Kisses of FireToday 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.
