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.
Walk Away
Maysa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That I hope to share my life and my dreams with
Now all that has changed
And nothing we can do is gonna make it better
So it's time for us to let go
I kinda walk away from you
Even though it feels so good
But you don′t understand
What it takes to be in love
The sacrifices made for love
Hoping that you change your ways
So I guess it's over now
So I guess it's over now
Even though we can′t be lovers, I′m still your friend
In your time of trouble, you can call on me
Babe, I wish that I could ease your pain
Nothing you can say will keep us together
So you gotta let me go
I kinda walk away from you
Even though it feels so good
I tried everything I could
But you don't understand
What it takes to be in love
The sacrifices made for love
Hoping you would change your ways
So I guess it′s over now
Yes, I guess it's over now
Baby, you were my friend, and then we were lovers
(And still we haven′t been the same)
Now I'm the one that′s here breaking your heart
I will give you anything to make you feel better
But I can't change the way I feel inside
(I didn't mean to make you cry)
It′s time for us to say goodbye
(Time to say goodbye, goodbye)
Oh, baby!
Oh!
I kinda walk away from you
Even though it feels so good
I did everything I could
But you don′t understand
What it takes to be in love
The sacrifices made for love
Hoping you would change your ways
So I guess it's over now, I guess it is
Well, I guess it′s over now
Over, baby (walk away)
I did everything I could (walk away, walk away)
I, I loved you like you do (walk away, walk away, walk away)
I would
I was there (walk away)
I was there for you (walk away, walk away)
But you turned my world upside down (walk away)
And I did what I had to do (walk away, walk away)
I had to walk way, baby (walk away, walk away)
I had to walk away, baby (walk away, walk away, walk away)
I had to walk way, walk away (walk away, walk away, walk away)
I had to walk way from you, baby (walk away)
Walk away, walk away (walk away, walk away, walk away)
I, I walked away, I walked away (walk away, walk away, walk away)
I did what I had to, baby
No, no (walk away)
I walked away (walk away, walk away)
I walked away (walk away), I walked away (walk away)
And let you go (walk away), I had to let you go
(Walk away) I had to walk away (walk away, walk away)
Baby
The lyrics to Maysa's "Walk Away" tell the story of a relationship that has reached its end. The singer had believed that their partner would be the one they would share their life and dreams with when they first met, but now they have come to the realization that it is time to let go. The singer has tried everything they could to make the relationship work, but their partner does not understand what it takes to be in love and the sacrifices that must be made. Ultimately, the singer decides to walk away from the relationship, even though it feels good, because there is nothing left to do to make it better.
Despite the end of the romantic aspect of their relationship, the singer still wants to remain friends with their partner and be there for them during their times of trouble. However, the singer knows that nothing their partner can say will change their decision to walk away. The singer acknowledges that it is difficult to end a relationship with someone who was once both their lover and their friend. They wish they could ease their partner's pain, but they cannot change the way they feel inside. It is time for them to say goodbye.
Overall, "Walk Away" is a poignant song about the end of a relationship and the difficult decision to let go of someone they loved. The lyrics explore the emotions that come with a breakup, from the initial hope and optimism to the sadness and pain that follow.
Line by Line Meaning
When we first met, I′d always thought that you would be the one
From the beginning of our relationship, I believed that you were the one for me.
That I hope to share my life and my dreams with
I had hoped that we would be able to share our lives and our dreams together.
Now all that has changed
However, things have changed and our relationship is no longer what it used to be.
And nothing we can do is gonna make it better
Despite our efforts, there is nothing that we can do to fix our relationship.
So it's time for us to let go
Therefore, it is time for us to move on from each other.
I kinda walk away from you
I am choosing to walk away from you and our relationship.
Even though it feels so good
Although it might feel satisfying to leave, it is still a difficult decision.
I tried everything I could
I made every effort to make our relationship work.
But you don′t understand
However, you don't seem to comprehend or grasp the difficulties and sacrifices involved in a loving relationship.
What it takes to be in love
The kind of sacrifices and commitment necessary to make a relationship work.
The sacrifices made for love
The willingness to give up or compromise certain things in order to make the relationship work.
Hoping that you change your ways
I had hoped that you would be willing to change and make the relationship work.
So I guess it's over now
Since our relationship isn't working out and there seems to be no resolution, it is time to accept that it is the end.
Even though we can′t be lovers, I′m still your friend
Although our romantic relationship is over, I am still willing to remain friends with you.
In your time of trouble, you can call on me
If you ever need someone to turn to during difficult times, I am here for you.
Babe, I wish that I could ease your pain
I wish that things could have turned out differently and that I could have prevented any emotional pain for you.
Nothing you can say will keep us together
Despite any attempts to reconcile, it does not seem likely that we can continue to be together.
So you gotta let me go
Therefore, it is time for you to let go of our relationship and move on.
Baby, you were my friend, and then we were lovers
You were a friend before we became romantically involved.
(And still we haven′t been the same)
Since then, things have changed and the relationship has been different than initially expected.
Now I'm the one that′s here breaking your heart
It is difficult for me to walk away and end our relationship, but it is necessary for us to move on.
I will give you anything to make you feel better
Despite our relationship ending, I still care about you and want to support you in any way that I can.
But I can't change the way I feel inside
However, my decision to end the relationship is not something that I can change or control.
(I didn't mean to make you cry)
I did not intend to cause any emotional distress for you.
It′s time for us to say goodbye
It is time for us to let go of our relationship and move on to other things.
(Time to say goodbye, goodbye)
Now is the time to say goodbye and move on.
And let you go
It is time for me to let go and move on from our relationship.
I had to let you go
Although it is difficult, it is necessary for me to let you go and move on.
And I did what I had to do
I made the difficult decision to end our relationship for the sake of both of us.
I had to walk away
I chose to walk away from our relationship because it was no longer working.
Writer(s): Ackerman Tracy, Watkins Andrew John, Wilson Paul David, Halliwell Geri
Contributed by Elijah L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.