Lisboa Casta Princesa – Lucília do Carmo

Here’s another song translation. This one’s a real old-school fado from Lucília do Carmo, mother of Carlos do Carmo and friend of Alfredo Marceneiro, who I’ve mentioned on here before because he sang the original Casa da Mariquinhas. I don’t know what the story of this song is but it’s from the Salazar era and it’s giving me strong Fado, Fátima, Futbol vibes.

Portuguese	English
Lisboa, Casta* Princesa Que o manto da realeza Abres com pejo Num casto beijo Lisboa tão linda és Que tens de rastos aos pés A majestade do Tejo Lisboa das Descobertas De tantas terras desertas Que deram brado No teu passado De beleza tens a coroa Velha Lisboa Da Madragoa Quantos heróis tens criado!	Lisboa, Chaste Princess Whose royal robe You open shyly In a chaste kiss. Lisboa, you’re so lovely That you have trailing at your feet The majesty of the Tejo. Lisboa of the discoveries of so many deserted** lands That made you famous*** In your past You have the crown of beauty Old Lisbon From Madragoa So many heroes you’ve created!
Sete colinas São teu colo de cetim Onde as casas são boninas Espalhadas num jardim**** E no teu seio Certo dia foi gerado E cantado Pelo povo sonhador O nosso fado	Seven hills Are your satin skirts***** Where the houses are beautiful Spread out in the garden And on your breast Some day was brought into being And sung By the people who dream Our Fado
Lisboa, tardes doiradas Dos domingos, das toiradas Em que luzia A fidalguia E em que esse sangue valente Mostrava que havia gente A quem a morte sorria Lisboa, terra de fama Tens a tristeza de Alfama E a poesia Da Mouraria E nos teus velhos recantos Eu sei lá quantos Tu tens encantos Dos tempos da valentia!	Lisboa, golden afternoons Of Sundays, of bullfights In which shone The nobility And in which that brave blood Showed that there were people Who smiled at death Lisboa, famous land You have the sadness of the Alfama And the poetry Of the Mouraria And in your old corners I don’t know how many You have enchantments Of the times of bravery

* Casta can mean “caste” is it’s a noun, but I think this is an adjective: the feminine form of “casto”

** 🤔

***Brado can also mean “a shout” but I don’t think that makes sense, given teh following line, so assume this is what she means.

****This is the lyric I found for this song but I’m pretty sure she says “espalhado em jardins”

*****It’s weird that this one word, colo can mean two completely different parts of the body, but hey ho. I’ve taken it as meaning the skirts arranged on a lap, because we don’t really have a word for the top part of a woman’s chest, above the breast, and I’m not writing “breast”. Anyway, a breast is mentioned a few lines later – how many breasts do you need, people? Her son is always singing about them too!