Leeds conducted field work among the Yaruro people in Venezuela, in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, in the barriadas of Lima, Peru, and on labor migration in Portugal.
Among the cultural references in the lyrics are the fans of the Flamengo football team, the popular television personality Chacrinha, young girls of the favelas, the samba school Portela, and the Carnaval street parade Banda de Ipanema.
For most of that time she was co-director of the STEP program for disadvantaged youth in Massachusetts; she also spent time during her student years working with the poor in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.