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
Next To Me
Mosquitos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Show me the way and I'll stay with you forever
Next to me
Não me deixe
Next to me
Me abraçe forte
You're like my beach and love is in our reach
But love is like sand when you hold it in your hand
These lyrics from Mosquitos's song "Next To Me" describe a feeling of love and devotion towards someone. The first line refers to the transformative power of love – how it can completely change a person's life in a short amount of time. The second line speaks to the desire to remain with this person forever, and asking them to show the way to do so. The chorus then pleads for the person to stay next to the singer, to not leave them, and to hug them tightly. The lyrics liken the person to a beach, with love within reach, but as the final line suggests, holding love can be as tricky as holding sand - it may slip away easily.
Overall, these lyrics convey the intensity of love and how it can change someone's life. It also acknowledges the fragility of relationships, hence the comparison to sand. The repeated plea for the person to stay next to the singer suggests a need for closeness and security.
Line by Line Meaning
In just one day you changed me forever
You had a huge impact on my life in just a single day
Show me the way and I'll stay with you forever
Guide me and I'll always be by your side
Next to me
I want you to be close to me
Não me deixe
Don't leave me
Next to me
I want you to be by my side
Me abraçe forte
Hug me tight
You're like my beach and love is in our reach
You give me peace and happiness, and our love is within grasp
But love is like sand when you hold it in your hand
Love can slip away easily, like sand between your fingers
Contributed by Aiden P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.