É meu e vosso este fado

destino que nos amara

por mais que seja negado

às cordas de uma guitarra

Sempre que se ouve um gemido
duma guitarra a cantar

Ó gente da minha terra

agora é que eu percebi

esta tristeza que trago

foi de vós que a recebi

E pareceria ternura

se eu me deixasse embalar

era maior a amargura

menos triste o meu cantar

Ó gente da minha terra

agora é que eu percebi

esta tristeza que trago

foi de vós que a recebi

We share a common fate, both you and me a destiny that ties us together

even the strings of a guitar

can not deny it

As its lament

inevitably makes one want to weep

uncontrollably

Oh people of my land
it’s now I understand

that this burden of sorrow
I inherited from you

And it would feel like a healing blessing

if I let it give me solace

yet it would increase my anguish

as (sadly) my song would be less sad….

Oh people of my land
it’s now I understand

that this burden of sorrow
I inherited from you

Note: For me it evokes the feeling of perhaps a sobbing child being nursed and comforted by its mother or nanny. It feels so good that it does not want to stop for fear of being abandoned once again into cold hard reality. It wants to prolong the feeling of bliss. Yet we know it (we) can’t, but nevertheless can’t give up trying. Yet we feel (know) that this reality at the same time also is a trap, a distraction, a facade that we need to keep intact to prevent falling into the bottomless pit of existential emptiness. Paradise lost. The song implies a vicious cycle, and yet it is healing, because this fado is common to all of us. Mariza and her accompanying musician’s rendition of the song captures these feelings exceptionally well, thereby providing the blessing healing and solace that their audience so obviously appreciate!

Click the links below for my favourite versions so far (the transcript below is mainly based on the second version)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqaBatW3BYo&feature=related