramatic lyrics and interpretations, very characteristic of her image and career. She is also associated with bossa nova music, but is widely known as a torch song (música de fossa) interpreter.

Maysa's grandfather was Alfeu Adolfo Monjardim de Andrade e Almeida, the 1st Baron of Monjardim, and wife Laurinda Luísa Pinto Pereira. Maysa showed talent at a young age and by twelve had written a samba song, which later became a hit from her first album. She married André Matarazzo Filho, a member of a wealthy and traditional São Paulo family in 1954 at the age of 18 and two years later had a son, Jayme Monjardim. Jayme would later be known as a television director. In the late 1950s she formed a successful bossa nova group and also did television work relying on her magnificent pair of gorgeous green eyes.

Her tour to Buenos Aires first projected bossa nova beyond Brazil's borders but was not without controversy. The tour was a great success and extended to Chile and Uruguay, but Maysa had an affair with the show's producer, Ronaldo Bôscoli, a journalist and composer linked romantically to bossa nova's muse Nara Leão. This led not only to a break between Nara and Ronaldo, but also to a fracture in the bossa nova movement. Nara supported Carlos Lyra's nationalist vertent of the bossa nova movement, to the detriment of Boscoli's more orthodox approach, emphasizing form rather than content in bossa nova compositions. Nara also began courting older composers of traditional sambas, such as morro composers Zé Kéti and Cartola. She also became an idol of the protest song genre against the military dictatorship in Brazil. Nara's pocket show "Opinião" marked the start of a series of protest musical shows, which both in Rio and São Paulo distracted the public from the main themes of "the love, the smile and the flower", typical of the bossa nova years. So Maysa became "persona non grata" both to the bossa-novistas and the protest singers and her career faltered. She reacted by marrying Spaniard music producer Miguel Anzana, with whom she moved to Spain and began a series of presentations not only in Spain, but also Portugal, Italy and France.

Her personal life, already tumultuous, became even more chaotic leading to her being called "the Janis Joplin of Bossa Nova". But she later made a come back with one of the first notable shows in Rio's "Canecão" venue, the equivalent of Carnegie Hall in NYC. Maysa also played the Olympia in Paris to a full house twice and enjoyed considerable success in Europe. She is still considered the best Brazilian "torch song" (fossa) musician, rivaled only perhaps by Nora Ney as interpreter and Dolores Duran as composer. Upon her return to Brazil, Maysa continued to blend her old unique "broken love affair" trademarks with the more current festival style and occasional bossa nova hits. In the 1970s Maysa tapped her actress side and acted on a few telenovelas in Brazil. She also composed the soundtrack for a Rede Globo telenova just as the TV network became the powerhouse of Brazilian soap operas. She appeared more in peace with herself in latter years but died in a car crash in 1977, on the Rio-Niterói bridge, which connects the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói over the Guanabara Bay.

In January 2009, 32 years after her death, a miniseries about her life was broadcast on Brazilian television and spanned two new books about one of Brazil's most charismatic divas. Maysa's style influenced the following generations of Brazilian female singers and composers, with great ascendancy in the works of Angela Ro Ro, Simone, Cazuza, Leila Pinheiro and Fafá de Belém.

2. Maysa Leak (born August 17, 1966) is an American jazz singer better known by her mononym Maysa. She is well known by fans of smooth jazz both for her solo work and for her work with the British band Incognito.

After receiving her degree from Morgan State University, Maysa headed to Southern California to perform with Stevie Wonder’s female backup group Wonderlove, While with Wonder, Maysa was a vocalist on the Jungle Fever soundtrack and performed on numerous television shows including The Arsenio Hall Show, Oprah and The Tonight Show.

It was during an over-the-telephone audition in the early 90s, that Maysa become a member of the acclaimed British jazz/funk/R&B band Incognito and in 1992 she relocated to London and recorded Tribes, Vibes & Scribes, featuring the hit single "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing." Since then, Maysa has appeared on over seven Incognito recordings.

Maysa recorded her self-titled debut in 1995, followed by her second album All My Life in 2000, Out of The Blue in 2002, Smooth Sailing in 2004, Sweet Classic Soul in 2006, and now Feel The Fire, 2007. In 2008, Metamorphosis peaked at No.1 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz top 100 chart and no.13 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In 2010, "A Woman in Love", Maysa 8th Solo cd debuted at No.1 on the Contemporary Jazz Charts. Maysa's 9th solo album,Motions of Love, released in November 2011, debuted at No. 1 on Billboards Contemporary Jazz Charts and Number 7 on the R&B charts.

Maysa has also collaborated with well-known jazz performers like Gerald Veasley, Rick Braun, Will Downing, Jason Miles' Soul Summit, Rhythm Logic, Jonathan Butler and Pieces of a Dream.

In 2009, Maysa won the very first new Soul Train Award named for the brand's new owners, CENTRIC. The Cenric Award : Soul Approved /Underground.

Maysa Leak was a spokesperson for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a disease that can be fatal to premature babies. She appears in RSV PSA commercials, with her son Jazz, sponsored for the March of Dimes.

In 2013, Maysa received her first Grammy nomination in the "Best Traditional R&B Performance" award category for the song "Quiet Fire" from her album Blue Velvet Soul.

Agua De Beber
Maysa Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

De Heideroosjes
Fifi
De Neandertaler
Hij flikt het ieder weekend weer, in een foute disco-kroeg
De oerdrang maakt zich meester, van een inhoudsloze kop hij moet zichzelf laten gelden, daarom slaat hij erop

De neandertaler, slaat erop!
De neandertaler, botte kop!

Samen met z'n vuile vriendjes, trimt hij zomaar iemand los
Zonder enige reden, zijn jij en ik de klos
Alles wat enigzins anders is, de macho slaat erop

De neandertaler, slaat erop!
De neandertaler, botte kop!

O, als geen ander haat ik die Neandertalers
Want ze fokken weer een ander en die ander baalt ervan
want ze verschuilen hun domheid achter een masker van een zatte krachtpatser, gadver!
Ze maken graag ruzie en vermijden discussie
En zo blijft respect voor hun een illusie
Want zelf hebben nog de meeste pijn want door hun image kunnen zij nooit zichzelf zijn.

Het is makkelijk om te haten, datgeen wat jij niet kent
Het is geen kunst om te veroordelen, datgeen wat jij niet bent
In mijn reet zitten meer hersens, dan in jouw apekop

De neandertaler, slaat erop!
De neandertaler, botte kop!

Overall Meaning

These lyrics describe a group of individuals that the writer refers to as "Neanderthals" due to their primitive and violent behavior. The writer describes these individuals as frequenting a questionable nightclub, where their lack of substance and primal instincts take hold. They feel the need to assert themselves physically and find joy in randomly attacking others. The writer expresses disgust at their lack of intellect and inability to hold a respectful conversation - instead, they lean on their drunk bravado to mask their stupidity. Despite their tough exterior, the writer feels that they are the ones who suffer the most, as they will never be able to authentically be themselves due to their "image."

Overall, the writer is expressing frustration with those who resort to physical violence and posturing rather than relying on intelligence and respectful communication. They see this behavior as backwards and ultimately self-destructive, as it prevents these individuals from growing and truly understanding themselves and others.

Line by Line Meaning

De Heideroosjes
This line is not related to the song Água de Beber by Maysa, so it will be excluded from the explanation.

Fifi
This line is not related to the song Água de Beber by Maysa, so it will be excluded from the explanation.

De Neandertaler
Refers to a person who behaves like a primitive creature according to the singer.

Hij flikt het ieder weekend weer, in een foute disco-kroeg
He misbehaves in a low-class nightclub every weekend.

De oerdrang maakt zich meester, van een inhoudsloze kop hij moet zichzelf laten gelden, daarom slaat hij erop
He cannot control his urge to be dominant, and therefore he uses physical force to express himself.

De neandertaler, slaat erop!
The primitive person hits someone without reason.

De neandertaler, botte kop!
The primitive person is stupid and insensitive.

Samen met z'n vuile vriendjes, trimt hij zomaar iemand los
He and his dirty friends attack someone without a valid motive.

Zonder enige reden, zijn jij en ik de klos
The singer and the listener become victims of the primitive person's violent behavior for no reason.

Alles wat enigzins anders is, de macho slaat erop
The primitive person hits anyone who acts or looks different from him.

O, als geen ander haat ik die Neandertalers
The singer expresses that she hates those who behave like primitive creatures more than anyone else.

Want ze fokken weer een ander en die ander baalt ervan
The primitive people reproduce and make their offspring unhappy with their negative traits.

want ze verschuilen hun domheid achter een masker van een zatte krachtpatser, gadver!
The primitive people hide their stupidity behind a mask of drunken strength, which is disgusting to the singer.

Ze maken graag ruzie en vermijden discussie
The primitive people enjoy fighting and avoid having a constructive discussion.

En zo blijft respect voor hun een illusie
The singer points out that respecting the primitive people is impossible because of their behavior.

Want zelf hebben nog de meeste pijn want door hun image kunnen zij nooit zichzelf zijn.
The primitive people suffer the most because they cannot be true to themselves due to their chosen image.

Het is makkelijk om te haten, datgeen wat jij niet kent
It is easy to hate something or someone whom one does not know well.

Het is geen kunst om te veroordelen, datgeen wat jij niet bent
It is not an achievement to judge someone who is different from oneself.

In mijn reet zitten meer hersens, dan in jouw apekop
The singer thinks that her intelligence surpasses the primitive person's primitive brain.

Writer(s): A.C. JOBIM, V. DE MORAES

Contributed by Jake F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS