Like most of III, that ingenious choice of cover is suffused with what the Brazilians call saudade, a word that defies literal translation but signifies a bittersweet sense of longing. Saudade gives even the breeziest bossa nova melodies a tinge of melancholy and makes them all the more entrancing. All of the tracks here have smart, sing-along arrangements that will draw you in and undercurrents of wistful feeling that will keep you listening raptly for a long time to come. III, you will discover, is also an engrossing soundtrack to a very real story.
In the fall of 2005, after touring North America with their live band-mates, bassist Mikey Onufrak and drummer Mark Robohm, Juju and Chris decided to escape the approaching New York City winter to spend quality time in the places that had inspired their music. Keyboardist Jon, in demand as an engineer-mixer, stayed behind at his studio. The group had already cut almost an album’s worth of tunes, but felt they weren’t ready to release anything yet. First stop was the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. (Check out Juju and Chris’s photos at www.mosquitosnyc.com.) There they witnessed the November Day of the Dead events. As Juju recalls, “It was a beautiful experience. By celebrating death, everyone was really celebrating life. It was a time to talk to the ones who’d left this world.” Juju wept when she left Mexico, but had reason to be happy too: she and Chris were going to see her family in Rio. That’s where the Mosquitos’ sound was created, in a studio/shack near Ipanema, the setting for the group’s oft-licensed tune, “Boombox.”
Back in Rio, Juju hung out a lot with her mom, Anna Morato, a dressmaker. Anna not only supported Juju’s career, she designed her daughter’s stage outfits, which matched in color, fabric and cut the vivacity of the Mosquitos’ music. Three weeks into Juju’s visit, “after a great sushi dinner where we drank caipirinhas and laughed a lot,” Juju explains, her mother, a relatively young woman who’d experienced a few fainting spells earlier that month, suddenly passed away. “The world became a completely different and surreal place for me on the days following her death,” Juju says, “ full of rich life and deep love and sadness mixed together everywhere. When we got back to New York City a little over a month later, I felt that my mother had come with me.”
An acceptance of fate’s role in one’s life is another aspect of saudade; Juju and Chris felt that destiny had sent them on their journey to South America. The songs they wrote or reworked from those earlier sessions became a sort of diary of the joy and sadness, highs and lows, of the previous months. As Chris put it, “We wanted the music to continue to grow the same way we were growing, as a band and as people. We spent more time and thought nurturing the sounds, the vocal performances, the ideas behind the songs.”
Mosquitos’ work has always been partly autobiographical. Their debut disc cheerfully chronicled Chris’ wooing of Juju across two hemispheres. The material on III is personal in a deeper way, though knowledge of the back-story is not a prerequisite to appreciating these tunes. Songs like “Ele” have the same sort of easy-going bossa nova groove as “Boombox” and “Sunshine Barato”; “Mama’s Belly” accelerates that groove and adds a kooky speed-jazz guitar solo from Mikey, switching from bass. “Soap” is early-sixties pop balladry a la “A Summer Place,” with roller-rink organ and record-album scratches, designed specifically for dancing close and slow. “Just A Touch” channels the Lovin’ Spoonful’s cheerful jug-band sound and even features a kazoo solo.
As Juju learned in Mexico, sometimes the best way to deal with the most difficult moments is to celebrate our most treasured ones. III is a celebration of life, love, sex, music, ephemeral pleasures and enduring feelings. It’s guaranteed to warm your heart throughout our chilliest seasons.
-- Michael Hill
27 Degrees
Mosquitos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everybody's left the beach.
Summer is over, but we're not going anywhere.
We're just waiting for the sunshine to come back again.
Feeling breezes, windy trees and you.
Kiss my lips, they're turning blue.
It's twenty-seven Fahrenheit.
The lyrics of Mosquitos' song "27 Degrees" paint a picture of a romantic scene at the beach, despite the fact that summer has come to a close and it's incredibly cold out. The singer and their lover are depicted as the only ones left at the beach, holding hands and waiting for the warmth of the sun to return. In addition to their physical surroundings, the lyrics focus on the sensation of the cold wind blowing and rustling through the trees, paired with the intimate moment shared between the two lovers. Lastly, the temperature is described as being 27 degrees Fahrenheit or below zero in Celsius, which serves as a reminder of how cold it is outside, but also shines a light on the warmth and comfort that the pair finds in each other.
Line by Line Meaning
We're just sitting holding hands.
We are enjoying each other's company without the need for any specific activity.
Everybody's left the beach.
The peak of summer has passed, and the beach is now less crowded.
Summer is over, but we're not going anywhere.
Even though summer has ended, we are still enjoying each other's presence and don't feel the need to leave.
We're just waiting for the sunshine to come back again.
We are hopeful and patient for the return of warm and sunny weather.
Feeling breezes, windy trees and you.
We are enjoying the sensation of the wind blowing around us and the presence of our companion.
Kiss my lips, they're turning blue.
The cold temperature is causing a physical reaction in my body, such as my lips turning blue.
It's twenty-seven Fahrenheit.
The temperature in Fahrenheit is currently below freezing at 27 degrees.
It's below zero Celsius.
The temperature in Celsius is below zero, indicating extremely cold weather.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
RenegadeYTTT
Him: explaining
Him: "This guy saved a fish from drowning."
Me: How the hell can a fish drown?
EastonPlayz
It doesn’t breath the oxygen it takes in?
glowing viper
@Dracorex little water can do that
“Shoe”suke
@Olly Gant my friends nose is massive..
Adam
probably if it cant get water.
Duck CODM
Also in air
applecrumble
I loved how he said he saved a fish from drowning 😂 LMAO
Candy Dacus
"Hey guys! I'm Serum, and welcome back!" That always brightens my day! 😊🌻🌸💐
Candy Dacus
I liked your comment. Tysm!
Candy Dacus
I don't have a YouTube channel but if I did tysm!