A minha filha torceu muito pela Finlândia. Não faço ideia porquê, mas acho que gostou das roupas bizarras e do comportamento ultrajante mais do que da* música. Acabou em segundo lugar, atrás da cantora sueca. Não vi o espetáculo (estava a escrever português, como um bom aluno) mas vi algumas artistas: a portuguesa, Mimicat de que gostei bastante (melhor concorrente desde o Salvador Sobral na minha opinião), o sérvio (que grande seca) e a francesa (uau, o vestido dela era incrível!)
Parabéns aos concorrentes todos mas sobretudo aos vencedores, a Suécia.
* I missed out the “de” part of this preposition both here and in front of “comportamento”. Remember if you use gostar de the “de” has to apply to all the things you’re liking!
And I haven’t even heard the portuguese entry yet. Right, let’s get this up on screen and see what it’s like
Wow, it’s pretty good actually. I can’t see it winning – it’s no Amar Pelos Dois – but it’s better than the last few entries. There are some lyrics online, so here’s a translation.
First of all, the name. It should just be “Oh heart” but that sounds weird so I’m going to randomly insert the word “my” to make it sound more natural
Portuguese
English
Ai, coração Que não me deixas em paz Não me dás sossego, não me deixas capaz Tenho a cabeça e a garganta num nó Que não se desfaz e nem assim tu tens dó Sinto-me tonta, cada dia pior Já não sei de coisas que sabia de cor As pulsações subiram quase pra mil Estou louca, completamente senil
Oh my heart That doesnt leave me in peace That doesn’t give me calm, leaves me incapable I have my head and my throat in a knot That won’t untie itself and you have no pity I feel dizzy, worse every day I don’t know thigs I used to know by heart* My pulse is up to almost a thousand I’m crazy, completely senile
O peito a arder, a boca seca, eu sei lá O que te fazer, amor, pra mim assim não dá Porque parece que nem sou mais eu Ai, coração Ai, coração Diz-me lá se és meu
My chest burning, my mouth dry, i don’t know What to do to you, it’s not working out like this Because it seems like I’m not myself any more Oh my heart Oh my heart Tell me if you are mine
As horas passam e o sono não vem Ouço as corujas e os vizinhos também O meu juízo foi-se e por lá ficou Alguém me tire deste estado em que estou O doutor diz que não há nada a fazer ‘Caso perdido’, vi-o eu a escrever Ando perdida numa outra dimensão Toda eu sou uma grande confusão
The hours pass and the sleep doesn’t come I listen to the owls and the neighbours too My judgement left and stayed away Someone take me out of this state I’m in The doctor says there’s nothing that can be done “Lost cause” I saw him write about me I’m lost in another dimension I’m all in a muddle
O peito a arder, a boca seca, eu sei lá O que te fazer, amor, pra mim assim não dá Porque parece que nem sou mais eu Ai, coração Ai, coração Ai, coração Diz-me lá se és meu
My chest burning, my mouth dry, i don’t know What to do to you, it’s not working out like this Because it seems like I’m not myself any more Oh my heart Oh my heart Oh my heart Tell me if you are mine
O peito a arder, a boca seca, eu sei lá O que te fazer, amor, pra mim assim não dá Porque parece que nem sou mais eu Ai, coração Ai, coração Ai, coração Ai, coração Diz-me lá se és meu
My chest burning, my mouth dry, i don’t know What to do to you, it’s not working out like this Because it seems like I’m not myself any more Oh my heart Oh my heart Oh my heart Oh my heart Tell me if you are mine
*Why doesn’t “cor” mean colour here? Well, cast your mind back to this post a few weeks back. The lyrics of that one talk about knowing “letras de cor” – knowing them off by heart. So it’s just an old usage of cor, meaning the same as coração.
It’s been a busy year in the Saudade mines and Portugal now has such a vast surplus of their untranslatable major export that they’ve taken to giving double portions away with every Eurovision entry. “Saudade, Saudade” is a good song. It’s a strange choice for a Eurovision entry, but that’s not a huge surprise: they’ve been sending strange choices to Eurovision for some time now and it keeps things interesting! I actually really struggled to listen to it on yesterday’s Eurovision final, because I was trying to tune in to the Portuguese lyrics but it wasn’t till the second listen that I realised it’s almost all in English! In my defence, there was a lot of background noise!
The only Portuguese verse (not counting the word “Saudade” itself of course) is
Tem tanto que trago comigo Foi sempre o meu porto de abrigo E agora nada faz sentido Perdi o meu melhor amigo
E se não for demais Peço por sinais Resta uma só palavra
Which translates as
He has so much I carry inside myself He was always my port in the storm And now nothing makes sense I lost my best friend
And if its not too much, I ask for a sign Only one word remains
By the way, we set out to get a range of snacks from lots of European nations to eat while watching but we ended up just loading up on cakes from the Portuguese stall at Richmond’s Duckpond Market
I mentioned Eurovision a couple of days ago and it reminded me of this song, e Depois do Adeus by Paulo de Carvalho, which has to be a strong candidate for the Eurovision entry that had the most impact in the real world. As you can see, it’s straight out of the seventies, with the sideburns and the big collar, and it’s hard to imagine anything more Conservative sounding (although this guy, for example, thinks there is a social criticism buried in the poetry of the lyrics)
So how did it come to have an impact? In a way, it was catapulted to a place in history by its very conservatism. It was the Portuguese entry in the 6th of April 1974 in Brighton. It was pretty popular and wasn’t banned, so it was used as a signal on the 25th of April 1974 at 10.55, for the troops involved in the Movimento das Forças Armadas to get ready, armed and at their post. Nobody listening, who wasn’t in on the plot, would have thought it a strange choice, so if the leadership had had to back out at the last minute there would have been no suspicions aroused. Later the same evening, when it was decided that everything was in place and the plan could go ahead, a second song was played, namely Grândola, Vila Morena, which was a revolutionary song by Jose Afonso, that had been banned by the Novo Estado since its release in 1971. Once that was transmitted by Radio Renascença, everyone knew shit had got real. The convoy left their barracks and there was no turning back.
Here are the lyrics.
Quis saber quem sou /I wanted to know who I am O que faço aqui /What I’m doing here Quem me abandonou /Who abandoned ne De quem me esqueci /Who I had forgotten Perguntei por mim /I asked for myself Quis saber de nós /I wanted to know about us Mas o mar /But the sea Não me traz /Didn’t bring me Tua voz /Your voice
Em silêncio, amor /In silence, love Em tristeza enfim /In sadness, finally Eu te sinto, em flor /I feel you flowering Eu te sofro, em mim /I feel you, in me Eu te lembro, assim /I remind you like this Partir é morrer /That to leave is to die Como amar / Just as to love É ganhar /Is to win E perder /and to lose
Tu vieste em flor /I saw you in flower Eu te desfolhei /I plucked off your petals Tu te deste em amor /You gave yourself in love Eu nada te dei /i didn’t give you anything Em teu corpo, amor /In your body, love Eu adormeci /I slept Morri nele /I died in it E ao morrer /and by dying Renasci /was reborn
E depois do amor /And after the love E depois de nós /And after us O dizer adeus /The saying goodbye O ficarmos sós /And being alone Teu lugar a mais /Too much space for you Tua ausência em mim /Your absence in me Tua paz /Your peace Que perdi /That I lost Minha dor que aprendi /My pain that I learned De novo vieste em flor /I saw you again in flower Te desfolhei /I plucked off your petals
E depois do amor /And after the love E depois de nós /And after us O adeus /the goodbye O ficamos sós /The being alone
Well, this Eurovision semifinalist is definitely bonkers. It reminds me of António Variações, the cosmic electro-beardie from the eighties, reading out the warranty redemption for a damaged iPhone. Anyway, I don’t know if he’ll be picked but he seems like a strong contender: stronger, anyway, than the unbearably tedious, over-earnest drivel by DAMA that was controversially beaten out on a tie-breaker,and better than last year’s too, but it’s still no Salvador Sobral.
Having given Eurovision one of its best songs ever in 2017, Portugal seems to have gone for the “My Lovely Horse” option this year, with the blandest, pappiest piece of talent-show fodder ever.
Remember Luísa Sobral who used the Lingua dos Pês in one of her songs? Well her brother, Salvador Sobral, a big gangling, ungainly dude with the voice of an unkempt angel, seems to have been picked to be Portugal’s entry in the Festival Eurovisão de Canção this year with a song she wrote. It’s a pretty good song, and I’ve heard a couple of people expressing excitement about Portugal’s chances this year as a result. In live acoustic performances on TV he’s been accompanied by Luísa on the guitar and in a couple of instances (like the one below) he actually breaks out into a trumpet solo. But… he doesn’t have a trumpet, he’s just doing it with his mouth. How much confidence do you need to do a mouth trumpet solo during a live broadcast of a serious love song? Lots, that’s how much. Anyway, it’s the best bit and he should definitely do it in the Eurovision final!
Luso 