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.
Let It Go
Maysa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I think I better let it go
I think I better let it go
I've given everything to you
Gonna give
It's time to start anew
Time for me to live
I've wasted countless years
On tons of foolish fears
And I'm no use to me
Or you if I don't let it go
Think I better let it go
Time for me to make a move
Think I better let it go
Time for me to break the rules
I think I better
I think I better let it go
I think I better
I think I better let it go
Surely you understand
Just what I'm feeling
You said yourself before
It's time for you to get more
I'm on my way to somewhere
I don't know and I don't care
I just can't wait to get there
Think I better let it go
Time for me to make a move
Think I better let it go
Time for me to break the rules
I think I better
I think I better let it go
I think I better
I think I better let it go
Life, life is so crazy
You miss out on all you've
Been waiting for
Find that there's so much more
True love and just making it
Instead of wasting time
I'm gonna get mine
I, I think, I think I better
I think I better let it go
I, I think, I think I better
I think I better let it go
Time for make a change
Think I better let it go
Time for me to break the rules
I've wasted countless years
On tons of foolish fears
And I'm no use to me
Or you if I don't let it go
Think I better let it go
Time for me to make a move
I, I think, I think I better
I think I better let it go
I, I think, I think I better
I think I better let it go
Time for me to make a move
Think I better let it go
Time for me to break the rules
I've given everything to you
Everything I had to give
It's time for me to start anew
Time for me to live
I gotta let it go, I gotta make my move
It's time for me to break the rules
You said it yourself, you gotta give yours
Well, I gotta give mine
And I ain't wasting no more time
Maysa's song "Let It Go" is a powerful anthem about taking control of one's life and finding the strength and courage to move forward. The song speaks to the idea of letting go of the past, shedding the weight of our fears and doubts, and embracing a brand new beginning.
In the first verse, Maysa states that she has given everything to someone, and now it is time for her to start anew. She admits that she has wasted countless years on foolish fears and that she must let go of the past to be of any use to herself or anyone else. In the chorus, she reiterates that it is time for her to make a move and break the rules that she has been living by. She repeats the phrase "I think I better let it go," emphasizing the importance of shedding the past to move forward.
Throughout the song, Maysa empowers herself to take control of her life, stating that she does not know where she is headed but that she cannot wait to get there. She encourages the listener to do the same and to make changes in their own lives. The song concludes with Maysa stating that it is time for her to break free and live life to the fullest, wasting no more time.
Overall, "Let It Go" is a message of hope, strength, and courage. It encourages listeners to take control of their lives and to let go of the past to embrace new beginnings.
Line by Line Meaning
I think I better
Realizing that it's time to make a change, I believe it is necessary
I've given everything to you
I have given my all to you
Gonna give
I'm going to keep giving
It's time to start anew
Now is the time for a fresh start
Time for me to live
It's time for me to focus on my own life
I've wasted countless years
I have spent too much time in fear
On tons of foolish fears
Fear has controlled too much of my life
And I'm no use to me
If I don't let go of my fears, I won't be able to move forward
Or you if I don't let it go
If I don't move forward, I won't be able to be useful to you
Think I better let it go
I need to let go of my fears
Time for me to make a move
It's time for me to take action
Time for me to break the rules
I need to stop living my life by someone else's expectations
Surely you understand
I hope you can empathize with how I'm feeling
Just what I'm feeling
These are my true emotions
You said yourself before
You have expressed similar feelings before
It's time for you to get more
It's your turn to focus on your own life
I'm on my way to somewhere
I'm headed in a new direction
I don't know and I don't care
I am not sure where this will lead, but I am excited to find out
I just can't wait to get there
Anticipation for the future is driving me forward
Life, life is so crazy
Life can be unpredictable
You miss out on all you've been waiting for
If you don't take action, you can miss important experiences
Find that there's so much more
New opportunities arise when you break out of your comfort zone
True love and just making it
Life is about finding love and surviving struggles
Instead of wasting time
Instead of being held back by fear
I'm gonna get mine
I am going to pursue my own goals and desires
Time for make a change
It's time for me to make a change
I gotta let it go, I gotta make my move
I need to let go of my fears and take action
You said it yourself, you gotta give yours
You also need to focus on your own life
Well, I gotta give mine
I have to prioritize my own needs and desires
And I ain't wasting no more time
I won't let fear hold me back any longer
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: GERRY DEVEAUX, CHARLIE MOLE, ANGIE STONE, CHUCK BUTLER, LUKE BROWN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind