Só as mães são felizes

The song Só as mães são felizes by Cazuza begins with a rhythm that sways between melancholy and urgency, as if the guitar drags each word toward an ending that never arrives. It is not a melody that stays still: the bass draws lines that rise and fall without haste, while the drums mark a beat that feels closer to a heartbeat than to a conventional rock rhythm. Cazuza’s voice, raspy and direct, sings of something that hurts but cannot be avoided: the happiness of mothers, a theme that seems simple but in his verses becomes complex, almost contradictory. There is something in the way he sings that does not sound like resignation, but like a truth accepted without filters.

He recorded it in 1990, in the final months of his life, when he already knew time was running out. It was not an album planned months in advance, but something that emerged from improvised sessions and lyrics written in hotels or backstage at a concert. The album Bilhetinho Azul —where it was included— did not aim to sound polished or commercial, but raw, as if each note carried the weight of what was to come. Cazuza did not write to be remembered, but to say what he felt in that moment, and that is evident in how the song flows without unnecessary adornments. The track lasts three minutes and forty-six seconds, yet within that time everything fits: anger, tenderness, and that question left hanging, as if the listener had to answer it for themselves.