Tag: Madredeus

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Arguably the most important Portuguese band of the last 30 years.

Poems by Fernando Pessoa set to music

There is a song of the people
I can't even say if it is a Fado
...
But it is so comforting
This vague and sad song
That my soul no longer cries

Here's Mariza singing the whole song.

Mariza "Há uma musica do Povo"

1. Mariza "Há uma musica do Povo" (There is a song of the people)

Music: Mário Pacheco
Portuguese guitar: Luís Guerreiro

Inevitably Fadistas would like this one. But a whole host of Pessoa's other poems have been set to music, many of them as Fado, but in other styles too. In this post there's a selection.

Here are the words of the poem Mariza is singing in Portuguese, with my English free translation below each verse.

Há uma musica do Povo,
Nem sei dizer se é um fado -
Que ouvindo-a há um chiste novo
No ser que tenho guardado

There is a song of the people,
I can't even say if it's a Fado.
When I hear it it is like a new joke
Played on the me I've been guarding.

Ouvindo-a sou quem seria
Se desejar fosse ser
É uma simples melodia
Das que se aprendem a viver

Listening to it I am who I'd be
If only wishing was enough.
It's a simple melody
Of those who learn to live.

Mas é tão consoladora
A vaga e triste canção
Que a minha alma já não chora
Nem eu tenho coração

But it is so comforting,
This vague and sad song
That my soul no longer cries
Even if I don't have a heart.

Sou uma emoção estrangeira,
Um erro de sonho ido…
Canto de

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Madredeus and the Fado tradition

Madredeus singer and composer
Singer Teresa Salgueiro and composer and guitarist Pedro Ayres Magalhães
Madredeus "Não muito distante"

1. Madredeus "Não muito distante" (Not much longer)

Voice: Teresa Salgueiro
Words and music: Pedro Ayres Magalhães
from 1997 album "O Paraíso" (Paradise)

This song has emotional Fado-like lyrics, and the singing does quickly attain a Fado-like intensity and sense of desperation. But the backing is played in a more modern musical style, with an even tempo. The singer Teresa Salgueiro is as dominant as any fadista, but she is accompanied not by the high-pitched Portuguese guitar but an altogether different line-up - here two classical guitars, an acoustic bass and a keyboard synthesiser.

This is Madredeus. Since its first album in 1987 Madredeus has introduced into Portuguese music a parallel track to Fado that resembles it, but that is capable of appealing to wider audiences both in Portugal and abroad. Madredeus also deals with an overlapping but somewhat greater range of subject matter. So Fado 2.0 - not the same as the domesticated Fado tradition handed over from the dictatorship period, nor the new Fado of the later 1990s Fado revival, but not in any way a less intense music or less Portuguese either.

What this song is about: The title "Não muito distante" means "Not too distant" or "Not far off", in other words when they will next see each other. But the singer feels she is now being fobbed off with a promise. In reality she has lost her lover. And she feels it's her own fault. She wasn't satisfied with the relationship, demanded more

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About

www.portuguesemusic.info


Welcome! This whole site is a sampler of Portuguese music, so you can hear what it sounds like and get a feeling for what it means. It concentrates on the styles most popular in Portugal, going back over the last 50 years so you can find out how this extraordinary music has come about.

The Portuguese do of course listen to other western music, but I don't cover that here. Instead the focus is on music from Portugal sung for the most part in Portuguese. To the extent copyright law allows me I give samples of the lyrics and translations into English where I can. Where I can't translate I'll paraphrase or give a summary of what I think it's about.

Music is a form of memory. It helps create a shared understanding among people, a sense of who we are and what we have in common. Music can do this because it evokes feelings. And what we have in common with other people is only occasionally knowledge or opinions. What we share with other people is feelings. Discovering and connecting with an unfamiliar music deepens our connection with humanity, and our own self-knowledge. Music thus becomes a source of strength, hope and resilience.

About the Author

I'm Ian Stobie, a blogger based in the UK. I live in England, but love Portuguese music. I want to discover more of it and understand what it means.

I first visited Portugal in 1975 at the tail end of the Revolution. There was a lot going on at the time, but I didn't notice much in the way of music.

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