Sérgio Santos Mendes (born Niteroi, 11 February 1… Read Full Bio ↴See Sérgio Mendes.
Sérgio Santos Mendes (born Niteroi, 11 February 1941) is a Brazilian musician. Born the son of a physician in Niteroi, Brazil, Mendes attended the local conservatory with hopes of becoming a classical pianist. As his interest in jazz grew, he started playing in nightclubs in the late-1950s just as bossa nova, a jazz-inflected derivative of samba, was taking off. Mendes played with Antonio Carlos Jobim (regarded as a mentor), and many U.S. jazz musicians who toured Brazil.
Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded Dance Moderno in 1961. Touring Europe and the United States, Mendes recorded albums with Cannonball Adderly and Herbie Mann and played Carnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and cut two albums under the Brasil '65 group name with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records. When sales were tepid, he replaced his Brazilian born vocalist Wanda Sa with the distinctive voice of Chicago native Lani Hall (who learned Mendes' Portuguese material phonetically) and switched to Herb Alpert's A&M label and released Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. (Hall would later marry Alpert). The album ultimately went platinum based largely upon the success of the single Mas Que Nada and the personal support of Alpert, with whom Mendes toured regularly. Though his early singles with Brasil '66 (most notably Mas Que Nada) met with some success, Mendes really burst into mainstream prominence when he performed the Oscar nominated Burt Bacharach/Hal David song "The Look of Love" on the Academy Awards telecast in March 1968. Brasil '66's version of the song quickly shot into the top 10, eclipsing Dusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of the movie, and Mendes spent the rest of 1968 enjoying consecutive top 10 and top 20 hits with his follow-up singles, "The Fool on the Hill" and "Scarborough Fair." Though he continued to enjoy adult contemporary chart successes with Brasil '66 through 1971, he would not experience the mainstream chart hits he enjoyed in 1968 until his comeback album in 1983 generated the biggest single of his career, "Never Gonna Let You Go." However, from 1968 on, Mendes was arguably the biggest Brazilian star in the world, enjoying immense popularity worldwide and performing in venues as varied as stadium arenas and the White House, where he gave concerts for both President Johnson and President Nixon.
Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled in the mid-70s, but he remained very popular in South America and Japan. (This disparity became a Seinfeld in-joke.) His two albums with Bell Records in 1973 and 1974, followed by several for Elektra from 1975 on, found Mendes continuing to mine the best in American pop music and post-Bossa writers of his native Brazil, while forging new directions in soul with collaborators like Stevie Wonder, who wrote Mendes' R&B-inflected minor hit, "The Real Thing." In 1983, he rejoined Alpert's A&M records and enjoyed huge success with a self-titled album and several follow-up albums, all of which received considerable adult contemporary airplay with charting singles. By the time Mendes released his Grammy-winning Elektra album Brasileiro in 1992, he was the undisputed master of pop-inflected Brazilian jazz. The late-1990s lounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' oeuvre, particularly the classic Brasil '66 albums. He has released over thirty-five albums, and still plays his bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk. His newest album, Timeless released in 2006, featured Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas, Q-Tip, Justin Timberlake, and Pharoahe Monch.
(Text taken in whole from the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Mendes on March 30, 2006)
Reza
Sergio Mendes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Laia, laiadi
Laia, laiadi
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Por amor andei
Tanto chão e mar
Senhor, já nem sei
Bastante pra vencer
Eu já sei o que vou fazer
Meu Senhor, uma oração
Vou cantar para ver se vai valer
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Ó meu santo defensor
Traga o meu amor!
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Se é fraca a oração
Mil vezes cantarei
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Ohhh!
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Ó meu santo defensor
Traga o meu amor!
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Se é fraca a oração
Mil vezes cantarei
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
The lyrics of Sérgio Mendes's song "Reza" tell a story of a journey to find love, both through physical and spiritual means. The opening lines, "Lii, laia, laiadi/Laia, laiadi/Laia, laiadi/Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria," create a rhythmic, chant-like quality suggestive of the repetitive nature of seeking and hoping for love. The singer, having walked through both land and sea for love, wonders whether love is enough to conquer all, and so turns to prayer to find guidance and strength. The lines, "Meu Senhor, uma oração/Vou cantar para ver se vai valer," reveal a deep-seated faith in the power of prayer.
The rest of the song becomes a prayer to the singer's "santo defensor" (holy defender) to bring their beloved to them. Again and again, the words "Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria" are repeated, building to a crescendo of hopefulness and determination. Even if the prayer is weak, the singer promises to sing it a thousand times in order to bring their love to them.
Overall, "Reza" is a beautiful, heartfelt plea for love and faith, both in oneself and in something greater than oneself.
Line by Line Meaning
Lii, laia, laiadi
A repetitive and catchy sound that has no specific meaning or purpose, just to set the tone for the song.
Laia, laiadi
A continuation of the previous line, still with no specific meaning or purpose.
Laia, ladaia, sabatana, Ave Maria
Repetitive chant that may be interpreted as a combination of meaningless syllables, a reference to Afro-Brazilian religious traditions, and an invocation of the Virgin Mary.
Por amor andei
I walked for love, meaning that the artist has gone through difficulties and hardships in search of love.
Tanto chão e mar
The artist has traveled far and wide, crossing oceans and continents, in search of love.
Senhor, já nem sei
The singer is tired and unsure, implying that the search for love has taken a toll on them.
Se o amor não é
If love is not enough, implying that the singer has faced disappointment and disillusionment.
Bastante pra vencer
Enough to overcome, meaning that love alone may not be enough to solve all the problems and obstacles the artist faced in their search.
Eu já sei o que vou fazer
The artist has a plan or solution to their problem, even if it is not explicitly stated.
Meu Senhor, uma oração
A request for divine intervention or guidance to help solve their problem.
Vou cantar para ver se vai valer
The singer will sing a prayer or invocation to see if it will have any effect in helping them find love.
Ó meu santo defensor
An invocation to a personal saint or protector, asking for their help and support.
Traga o meu amor!
A direct request for the saint to bring the singer's love to them.
Se é fraca a oração
If the prayer is weak or ineffective, implying that the singer may have doubts about its power or effectiveness.
Mil vezes cantarei
The singer will sing multiple times, a show of persistence and determination, even if the prayer does not work immediately.
Ohhh!
An expression of emotion or feeling, possibly indicating a sense of desperation or uncertainty.
Contributed by Dominic I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
david
on Waters of March (Les Eaux de Mars) - French Version
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