Eusébio, "A Pantera Negra"

Olá my dear friends

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (1942 – 2014), Eusébio, “A Pantera Negra” (“The Black Panther”) was also known as “A Pérola Negra” (“The Black Pearl”), “O Génio Humilde” (“The Humble Genius”) or simply “O Rei” (“The King”) and was one of the greatest footballers of all times. Born in Mozambique, at the time when Portugal was from Minho to Timor, he came to the continent with 19 years old to play at Sport Lisboa e Benfica. Eusébio played in Benfica for 15 years and during that time he scored 638 goals in 614 games. He helped Benfica win 11 Primeira Liga titles, 5 Taça da Liga titles and 1 European Cup, he also won 7 Bola de Prata and was the first ever player to win the European Golden Boot, in 1968 and 1973. Eusébio was also an important footballer for the Portuguese National Team, helping them reach third place at 1966 World Cup being top goalscorer of the tournament.

Eusébio and Fadista Amália

When Portugal was known by the three F’s (Fátima, Fado and Football), Eusébio wasn’t allowed to leave Portugal and play for a foreign team, he was considered by the dictatorial regime as a “Property of the State”. During the Colonial War Eusébio, loved by all, Benfica’s fans or not, had the power to stop the war every time he played, everyone wanted to hear the game at the radio. With a rare fairplay he would applaud the goalkeeper of the opposite team when he could defend Eusébio’s shots. 

According with Eusébio’s wishes he was taken to a last round around Estádio da Luz (Benfica’s Stadium) where fans from all ages and football teams applaud him even if they never really saw him play, Eusébio was already a living legend. Another of his wishes was to be buried with three flags, one from Portugal, Mozambique and Benfica.

For all these reasons, besides the bad weather, Portugal saiu para a rua to homenagear him not only the football player but also the man he was. At Dia de Reis (The Three Magic King’s Day) Portugal said goodbye to Eusébio crying tears of saudade and singing “Tu és o nosso Rei, Eusébio!” (“You’re our King, Eusébio!”).

From Portugal,with love

Camané - Sei de um rio

Olá my dear friends,

Carlos Manuel Moutinho Paiva dos Santos, more known as Camané is a fadista born at Oeiras in 22 December 1967. He has two younger brothers, also fadistas, Hélder Moutinho and Pedro Moutinho. He started gaining recognition in Portugal in 1979 after winning the “Grande Noite do Fado” (Great Fado Night). His first CD (Uma Noite de Fados) was released in 1995, after that he released 8 more CD’s, the last one this year (O Melhor 1995-2013).

In this video Camané sings “Sei de um rio”, a fado with lyrics by Pedro Homem de Mello and music by Alain Oulman.

Don’t forget do see the English translation if you want to know what he is singing.

Sei de um rio, | I know of a river,

Sei de um rio | I know of a river
Em que as únicas estrelas nele sempre debruçadas |Where the only stars always perched on it
São as luzes da cidade |Are the city’s lights
Sei de um rio, | I know of a river,

Sei de um rio | I know of a river
Onde a própria mentira tem o sabor da verdade |Where the lie itself smacks of true
Sei de um rio… | I know of a river…
Meu amor dá-me os teus lábios, | My love give your lips,

Dá-me os lábios desse rio | Give the lips of that river
Que nasceu na minha sede, | That was born from my thirst,

Mas o sonho continua | But the dream continues
E a minha boca até quando ao separar-se da tua | And my mouth even when separating from yours
Vai repetindo e lembrando | Keeps repeating and remembering
Sei de um rio, | I know of a river,

Sei de um rio | I know of a river
Meu amor dá-me os teus lábios, | My love give your lips,
Dá-me os lábios desse rio | Give me the lips of that river
Que nasceu na minha sede, | That was born from my thirst,

Mas o sonho continua | But the dream continues
E a minha boca até quando ao separar-se da tua | And my mouth even when separating from yours
Vai repetindo e lembrando | Keeps repeating and remembering

Sei de um rio, | I know of a river,

Sei de um rio | I know of a river
Sei de um rio | I know of a river

Até quando… | Until when…

For more information visit Camané’s official web page: http://www.camane.com/

From Portugal,

with love

Mariza - Ó Gente da Minha Terra

Olá my dear friends,

Marisa dos Reis Nunes known as Mariza was born at 16 December 1973 and is a popular fadista. She was born in Mozambique, but raised in Lisbon's historic quarters of Mouraria and Alfama with her Portuguese father and Mozambican mother. While very young she began singing in a wide variety of musical styles, including gospel, soul and jazz, but her father strongly encouraged her to adopt fado.

Her first album, Fado em mim, was released in 2001. It sold an astounding 100,000 copies when 4,000 copies of a fado disc would have been considered successful in such a small country. After this the record company made the disc available worldwide, and sales eventually topped 140,000 copies. After this success she released 4 more studio albums, 2 live albums and 3 DVD.

In this video she sings “Ó Gente da Minha Terra”, a poem by Amália Rodrigues and music by Tiago Machado.

Check out her official web page for more information and find out where you can see her. Maybe she is going to your home town.

From Portugal,
with love

Teresa Salgueiro - Senhora do Almortão

Olá my dear friends,

Do you know Teresa Salgueiro? She was the lead singer of Madredeus, from 1986 until 2007 and released 6 solo albums, the last one in 2012 entitled O Mistério (The Mistery). She collaborated with various artists such as José Carreras, Caetano Veloso, Angelo Branduardi, amongst others, and also participated as lead actress in feature film by Wim Wenders, entitled "Lisbon Story".

Today I will leave you with her, singing Senhora do Almortão, a traditional song.

 

Senhora, Senhora do Almortão | Lady, Lady of Almortão

Senhora do Almortão | Lady of Almortão
Ó minha linda raiana | Oh my beautiful raiana (born in the country border)
Virai costas, virai costas a Castela | Turn your back, turn your back to Castile
Virai costas a Castela | Turn your back to Castile
Não queiras ser castelhana | Do not want to be Castillian
Senhora, Senhora do Almortão | Lady, Lady of Almortão
Senhora do Almortão | Lady of Almortão
A vossa capela cheira, | Your chapel smels like
Cheira a cravos, cheira a cravos, cheira a rosas | Smels like carnations, smels like carnations, smels like roses
Cheira a cravos, cheira a rosas | Smels like carnations, smels like roses
Cheira a flor de laranjeira | Smels like orange blossom
Senhora, Senhora do Almortão | Lady, Lady of Almortão
Senhora do Almortão | Lady of Almortão
Eu para o ano não prometo | Next year I don’t promise
Que me morreu, que me morreu o amor | That died, that my love died
Que me morreu o amor | That my love died
Ando vestida de preto | I'm dressed in black
Senhora do Almortão | Lady of Almortão
Ó minha linda raiana | Oh my beautiful raiana (born in the country border)
Virai costas a Castela | Turn your back to Castile
Não queiras ser castelhana | Do not want to be Castilian
Senhora do Almortão | Lady of Almortão
A vossa capela cheira, | Your chapel smells like
Cheira a cravos, cheira a rosas, cheira a flor de laranjeira | Smells like carnations, smells like roses, smells like orange blossom
Senhora do Almortão | Lady of Almortão
Eu para o ano não prometo | Next year I don’t promise
Que me morreu o amor | That my love died
Ando vestida de preto | I'm dressed in black

Olha a laranjinha que caiu, caiu | Look at the small Orange that fell, fell

Lá debaixo d’água | There underwater
Nunca mais se viu | Never to be seen

P.S. I apologize for the translation, it may sound weird but it’s really hard to translate. Anyway, at least you can have an idea about what she is singing.

Teresa Salgueiro’s official site - http://www.teresasalgueiro.pt/

From Portugal,
with love