Thoughts on Os Grilos (Vanessa da Mata)

Os Grilos (or The Crickets) is a late 1960’s bossa nova song originally performed by Brazilian singer and musician Marcos Valle. The language used in this song is Portuguese, and unfortunately I don’t speak the language, so I cannot understand it.

I came across this song on TV when it woke me up from my sleep, and much later I found out that the vocalist for this song was Brazilian singer-songwriter Vanessa da Mata.

Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv2QDuibb-g (go to 1:42:22 to listen)

I prefer this version of the song because (aside from the music) the timing of the vocals was perfect. I tried listening to other versions of the song, but it didn’t work out for me because the vocal timing was… a bit slow for my tastes. Strangely enough, that song unlocked a memory of an Emma Bunton song I used to listen to as a child.

It was based on Os Grilos and the story was about a woman named Maria, who had a date with her boyfriend and ends up sneaking out of her house late at night (against her family’s wishes). She and her boyfriend meet up together and end up sleeping with each other, and later on they are caught in bed together by Maria’s family. Must have been embarrassing for everyone.

Don’t worry, the music video doesn’t show any of that stuff. And sadly, Vanessa doesn’t have Os Grilos in any of her albums; the song was performed live for the 2016 Rio Paralympics closing ceremony.