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.
What are you doing the rest of your life
Maysa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
North and south and east and west of your life
I have only one request of your life
That you spend it all with me
All the seasons and the times of your days
All the nickels and the dimes of your days
Let the reasons and the rhymes of your days
All begin and end with me
In fields of gold and forest overnight
And when you stand before the candles on the cake
Oh let me be the one to hear the silent wish you make
Those tomorrows waiting deep in your eyes
In the world of love you keep in your eyes
I'll awake and rest asleep in your eyes
It may take a kiss or two
And you are my life
Summer, winter, spring, and fall of my life
All I ever will recall of my life
Is all of my life with you
Is all of my life with you
Is all of my life with you
All I ask with you
Is all of my life with you
Is all of my life with you
Is all of my life with you
All I ask with you
With you
The song "What are you doing the rest of your life?" by Maysa is a ballad that expresses the singer's desire to spend her entire life with her loved one. The first verse of the song says that the singer has a single request of her loved one, which is to spend the rest of their life together, regardless of where they are in the world. The second verse continues with this theme, saying that the singer wants to be a part of every moment of her loved one's life. She wants to see their face in every kind of light, be there at their birthday celebrations, and hear their silent wishes.
The chorus of the song repeats the message of the first verse, but with added emphasis. The singer says that all she wants is to be with her loved one, through every season and period of life. She will remember nothing else but the time spent with her partner. The final lines of the chorus repeat the opening line, with the addition of "with you," reinforcing the idea that the singer's life is complete only when shared with her partner.
The bridge of the song talks about the deep love held within the eyes of the singer's partner. She says that their eyes hold the promise of many tomorrows, filled with love and hope. She wants to be there with them, waking and sleeping, bringing light and joy to every day.
Overall, the song is a powerful testament to a deep and abiding love, one that transcends time and distance. It speaks to the desire that many people feel to find a lifelong partner, to share all of the ups and downs of life, and to create a lasting bond that endures through the years.
Line by Line Meaning
What are you doing the rest of your life?
Asking about your future plans and whether it involves spending it with me.
North and south and east and west of your life
Every direction or aspect of your life, without exception.
I have only one request of your life
A single plea, to spend your entire life with me.
That you spend it all with me
To share your entire life journey with me.
All the seasons and the times of your days
Every moment of every season that passes in your life.
All the nickels and the dimes of your days
Every small moment that makes up your life, every experience no matter how small.
Let the reasons and the rhymes of your days
Let the purpose and poetry of your life lead you to spend it with me.
All begin and end with me
For me to be the beginning and end of all your actions and decisions in life.
I want to see your face in every kind of light
To experience every facet of your personality and see how you react in different situations.
In fields of gold and forest overnight
To share and experience together the beauty of nature in all its forms.
And when you stand before the candles on the cake
At significant moments in your life, such as birthdays, I want to be there with you.
Oh let me be the one to hear the silent wish you make
To share even your innermost desires and wishes with me, no matter how small or big.
Those tomorrows waiting deep in your eyes
The potential and possibilities that lie ahead for us as a couple, as seen in your eyes.
In the world of love you keep in your eyes
The love that you hold in your eyes and in your heart for me.
I'll awake and rest asleep in your eyes
Every waking and sleeping moment of my life, I want to spend it with you.
It may take a kiss or two
It doesn't matter how long it takes as long as we have each other, a kiss or two may even be all we need.
And you are my life
You are everything to me and my world revolves around you.
Summer, winter, spring, and fall of my life
Every season of my life, I want to share it with you.
All I ever will recall of my life
Everything that I will always remember of my life experience will involve you.
Is all of my life with you
My entire life journey will only make sense if I am sharing it with you.
All I ask with you
All I could ever ask for in life is to share it with you.
Is all of my life with you
My entire life experience will only make sense if I am sharing it with you.
Is all of my life with you
My entire life journey will only make sense if I am sharing it with you.
All I ask with you
All I could ever ask for in life is to share it with you.
With you
Together with you, by my side in every step of the way.
Contributed by Sydney K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@jayelyn2772
Maysa absolutely killed this song. I cried as well when I first heard it. It’s hauntingly beautiful. Thank you Maysa!
@erricapoindexter8705
This is by FAR the BEST version of this song EVER! Wow, what a singer❤️
@Sexyeyes700
This song is so deep, and touches my soul. It’s almost too hard to listen to. Brought tears to my eyes thinking about someone who I have an amazing love with, but timing has never allowed us to find our way back to each other completely, but the love will forever stay constant and true!! ❤️❤️🔥🔥
@thenewauthoreden
Amen. 🦋🌹
@fungirl1978
This song captured everything that I felt for my husband before we got married on 6.28.13. I cried so hard when I first heard it. We had our first dance off of this. I cry every time I hear it. True heart felt words. Just timeless.
@arlenecollier2011
So beautiful for you! What a lovely sentiment. Hold on to him and make life joyful and cherish what you have. True love is blissful!!!
@abdallkhalid5812
I love you 😍
@MrMegajazz
About 8 years ago I was searching for the best version of this amazing Michelle Legrand tune - I found this and have been hooked on Maysa since - keep singing please
@21hanif
Pour moi çà reste la plus belle version de ce morceau chanté Tellement de sensualité de profondeur, et d'émotion dans la voix de Maysa. ❤
@chapoid
She really has captured her own spirit in this most beautiful of songs Bravo outstanding ..