From the recording Chovendo Na Roseira
kay martin—vocals
Fefe Lee—guitars, bass, & synth
Paul Tavenner—drums & percussion
Music recorded in Fefe Lee’s garage studio & Paul Tavenner’s Big City studio-home;
Vocals recorded in my studio (friend Lorenzo’s extra house) in Santa Monica, my friend Mary’s garage in Capitola, & my daughter Manjula’s cottage in Camp Meeker.
Engineered—edited/ mixed/ mastered—by Paul Tavenner at Big City Recording in LA
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<b>Listen! It’s Raining in the Rose Garden! </b>
Chovendo Na Roseira is one of the loveliest songs of the 20th/21st centuries. Brazilian Portuguese is among the most beautiful of languages; Brazilian music (deriving from African/samba rhythms—see my Four Sweets album!) is among the most vibrant, melodic, and soulful on the planet. I originally chose Chovendo for this project thinking of it as relieving stresses and strains of our post-Covid world. With its lightness, its sweetness, beauty, and joy, this song relieves and comforts at this (frankly) frightening, worrisome historic moment.
Lyrics
Olha, Esta chovendo na roseira Que so da rosa mas nao cheira
A frescura das gotas umidas,
Que e de Luliza, que e de Paulinho, que e de Joao, Que e de ninguem
Petalas do rosa carregadas pelo vento
Um amor tao puro carregou meu pensamento
Olha um tico-tico mora ao lado E passeando no molhado
Adivinhou a primavera! Olha que chuva boa, prazenteira,
Que vem molhar minha roseira Chuva boa criaderia,
Que molha a terra que enche o rio, que limpa o ceu, Que traz o azul
Olha o jasmineria esta florido E o riachinho de agua esperta
Se lance em vast rio de aguas calmas Ah voce e de ninguem
Listen, it’s raining in the rose garden! The scent of roses wafts. .
But not the freshness of the moist drops—This one is Luisa’s,
this one is Paulinho’s, this is Joao’s This one is no-one’s!
Rose petals weigh upon the breeze
A love so pure weighs upon my thoughts
Listen, a tico-tico lives over here Passing by he gets you wet
Foretelling the spring! Listen, what a good delicious shower
Come to moisten my rose garden, good shower-creator
That wets the earth, that fills the river, that cleans the sky
That crosses the blue! Listen, the jasmine garden is flowering
The little river of smart water launches into the big river of calm waters
Ah! You belong to no-one!