Fado Tropical [English translation]

Oh, Muse of my Fado1

Oh, my sweet motherland

I'm leaving you in dismay

on April 1st2

Don't be so ungrateful!

You shall not forget who loved you

I, who have lost and found myself

in the ticket of your forest

Oh, one day this land ought to fulfill its destiny

It shall become an immense Portugal eventually!

"You see, deep inside I'm a very sentimental person. Each one of us has inherited from the Lusitanian blood a great deal of lyricism (apart from the syphillis, of course). Even if my hands are busy torturing, throttling, slaughtering, my heart closes its eyes and sincerily cries..."

With maidenhairs in the caatinga3

Rosemaries on reed beds

Liqueurs in the moringa4:

a tropical wine.

And the beautiful mulatto girl

with her Alentejo-made5 lace clothes

Of whom I manage, in a great bravado,

to steal a kiss...

Oh, one day this land ought to fulfill its destiny

It shall become an immense Portugal eventually!

"My heart has a serene manner

And my hands, the rough and quick blow

So much so that once the feat has been accomplished

I, bewildered, own up to it all.

Should I keep my hands off my chest

It's due to the distance between intention and gesture

Should I clasp my hands close to my heart

I'm then astounded by a sudden incestuous feeling.

When I find myself amidst the clamor of battle

I wield the helm at the prow

Nonetheless, my chest comes all undone

Should the sentence come up harsh

Almost immediately my blind hand executes

Lest the heart pardon all."

Guitars and hurdy-gurdies,

Jasmines, coconut palms, fountains,

Sardines, cassava

Over a delicate glazed tile

And the Amazon river

Flowing from Trás-os-montes6

Draining into the Tagus7

In a great roar of a pororoca8

Oh, one day this land ought to fulfill its destiny:

It shall become a colonial Empire!

Oh, one day this land ought to fulfill its destiny:

It shall become a colonial Empire!

1. Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins.2. on this same date in 1964, it was established in Brazil an authoritarian military dictatorship that ruled the country until March 15, 1985. It was a delicate period of the country's history, since it was marked by violence, torture and banishment of the dissidents and since the regime censored all media.3. a type of desert vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. Throughout this verse, the singer opposes elements from both Brazilian and Portugal cultures in order to establish a comparison between them4. native to parts of Africa and Asia, is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Moringaceae. It contains 13 species from tropical and subtropical climates that range in size from tiny herbs to massive trees.5. Alentejo is a geographical, historical and cultural region of south-central and southern Portugal. Literally, in Portuguese means "beyond" (além) Tagus river (Tejo).6. a historical province of Portugal located in the northeastern corner of the country. Vast plateaus, river valleys, mountains, and castles abound in Trás os Montes e Alto Douro.7. the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula8. is a tidal bore, with waves up to 4 metres high that travel as much as 800 km inland upstream on the Amazon River and adjacent rivers. Its name comes from the indigenous Tupi language, where it could translate into "great roar".

• Artist:Chico Buarque
• Album:Chico Canta (1973)