Tag: madredeus

Posted in English, Portuguese

Faluas Do Tejo

Posted on by Colin Lusk

It’s been a while since I did a translation. Here’s Madredeus doing “Faluas do Tejo”. I’m not even going to translate the title because Falua is a kind of cargo-boat used on the Tejo and we don’t really have a word for that and I think writing “Cargo Boat Used on the Tejo” in the lyrics would be clunky.

The name comes from the arabic word Felucca, apparently.

PortuguêsInglês
Faluas,
Vaga lembrança
Qu’eu de criança
Guardei pra mim		Faluas,
Vague memories
That I as a child
Kept for myself
Se as vejo ainda
Às vezes no Tejo
Revivo a alegria
Do tempo em que as via no rio a passar		If I see them still
At times on the Tejo
I relive the happiness
Of when I saw them passing on the river
Faluas do Tejo
Que eu via a brincar
E agora não vejo
No rio a passar
Faluas vadias
Que andavam ali
Em tardes perdidas
Qu’eu nunca esqueci		Faluas of the Tejo
That I used to see playing
And now I don’t see
Passing on the river
Lost Faluas
That used to go around there
On lost afternoons
I never forgot
E era tanta beleza
Que essas velas ao sol vinham criar
Belo quadro da infância
Que ainda não se apagou		And there was so much beauty
That those sails created
Beautiful painting of infancy
That still hasn’t been wiped away
E eu tenho a certeza
Que as Faluas do Tejo hão-de voltar
Outra vez a Lisboa		And I am sure
That the Faluas of the Tejo will return
Again to Lisboa
Posted in English, Portuguese

O Pastor

Posted on by Colin Lusk

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.

PortuguêsInglês
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