María María, a beach postcard to slow your pulse

Sun and breeze. That's enough to start María María, which is almost a stretched-out haiku: two-word phrases, leaf green, white sand, gentle waves. No exes, no stolen swimsuits, no insults. Just a beach and a woman called María.

And I like it like that. After so much spite, so much copla with a sharp tongue, a song where nothing bad happens was needed. Here the only action is being: lying down, looking at the sea, letting the sand stick to your feet. Listening to the waves and not thinking about Monday, or the phone, or anyone who isn't in sight.

The lyrics work in pairs that all rhyme in -ía: alegría, fantasía, compañía, melodía, armonía (joy, fantasy, company, melody, harmony). It's an easy rhyme, yes, and it's on purpose. It has something of a summer lullaby, the kind you repeat without thinking while the sun slowly toasts your skin.

The chorus is the name repeated three times and a simple promise: peace, every day. María could be a person, a friend, a lover or the beach itself with a woman's name. I don't clarify it, and I prefer everyone to bring their own María. Some have a grandmother called that, a neighbour, a sister. They all count.

It's about what we look for on holiday and almost never find: a while without noise. «Sueños libres» (free dreams), says one of the lines, and that's exactly what it tries to convey. Freedom without drama, calm without boredom.

When to listen? With the towel down and the phone in airplane mode. Or in the middle of a Madrid winter, when you need someone to remind you the sea is still there, waiting. It's short and kind, the sort that keeps you company without asking for anything in return.

Dedicate it to your María, whoever she is. Or to yourself, because you deserve a bit of company and breeze too.

The full lyrics are below. Listen on Spotify