Passos's father was very fond of music and he started all his six children on an instrument. Passos's perfect pitch capabilities led her to begin playing the piano at the age of 3.
When she was 11, she heard João Gilberto's Orfeu do Carnaval, which changed her life. Passos abandoned the study of piano and decided to be a singer. She began listening to Gilberto compulsively, and learned the violão from listening to Gilberto's records. Her other vocal influences were Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Etta James, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Shirley Horn (who has declared herself to be a fan), Cole Porter, and George Gershwin. However, Rosa's main influences remain João Gilberto and Dorival Caymmi.
In 1968 Passos performed on Salvador-based TV show, Poder Joven. In 1969 she began to participate in music festivals. In 1972, she entered her song "Mutilados" in the Globo Network's Festival Universitário, under a pseudonym and won the first place.
Because she couldn't find any interest in the media for her delicate, swinging, truthful style, she continued to play and compose at home, attending college in the meantime.
In 1978, while living in Brasília, she recorded her debut album, Recriação. The album consisted of compositions that she wrote with the poet Fernando de Oliveira. Eight years later she recorded Amorosa, an explicit tribute to her idol João Gilberto's composition of the same name. In 1994 she recorded Curare, with hits by Antônio Carlos Jobim ("Fotografia," "Dindi," "A Felicidade," "Só Danço Samba," "O Nosso Amor"), Johnny Alf ("Ilusão à Toa"), Carlos Lyra/Vinicius de Moraes ("Coisa Mais Linda"), Ary Barroso, Djavan, and others.
In 1996 she recorded Pano pra Manga, for Velas, using mostly her own compositions, along with some classic hits by Jobim, Chico Buarque, and Ary Barroso.
For label Lumiar, she recorded an album dedicated to Ary Barroso, in the label series Letra e Música. In the next year, she recorded, again for Lumiar, the album, Rosa Passos Canta Antonio Carlos Jobim: 40 Anos de Bossa Nova with 14 Jobim classics.
In 1999 she was accompanied by Paquito d'Rivera on a European jazz tour. In 2000 she released Morada do Samba (Lumiar), resuming her writing work. The album brought eight of her compositions, together with "Beiral" (Djavan), "Lá Vem a Baiana" (Dorival Caymmi), "Calmaria" (Walmir Palma), "Saudade da Bahia" (Dorival Caymmi), and "Retiro" (Paulinho da Viola). For the year 2000, she booked a tour through ten European countries, one show in the U.S. and a tour through Japan.
Never resting, Passos continues to make records, including 2003's Entre Amigos/Among Friends with bassist Ron Carter, a 2004 re-release of her pivotal Amorosa on Sony Classical, and 2006's Rosa on Telarc.
Fusion
Rosa Passos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A veces me cuesta decir
Siento tu calor, siento tu frío
Me siento vacío si no estoy dentro de mí
¿Cuánto de esto es amor? ¿cuánto es deseo?
¿Se pueden, o no, separar?
Si desde el corazón a los dedos
¿Qué tendrá de real esta locura?
¿Quién nos asegura que esto es normal?
No importa contarte
Que ya perdí la mesura
Que ya colgué mi armadura en tu portal
¿Dónde termina tu cuerpo y empieza el cielo?
No cabe ni un rayo de luz
¿Qué fue que nos unió en un mismo vuelo?
¿Los mismos anhelos? tal vez la misma cruz
¿Quién tiene razón?
¿Quién está errado?
¿Quién ya habrá dudado de mi corazón?
Yo solo quiero que sepas
No estoy aquí de visita
Y es para ti que está escrita esta canción
¿Dónde termina tu cuerpo y empieza el cielo?
No cabe ni un rayo de luz
¿Qué fue que nos unió en un mismo vuelo?
¿Los mismos anhelos? tal vez la misma cruz
¿Quién tiene razón?
¿Quién está errado?
¿Quién ya habrá dudado de mi corazón?
Yo solo quiero que sepas
No estoy aquí de visita
Y es para ti que está escrita esta canción
The lyrics to Rosa Passos's song "Fusion" delve into the complexity of the physical and emotional connections between two individuals. The first verses ponder the boundaries between the singer and her partner, both in terms of physical touch and emotional intimacy. She questions the lines between their bodies, expressing the feeling of emptiness when not connected to this person. The lyrics also explore the fine line between love and desire, asking whether these sensations can be separated. The singer acknowledges that her partner has the power to make every part of her body vibrate, from her heart to her fingers.
The later verses of the song continue to explore the intricacies of this relationship, questioning what brought them together and whether their connection is truly "normal." Ultimately, the singer reveals that she has lost all sense of control and self-defense in this relationship, letting go of her armor and submitting herself completely to this person. The song ends with the singer expressing her desire for her partner to understand that she is not just a fleeting visitor in their relationship, but rather someone who is deeply committed to them.
Line by Line Meaning
¿Dónde termina tu cuerpo y empieza el mío?
Where does your body end and mine begin?
A veces me cuesta decir
Sometimes I find it hard to say
Siento tu calor, siento tu frío
I feel your warmth, I feel your cold
Me siento vacío si no estoy dentro de mí
I feel empty if I'm not within myself
¿Cuánto de esto es amor? ¿cuánto es deseo?
How much of this is love? How much is desire?
¿Se pueden, o no, separar?
Can they be separated or not?
Si desde el corazón a los dedos
If from the heart to the fingers
No hay nada en mi cuerpo que no hagas vibrar
There is nothing in my body that you don't make vibrate
¿Qué tendrá de real esta locura?
What reality is in this madness?
¿Quién nos asegura que esto es normal?
Who assures us that this is normal?
No importa contarte
It doesn't matter to tell you
Que ya perdí la mesura
That I have already lost measure
Que ya colgué mi armadura en tu portal
That I have already hung my armor on your portal
¿Dónde termina tu cuerpo y empieza el cielo?
Where does your body end and the sky begin?
No cabe ni un rayo de luz
Not even a beam of light fits
¿Qué fue que nos unió en un mismo vuelo?
What brought us together on the same flight?
¿Los mismos anhelos? tal vez la misma cruz
The same yearnings? Maybe the same cross
¿Quién tiene razón?
Who is right?
¿Quién está errado?
Who is wrong?
¿Quién ya habrá dudado de mi corazón?
Who already doubted my heart?
Yo solo quiero que sepas
I only want you to know
No estoy aquí de visita
I'm not here on a visit
Y es para ti que está escrita esta canción
And it is for you that this song is written
Writer(s): Jorge Abner Drexler Prada
Contributed by Logan N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@jocsemedrano1527
me encanta esta versión de esta canción. Rosa le da ese toque que hace la canción más etérea y sublime. ❤
@luiseduardofraire
Gran composition de drexler..pero rosita le dio un toque sincopádo y muy sutil y grandioso..no cabe duda que el samba es mágico ..brazil mágico...rosita passos Chiquita de tamaño pero muy grande con su guitarra y voz..
@ryanroberson6951
I absolutely love this woman. I don't speak nor understand Brazilian but that just goes to show that music connects us all.
@Eltomatero2023
Ryan Roberson brazilian is not a language smh haha
@LE0N5991
And it's not even portugese but spanish lol
Great artist though!
@simplyrenee50
So sweet and lovely. This voice is so healing!
@carloslaurentino1407
lindo demais...escutando todos os dias
@gerardonitsugasalcedo5683
Wow. Que pedazo de cover 💓
@arturoguarneros6859
Hermosa voz y hermosa melodia...es todo un poema musicalizado.
@kevinberstler
Eu adoro muito a música de Jorge Drexler, mas eu acho que esta versão de “Fusión” é incrivelmente bela, mais que a original (eu sei que não é competência, mas Rosa gana rsrs).