Mísia sings a poem by Fernando Pessoa "Autopsicografia"

Mísia "Autopsicografia"

Mísia "Autopsicografia" (Self-analysis)

Portuguese guitar: Ângelo Friere

Mísia and Pessoa - two great pretenders

What it means:

Here's my fairly free translation, to get the meaning across.

Self-analysis

The poet is a pretender
pretending so completely
that when they pretend that they're in pain
they end up feeling their real pain.

And to those who read what the poet writes,
the pain they are carefully reading feels
like neither of the two that the poet had,
but one the readers don't actually feel.

And thus going round on the train track,
to entertain and amuse the reason,
is this wind-up train
that we call the heart.

The poet is a pretender
pretending so completely
that when they pretend that they are in pain
it's pain that they truly feel.

Pessoa's poem only has three verses. Mísia makes it longer by repeating each couplet immediately, a fairly standard practice for a singer. Then after singing Pessoa's third and final verse, there's a violin interlude, and she ends by singing the first verse again.

This means that where Pessoa finishes up with this wind-up train that we call the heart (comboio de corda que se chama coração), Mísia ends up with the poet (or singer) feeling pain that they truly feel (a dor que deveras sente).

As sung by Mísia, complete
with repetitions and ending swap.

AUTOPSICOGRAFIA

O poeta é um fingidor
Finge tão completamente
O poeta é um fingidor
Finge tão completamente

Que chega a fingir que é dor
A dor que deveras sente.
Que chega a fingir que é dor
A dor que deveras sente.

E os que lêem o que escreve,
Na dor lida sentem bem,
E os que lêem o que escreve,
Na dor lida sentem bem,

Não as duas que ele teve,
Mas só a que eles não têm.
Não as duas que ele teve,
Mas só a que eles não têm.

E assim nas calhas de roda
Gira, a entreter a razão,
E assim nas calhas de roda
Gira, a entreter a razão,

Esse comboio de corda
Que se chama coração.
Esse comboio de corda
Que se chama coração.

(violin interlude)

O poeta é um fingidor
Finge tão completamente
O poeta é um fingidor
Finge tão completamente

Que chega a fingir que é dor
A dor que deveras sente.
Que chega a fingir que é dor
A dor que deveras sente.

Letra: Fernando Pessoa
Musica: Felipe Pinto

One thing to say immediately is that because Pessoa died in 1935, his work has been out of copyright in most western territories for well over a decade. That's one reason for the Pessoa boom that kicked in around 2005!

But first, a bit about who both the poet Pessoa and the modern singer Mísia are. They are both significant Portuguese artists - and with more in common than you might first expect.

Fernando Pessoa was born in Lisbon in 1888. At the age of six his father died of tuberculosis, a disease then common in most cities of the era. The following year his brother died. Pessoa's mother remarried, and Pessoa went with his new family to South Africa, where his step-father was Portuguese consul in the city of Durban in Natal.

In South Africa the young Fernando was educated in English, in both Durban and later Cape Town, while still speaking Portuguese at home. He ended up completely bilingual in Portuguese and English.

He returned to Lisbon aged 17 to go to university. But the political turmoil at the time made studying difficult - this was at the height of anti-monarchist turmoil and corresponding state repression). So Pessoa ended up getting a job.

Meta

This article is still being worked on, so it's a stub. It needs more about the biographies of Mísia and Pessoa, and some parallels between them. But I thought it worth including, as the music speaks powerfully for itself.

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