Gil e Jorge

This morning I received my favorite kind of gift, music, from my best friend Carolina. Music is such a cherished gift for its intangible, transitory qualities. With just a few strings or a soulfully sung lyric it can take you immediately to a place. Whether somewhere better or somewhere worse, without fail it makes you feel something. It's such an expression of love, and you know I love that.

Brasilian music has an especially hypnotic quality and so I was thrilled to receive the album Gil e Jorge from the 70s, the collaboration of two greats - Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben. The track "Morre O Burro Fica o Homem" had me doing a little diddy on the subway platform, it's upbeat samba convincing enough to make the sun awaken from its slumber, emerging to kiss my face as I stepped onto Spring Street.

Portuguese is a language of love. Even the word "saudade" (pronounced "sow-dahd-jee") is seductive and full of emotion. Although it describes a state of suffering, the implication is that you are suffering from having loved immensely. It's an amorous state of sadness. Portuguese also does one of the better jobs at expressing happiness and bliss. It's one of my favorite languages in which to hear, "I love you." "Eu te amo" might lie flat on paper but wait until you hear it live, like in this song "Quem Mandou (Pé Na Estrada)." Wait for the end, there's such passion in the repetition of this precious phrase...



Don't you feel it, the amor? Let it stay with you today turning somber to light, foggy to clear, closed to open.

Caro, thank you for this gift, eu te amo muito meninha.