Suspicion of plagiarism involves <i>Águas de Março</i>

One of Tom Jobim’s most famed songs, Águas de Março, has been involved in plagiarism suspicion after having been voted the best song ever by a local newspaper. MPB researchers claim that Jobim’s song plagiarizes a folklore theme named Água do Céu, recorded for the first time by singer Leny Eversong in 1956. The track appears on the record Cinco Estrelas Apresentam Inara, a compilation organized by musician Inara. The song, in its turn, would go back a longer while. "It is based on a macumba (African-Brazilian religious ritual) beat collected in 1933 by J.B. de Carvalho. It featured the lines 'É pau, é pedra, é seixo miúdo/ roda baiana/ por cima de tudo'", claims the researcher (and AllBrazilianMusic contributing writer) José Ramos Tinhorão. Another big name in Brazilian music critic, journalist Luís Antonio Giron confirms: "Águas de Março is not only inspired by folklore, it actually is a folklore song. Copied from the folklore." 214 people, among musicians, songwriters and journalists, were part of a jury that elected Águas de Março as the best song of all time.