Fado Falado

Spoken Fado

Sad fado
Dark fado of the alleys
Where the night, when it passes
Takes its sweet time to go
You can hear the voice
The inspired voice of a race
That the world took away from us
Across the blue sea
If fado is sung and cried
It can also be spoken

Painful hands on the guitar
That tears apart bizarre pain
Restless hands, plaintive hands
Feverish and impatient hands
Desolate and gloomy hands
Miserable, sickly hands
When there's betrayal, jealousy, and death
And a heart beating strong

A simple story
Old neighborhood, an alley
A swaying sailor
And Emilia, the cigarette girl
Who had more virtue
Than Rosa Maria herself
On the day of the procession
Of Our Lady of Health

The kisses he gave her
He brought from afar
He brought them from the sea
They were fierce and salty
And when he returned in the evening
The chattering women
From all over the Alfama neighborhood
Whispered in secret
That their shoes
Slept very close together
Under the same bed

Through Emilia's window
The moon came in
And the guitar
At the corner of a street moaned,
Sorrowful, sobbing.
And there at home:

Loving hands on the guitar
That tears apart bizarre pain
Feverish hands of desire
Impatient like a kiss
Hands of fado, of sin
The guitar caressing
Like a woman's body
To undress and to kiss

But one day,
But one day, holy God, he didn’t come
She waits, looking at the moon, my God
What suffering that is
The moonlight hits the houses
The moonlight hits the street
But doesn’t mark his shadow
She searched like crazy
And when she returned from the corner
She saw him accompanied
With another by his side, arm in arm
Swaying, happy, carefree
A fado look and bizarre
A carnation behind his ear
And a cigarette butt
Flame and ash in the alley,
She sees, what a man that is
The flame in her chest
The ash in his gaze

And jealousy came like fire
Burned, her chest bleeding
It was like wind that came
Flame igniting, the bonfire growing
It was the infernal vision
The image of evil that arose in the neighborhood
It was love that swore
That swore and lied
Dizziness runs in a scream
Right or damned, who will lose
Pull the knife, you bastard
No one can save you
You have to die
There’s a commotion in the alley
What a woman that is
What a passion of hers
And a body falls bleeding
On the stones of the street

Caring, generous hands
That know no bitterness
Hands that understand fado
And feel its pain
Hands that don’t lie
When they feel
Other hands to caress
Hands that fight, that punish
But know how to forgive

And little by little love returned
Like fire it burned
Those feverish mouths
It was a love that came back
And misfortune changed
To be happier
It was a reborn light
A dream, a life
Rising again
It was a love that returned
That returned to smile

There are laughs in the air
And the sun vibrating
There are shouts of color
There’s joy in the alley
And in every window
A flower is reborn
Forgiveness came and then
Happy the two
They walk side by side
And let’s see if it’s possible or not
To speak fado.