Ar Maria -1979- — Jag

One theory: In 1979, a private reel-to-reel tape was labeled with a felt-tip pen: "Jag ar Maria -1979- [end of side A]". The hyphens indicated the end of the recording session. When digitized, the hyphenated year became part of the title.

Maria is seventeen. Or perhaps she’s fifteen pretending to be seventeen. On the tape, her voice cracks just once, on the second syllable of her name, before she steadies herself. She is recording over her mother’s old folk music. The reel smells of dust and possibility. Jag ar Maria -1979-