I was bowled over by Jéssica Cipriano’s version of Madredeus’s O Pastor when I watched it the other day, shortly after hearing her version of Olá Solidão. It’s so, so good. When she really cuts loose at around 4.20, my eyes were filling up and my soul left my body. I think the pianist, David Antunes, was right there with me too. Holy shit! How is this woman not a million times more famous? How do I not even see an album of hers on Spotify? How is she not smashing Eurovision? It’s some sort of conspiracy to hide her from the ears of foreigners, I reckon.
Here’s the original from the 1990 album, Existir. You can see it’s got a richer musical arrangement, and the singer’s voice is beautiful in an ethereal way. but it’s too ethereal for me, and the band has never really grabbed me for that reason, even though they were the first portuguese band I ever listened to. They remind me of bands like Clannad, the Cocteau Twins and Enya. I feel like the voice is being used as a musical instrument; there’s not much emotion there and the words don’t really matter so much so it’s hard to get into.
Português
Inglês
Ai que ninguém volta Ao que já deixou Ninguém larga a grande roda Ninguém sabe onde é que andou
Oh, nobody goes back To what they left Nobody lets go of the big wheel Nobody knows where they’ve been
Ai que ninguém lembra Nem o que sonhou Aquele menino canta A cantiga do pastor
Oh nobody remembers Not even what they dreamed That child sings The song of the shepherd
Ao largo Ainda arde A barca Da fantasia O meu sonho acaba tarde Deixa a alma de vigia Ao largo Ainda arde A barca Da fantasia O meu sonho acaba tarde Acordar é que eu não queria
In the distance It’s still burning The boat Of fantasy My dream ends late Leave your soul on guard In the distance It’s still burning The boat Of fantasy My dream ends late Waking up is what I didn’t want
Today’s translation is from Os Quatro e Meio. Why are they called that? You’d think, wouldn’t you, that maybe there were 5 of them but one was a dog so they only count him as half because he can’t play the mandolin. But no, there are six of them. So… what, are three of them dogs? How many mandolins do they need in one band? I’ve googled it but I’ve no idea how to account for the numerical disparity* Anyway, they hail from Coimbra and they are alumni of the student music scene down there but they branched out and found themselves a following in the country as a whole. They seem very earnest young men and you can see how they’d appeal to people who like easnest young men, preferably with eyebrows and suits, and it’s a good pop song: simple, catchy and with plenty of scope to let loose on the vocals In fact, here’s Jéssica Cipriano absolutely singing the hell out of it with a very minimal musical accompaniment and it’s even better than the original. I’d never heard of her before but she has an absolutely phenomenal voice.
The translation is mostly pretty easy, although I struggled a bit with “Fiz bandeira de um velho ditado / Melhor só que mal acompanhado”. Nothing hard about it, but when I translate it the two lines didn’t seem to fit together which made me think I’d missed something and I tried experimenting with alternative meanings of “acompanhar”. For example, it’s the verb Google Mail uses when it asks if you want to follow up an email that you’ve sent and not had a reply. So I was thinking maybe “it’s only better than barely following things up….” Desparate stuff. Anyway, the punctuation makes the difference because of course “Melhor só que mal acompanhado” is the ditado mentioned in the first line. He decided to live by the idea that it’s better to go alone than in bad company
Português
Inglês
Eu já fui assim Tão focado em mim Sem querer conselhos De ninguém Fiz das nuvens lar Saltei sem olhar Crendo que no fim sairia tudo bem
I used to be like that** So focused on myself Without wanting advice From anyone I made a home in the clouds I jumped without looking Believing in the end it would be fine
Fiz bandeira de um velho ditado: “Melhor só que mal acompanhado” Nem pensava em apoiar os pés no chão Olá, solidão Olá, solidão
I made a flag of an old saying: “Better alone than in bad company” I never thought of keeping my feet on the ground Hello solitude Hello solitude
Eu tinha um lugar Com vista pra o mar Que ninguém chegou a conhecer Voei rente ao céu Tudo era só meu E o que ainda não era Iria ser
I had a place With a sea view That nobody ever got to know I flew close to the sky Everything was all mine And whatever wasn’t yet Was going to be
Olho em volta, agora estou sozinho Não liguei às placas do caminho Nem parei pra perguntar a direção Olá, solidão Olá, solidão
I look around, now I’m alone I didn’t pay attention to the road signs I didn’t stop to ask directions Hello Solitude Hello Solitude
Fiz bandeira de um velho ditado: “Melhor só que mal acompanhado” Nem pensava em apoiar os pés no chão
I made a flag of an old saying: “Better alone than in bad company” I never thought of keeping my feet on
Olho em volta, agora estou sozinho Não liguei às placas do caminho Nem parei pra perguntar a direção Olá, solidão Olá, solidão
I look around, now I’m alone I didn’t pay attention to the road signs I didn’t stop to ask directions Hello Solitude Hello Solitude
Eu já fui assim Tão focado em mim Sem querer conselhos De ninguém
I was always like this So focused on myself Without wanting advice From anyone
* EDIT: A helpful reader has suggested this web page as the source of the name: “Começámos por ser só cinco. Salvo seja, já que o Rui [Marques, contrabaixista] não tem dimensão para isso. Não é que o valor dele ano seja igual ao dos outros mas a estatura dele deixa um pouco a desejar” – I assume that “ano” is a typo for “não” or possibly “anão” heh heh
** Thanks to Liliana for suggesting I tweak the tense here (see comments below 👇)
Luso 