The melodic embryos of MÃE DESCONHECIDA [UNKOWN MOTHER] comes from two distinct sources. The first was one of the few existing recordings of Portuguese carpideiras — women who were paid to cry and mourn at strangers funerals. The second is from a short motif taken from the song Em memória de uma camponesa assassinada(1996) by Carlos Paredes (1925–2004).

The title also functions as an allusion to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a monument that stands in memory of soldiers who perished in combat and whose bodies were never found nor identified; an Unknown Mother thus represents all the nameless mothers who weep and lament anonymously for everyone and anyone.