Fado Perdição

Perdition

Even in a genre not shy of evoking emotion, Fado Perdição is exceptionally heart-rending. We find ourselves confronted with a character who has been irreparably ravaged by the pain of broken love.

This version is sung by Cristina Branco, another leading light in the younger generation of fado. Although perhaps less known internationally than her contemporary, Mariza, Branco is certainly no less talented. Bringing a certain modesty and simplicity to her interpretations, she is particularly admired for the clarity and purity of her diction, and for the finely controlled emotional depth of her fados.

Branco herself claims to have had no interest in fado until she was 18. Like many young Portuguese growing up after the revolution of 1974, she considered the tradition as something belonging to another generation. But legend has it that at a dinner party amongst friends, she decided to give fado singing a go, just for fun. Cristina Branco the fadista was born.

As with many young Portuguese musicians making their way in fado at the turn of the century, she also benefitted from the resurgence of interest in fado within Portugal which sprung from the period of national mourning following the death of Amália in 1999. Branco similarly shares with her generation of fadistas the firm belief that respect for the traditions of fado must go hand in hand with constant renewal and revitalisation. She has embraced the fusion of fado with other musical categories, for instance, in her latest album, Fado Tango, combining the themes of desire, suffering and longing common to both genres of music.

In this song, the fadista sings of a love comparable not to a river, but to the immensity of the ocean; vast, profound and immeasurably powerful. Engaged in a battle with her own mind and her memories, the singer tries desperately to forget the past, but like a shadow it follows her every step. The harder she tries to forget, the stronger the resurgence of the memories which torment her, as her lover appears everywhere; his name is entwined in the wind, his eyes give rise to the earth and the skies.

Once again, images of the unreliability of the eyes and the act of seeing run throughout this fado. The fadista is haunted by the eyes of her lover, which seem to reappear constantly, and most hauntingly, within her own eyes as she gazes at her reflection in the mirror. In a similar vein, the fadista speaks of ‘nossa voz’; she and her physically absent, but mentally ever-present lover have come to share one voice, one identity. No matter how fast she runs, he will always follow her, enlaced in the waves of the sea, in the wind and the skies, buried within her eyes and within her soul.







Fado Perdição

Este amor não é um rio
Tem a vastidão do mar
E a dança verde das ondas
Soluçam no meu olhar

Tentei esquecer as palavras
Nunca ditas entre nós
Mas pairam sobre o silêncio
Nas margens da nossa voz

Tentei esquecer os teus olhos
Que não sabem ler nos meus
Mas neles nasce alvorada
Que amanhece a terra e os céus

Tentei esquecer o teu nome
Arrancá-lo ao pensamento
Mas regressa a todo instante
Entrelaçado no vento

Tentei ver a minha imagem
Mas foi a tua que vi
No meu espelho porque trago
Os olhos rasos de ti

Este amor não é um rio
Tem abismos como o mar
E o manto negro das ondas
Cobre-me de negro olhar

Este amor não é um rio
Tem a vastidão do mar


Fado Perdition

Cet amour n’est pas une rivière
Il a l’immensité de la mer
Et la danse verte des vagues
Qui sanglotent dans mon regard

J’ai tenté d’oublier les mots
Jamais prononcés entre nous
Mais ils flottent au-dessus du silence
En marge de notre voix

J’ai tenté d’oublier tes yeux
Qui ne savent pas lire dans les miens
Mais en elles naît l’aube
Qui annonce la terre et les cieux

J’ai tenté d’oublier ton nom
De l’arracher de ma pensée
Mais il revient à chaque instant
Enlacé dans le vent

J’ai tenté de voir mon image
Mais c’était la tienne que j’ai vue
Dans mon miroir, parce que j’emporte
Tes yeux simples avec moi

Cet amour n’est pas une rivière
Il a des abîmes comme la mer
Et le manteau noir des vagues
Me couvre d’un regard noir

Cet amour n’est pas une rivière
Il a l’immensité de la mer


Fado of Perdition

This love is not a river
It has the vastness of the sea
And the green dance of the waves
Which sob within my gaze

I tried to forget the words
Never said between us
But they float above the silence
In the margins of our voice

I tried to forget your eyes
Which do not know how to read mine
But within them is born the dawn
Which gives birth to the earth and the skies

I tried to forget your name
To tear it out of my thoughts
But it comes back in every moment
Entwined with the wind

I tried to see my own image
But it was yours that I saw
In my mirror, because I carry within me
Your own plain eyes

This love is not a river
It has abysses like the sea
And the black cape of its waves
Covers me in its black gaze

This love is not a river
It has the vastness of the sea

Boa Noite Solidão

Goodnight Loneliness

In Mariza, we find the supreme diva of contemporary fado. Born to a Mozambican mother and Portuguese father, and having spent her childhood in Lisbon’s Mouraria, the mythical birthplace of fado, Mariza claims to have grown up immersed in fado. She is probably the contemporary fadista who is best known outside of Portugal, and having won a whole host of music awards across the globe, Mariza really is an international star.

A great deal of Mariza’s popularity is born of her determination to combine a commitment to tradition and to the great fadistas of the previous generation, notably a particular sense of indebtedness to the influence of Amália, with a refusal to slavishly follow every aspect of traditional fado. Incorporating African and Brazilian rhythms into old classics, Mariza has made fado her own, bringing new life to well-established songs, and inspiring a whole new generation to investigate their roots. Whilst she may have received the odd disparaging comment from the purists, for her appearance as much as for her musical experimentation (with her cropped platinum hair and extravagant costumes, Mariza refuses the severe and often ascetic image of the traditional fadista), it is undeniable that no-one has done more than Mariza to bring fado into the new millennium, and onto the international stage.

In this song, Boa Noite Solidão, the fadista addresses the loneliness which has crept into his room and is now haunting him in the darkness of the night (Although Mariza sings this version, I presume this fado was originally written for a man, since the lost love being referred to is a woman). Loneliness here is an ambiguous figure, shadowy, obscure and somehow threatening, yet also providing a certain comfort and companionship. The protagonist offers his hand to loneliness, seeking understanding and compassion, whilst also conceding that his new confidant will doubtless awaken the saudades which had lay sleeping, and with it, give rise to a flurry of bittersweet memories and longing. As with Beijos de Fogo, the hero is engaged in a battle with his emotions, claiming to desire quietude and freedom from his torment, as he asks loneliness no longer to speak to him of his love. But again, as with the previous song, this plea for an end to painful memories is only partially genuine. As the fado comes to an end, the fadista asks loneliness to leave him. Not because he wants relief from the thoughts of his lost love. But rather because he wants to be truly alone, without even the company of loneliness, to devote himself to his dreams of her.







Boa noite solidão

Boa noite solidão
Vi entrar pela janela
O teu corpo de negrura

Quero dar-te a minha mão
como a chama duma vela
Dá a mão à noite escura

Quero dar-te a minha mão
Como a chama duma vela
Dá a mão à noite escura

Os teus dedos, solidão
Despenteiam a saudade
Que ficou no lugar dela

Espalhas saudades pro chão
E contra a minha vontade
Lembras-me a vida com ela

Espalhas saudades pro chão
E contra a minha vontade
Lembras-me a vida com ela

Só tu sabes, solidão
A angústia que traz a dor
Quando o amor, a gente nega

Como quem perde a razão
Afogamos o nosso amor
No orgulho que nos cega

Como quem perde a razão
Afogamos o nosso amor
No orgulho que nos cega

Com o coração na mão
Vou pedir-te, sem fingir
Que não me fales mais dela

Boa noite solidão
Agora quero dormir
Porque vou sonhar com ela

Boa noite solidão
Agora quero dormir
Porque vou sonhar com ela

Lyrics by Jorge Fernando, Music by Carlos da Maia



Bonne Nuit, Solitude

Bonne nuit, Solitude
J’ai vu entrer par la fenêtre
Ton corps de noirceur

Je veux te donner la main
Comme la flamme d’une chandelle
Donne sa main à la nuit obscure

Je veux te donner la main
Comme la flamme d’une chandelle
Donne sa main à la nuit obscure

Tes doigts, Solitude
Dépeignent la saudades
Qui est restée à sa place

Tu répands la saudades par terre
Et contre ma propre volonté
Je me rappelle ma vie avec elle

Tu répands la saudades par terre
Et contre ma propre volonté
Je me rappelle ma vie avec elle

Il n’y a que toi que sais, Solitude
L’angoisse qu’apporte la douleur
Lorsque l’amour est refusé

Comme celui que perd la raison
Nous noyons notre amour
Dans l’orgueil qui nous aveugle

Comme celui que perd la raison
Nous noyons notre amour
Dans l’orgueil qui nous aveugle

Avec le cœur dans la main
Je te demande, sans faire semblant
Que tu ne me parles plus d’elle

Bonne nuit, Solitude
Maintenant je veux dormir
Parce que je vais rêver d’elle
Bonne nuit, Solitude
Maintenant je veux dormir
Parce que je vais rêver d’elle


Goodnight Loneliness

Goodnight, Loneliness
I saw come in through the window
Your body of blackness

I want to give you my hand
Like the flame of a candle
Gives its hand to the dark night

I want to give you my hand
Like the flame of a candle
Gives its hand to the dark night

Your fingers, Loneliness
Ruffle the saudades
Which remains in her place

You spread saudades across the floor
And against my own will
I remember my life with her

You spread saudades across the floor
And against my own will
I remember my life with her

Only you know, Loneliness
The anguish which pain brings with it
When love is denied

Like one who has lost his mind
We drown our love
In the pride that blinds us

Like one who has lost his mind
We drown our love
In the pride that blinds us

With my heart in my hands
I am going to ask you, without pretending
That you no longer speak to me of her

Goodnight, Loneliness
Now I want to sleep
Because I am going to dream of her

Goodnight, Loneliness
Now I want to sleep
Because I am going to dream of her

Fado em cinco estilos

Fado Corrido

This is a very traditional fado, an emblematic example of fado castiço, or classic fado, and more specifically a fado corrido, characterised by a running tempo, which is much faster and more upbeat than is typical of other kinds of fado music. The guitar essentially repeats the same pattern, and it is down to the fadista to provide the emotional tone of each verse in line with the lyrics, to provide the five styles of the title.

This particular fado has been interpreted by numerous fadistas over the years, but I have chosen this version by Maria Teresa de Noronha (1918 - 1993), not only for the clarity and poignancy of her voice, but also because Noronha is an interesting figure in the history of fado. Born into an ancient, aristocratic family, Noronha’s background was a world away from the poorest districts of Lisbon, from the taverns, dockyards and brothels where fado had its roots. Although at the time of her youth fado had already begun to move away from its marginal roots and reach a wider audience, Noronha’s privileged beginnings were a still a serious restriction to her artistic ambitions, and it is fair to say that she never really achieved the same international status or national affection as her contemporary, Amália.

This particular song, Fado em cinco estilos, which confronts the timeless theme of unrequited love, seems to be as much about celebrating the story of fado itself as it is about the sorrows of the protagonist. The fadista sings of her love of singing fado, of its purity and its ability to express far more than just unhappiness and disgrace. She also sings of life’s illusions, and the act of seeing, along with its opposite of blindness, both recur throughout the lyrics. Eyes and seeing, and the blindness caused by overpowering emotion, are common themes in fado more generally, and the protagonist here combines the two, expressing her desire to gaze upon her lover, and her promise that, if her eyes are bothering him, she will tear them away and love him blindly. In the final verse, she acknowledges the unreliability of sight as she reveals that it is not really death that she is afraid of, but rather life, and the power of its illusions…







(I ought to add that the in the video in the link, Noronha sings a slightly different version of the first verse. My only justification for the discrepancy is that I prefer these lyrics, so apologies for any confusion...)



Fado em cinco estilos

Eu quero bem aos teus olhos
Mas muito mais quero aos meus
Pois se perdesse meus olhos
Não podia ver os teus

Se eu de saudades morrer
Apalpa meu coração
Talvez eu torne a viver
Ao calor da tua mão

Se os meus olhos te incomodam
Quando estão na tua frente
Eu prometo arrancá-los
E amar-te cegamente

Gosto de cantar o Fado
Acho que o Fado tem raça
E que não foi só criado
Para cantar a desgraça

Se tenho medo da morte
Não tanto como supões
Tenho mais medo da vida
E das suas ilusões

Lyrics by João Silva Tavares

Fado en cinq styles

Je veux du bien à tes yeux
Mais j’en veux beaucoup plus aux miens
Puisque si je perdais mes yeux
Je ne pourrais voir les tiens

Si je meurs de saudades
Touche mon cœur
Je reviendrais peut-être à la vie
Avec la chaleur de ta main

Si mes yeux t’incommodent
Lorsqu’ils sont là devant toi
Je te promets de les éloigner
Et de t’aimer aveuglement

J’aime chanter le fado
Je trouve que le fado est de pure race
Et qu’il n’a pas été créé seulement
Pour chanter le malheur

Si j’ai peur de la mort
Ce n’est pas autant que tu le supposes
J’ai plus peur de la vie
Et de ses illusions



Fado in five styles

I wish your eyes well
But not so much as I wish my own
Since if I were to lose my eyes
I would not be able to see yours

If I were to die of saudades
Touch my heart And perhaps
I would come back to life
With the heat of your hand

If my eyes bother you
When they are in front of you
I promise to tear them away
And to love you blindly

I like singing fado
I think fado is of a pure race
And it was not only created
To sing of unhappiness and disgrace

If I am afraid of death
It is not as much as you suppose
I am more afraid of life
And of its illusions

Beijos de Fogo

Kisses of Fire

Today we have one of my favourite fado singers, António Zambujo (b. 1975), singing what I think is one of his best fados, Beijos de Fogo, or Kisses of Fire.

Zambujo is a contemporary fado singer, one of the most popular male interpreters of the younger generation of fadistas who have taken fado across the Portuguese border and become internationally known. In many respects he is more traditional than his contemporaries, often turning to the roots of fado and choosing to sing some of the classics of his predecessors. But he is also unafraid of experimenting and creating completely new pieces in collaboration with Brazilian singers or jazz musicians.

I think what I like best about Zambujo is the simplicity of his style. His live performances are typified by a certain minimalism, almost an austerity, as he sits in his trademark dark suit, accompanied only by the Portuguese guitar, the double bass, and his own classical guitar. Simple, sensitive, and heartfelt.

In this song, Beijos de Fogo, we hear the story of a man struggling to control his desire and longing for a lost love. Locking away his turbulent emotions, he begins by telling us that he wants only peace and serenity, respite from his suffering. Yet somehow his voice belies his words. He goes on to admit his inner struggle, the exhaustion caused by trying to quell his passion, and the folly of fighting his love. In the final verse, he is forced to acknowledge the truth. He has only one real desire; to smash open the padlock he has placed over his heart, to allow his desire to burst forth and burn like fire.







Beijos de Fogo

Silêncio nem uma pena
Quero a minha alma serena
Sem soluços na cidade
Sequei meus olhos chorados
Pus no peito cadeados
P'ra não entrar a saudade

Numa atitude mais louca
Pousei sobre minha boca
Rosas fogo de quem ama
P'ra se me vencer a fome
De querer gritar teu nome
Meus lábios fiquem em chama

Mas a noite é um segredo
Confesso que tenho medo
E ao mesmo tempo desejos
De ouvir silêncios rasgados
De quebrar os cadeados
De te queimar com meus beijos


Baisers de Feu
Ce silence n’est même pas une peine
Je veux que mon âme soit sereine
Sans sanglots dans la ville
J’ai séché mes yeux qui pleuraient
J’ai mis un cadenas sur ma poitrine
Pour que la saudade n’y entre pas

Dans une attitude si folle
J’ai posé sur ma bouche
Les roses et le feu de celui qui aime
Pour vaincre en moi la faim
De vouloir crier ton nom
Mes lèvres restent en appel

Mais la nuit j’ai un secret
J’avoue que j’ai peur
Et qu’en même temps je désire
Entendre le silence déchiré
Briser les cadenas
Et te brûler avec mes baisers


Kisses of Fire
Silence is not even a sorrow
I want my soul to be serene
Without sobbing in the city
I have dried my crying eyes
And put a padlock on my chest
So that the saudade cannot enter

In such a crazy attitude
I placed over my mouth
Roses and fire of he who loves
To vanquish within me the hunger
Of wanting to scream out your name
My lips remain calling out

But at night I have a secret
I confess that I am afraid
And at the same time I desire
To tear open the silence
To smash the padlocks
And to burn you with my kisses


A note on saudades…
This particular song brings up the notion of saudades, a word which I have left in the original in both the French and English versions. Ter saudades is translated most frequently in English as to miss somebody or something, often a loved one or one’s homeland. But it can also mean much more than this, evoking a bittersweet nostalgia for the past, a quiet but powerful longing or yearning for something which has been lost, combined with the knowledge that that which is past can never truly be regained. As such, saudades seems to me to express something of the perpetual sense of loss which arises from the fleeting nature of experience and life in general. Every passing day brings new experiences, but they pass so quickly that they seem to be lost before we have even had a chance to really grasp hold of them. The sense of loss and longing which arises as a result gives birth to saudades, and to fado.

Tudo isto é fado

All this is Fado

When I was first learning Portuguese, I turned to fado primarily as a means of learning the language. I soon found that my vocabulary to deal with sorrow, suffering, and sobbing had rocketed. I had also fallen in love with the music.

Fado is a form of traditional Portuguese music and song which is invariably tinged with melancholy, and above all, with longing. The word itself comes originally from the Latin, fatum, meaning fate or destiny, and some of the most powerful fados deal with the often mysterious exigencies of fate, with life’s uncanny ability to dispel the notion that we have any real control over the paths that our lives take. Whilst reason may try to persuade us that we are in command, fado reminds us how little we can really know or understand. Like wrack thrown onto the shore by the crashing waves of the Atlantic, we find ourselves torn apart by emotion, and by the unforeseeable and often cruel events that life decides to throw in our paths; love and desire, jealousy and bitterness, anguish and pain. But also hope, and it is this gentle but persistent hope which enables us to cling to life. We may be battered and broken, but our hearts keep beating, and it is this beating which gives rise to courage, and to the rhythm of the fado.

Tudo isto é fado is a classic fado, sung by the undisputed queen of the genre, Amália Rodrigues (1920 - 1999). There is much to be said about this song and about Amália, but for now I’ll simply leave you with Portugal’s greatest fadista, as she offers some defining images to depict the mystery of fado; “love, jealousy, ashes and flames, sorrow and sin…”





Tudo isto é fado

Perguntaste-me outro dia
Se eu sabia o que era o fado
Disse-te que não sabia
Tu ficaste admirado
Sem saber o que dizia
Eu menti naquela hora
Disse-te que não sabia
Mas vou-te dizer agora

Almas vencidas
Noites perdidas
Sombras bizarras
Na Mouraria
Canta um rufia
Choram guitarras
Amor ciúme
Cinzas e lume
Dor e pecado
Tudo isto existe
Tudo isto é triste
Tudo isto é fado

Se queres ser o meu senhor
E teres-me sempre a teu lado
Nao me fales só de amor
Fala-me também do fado
E o fado é o meu castigo
Só nasceu pr'a me perder
O fado é tudo o que digo
Mais o que eu não sei dizer.



Tout cela est fado

Tu m’as demandée l’autre jour
Si je savais ce que c’est le fado
J’ai dit que je ne savais pas
Et tu semblais étonné
Sans savoir ce que je disais
Je t’ai menti ce jour-là
Je t’ai dit que je ne savais pas
Mais je vais te le dire maintenant

Âmes vaincues
Nuits perdues
Ombres bizarres
Dans le quartier des maures
Un vagabond chante
Des guitares pleurent
Amour, jalousie
Cendres et flammes
Douleur et péché
Tout ça existe
Tout ça est triste
Tout ça est fado

Si tu veux être mon homme
Et m’avoir toujours à côté de toi
Ne me parle pas seulement de l’amour
Parle-moi aussi de fado
Le fado est mon châtiment
Il est né uniquement pour me perdre
Le fado est tout ce que je dis
Et tout ce je ne sais pas dire



All this is Fado

You asked me the other day
Whether I knew what fado was
I told you I didn’t know
And you seemed surprised
Without knowing what I was saying
I lied to you that day
I told you that I did not know
But I am going to tell you now

Vanquished souls
Lost nights
Strange shadows
In the Moorish quarter
A vagabond sings
Guitars cry
Love, jealousy
Ashes and flames
Sorrow and sin
All this exists
All this is sad
All this is fado

If you want to be my man
And have me always by your side
Don’t speak to me only of love
Speak to me also of fado
Fado is my punishment
It was born just to make me lost
Fado is everything I say
And more, which I don’t know how to say