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Amália Rodrigues (1920-1999), the most acclaimed fado singer of all time, was also a remarkable poet, even though it was only in the final years of her life that she decided to sing her own poetry consistently and authorized its publication.
The present volume contains all of her published poems, for the first time in a fully bilingual edition, with English translations by Jamie Rising, original illustrations by André Carrilho and a new critical introduction by fado’s foremost historian, Rui Vieira Nery.
Amália’s poems, written in a popular vein but at the same time reflecting her deep understanding of some of the greatest poets of the Portuguese language, whose work she had sung throughout her career, cover a wide range of topics and emotions – from witty, good-humored wordplay to the idealized evocation of time-honored rural traditions, and to the dramatic expression of a profound sense of despair in the face of an unappealable sentence of constant inner anguish dictated by destiny. Thus, they capture in many ways the very essence of fado’s lyrical worldview, allowing us to better understand this uniquely Portuguese song that for the past two centuries has so captured and enshrined much of Portugal’s cultural identity and as such was inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Adeus amigos / Farewell friends
Que estranha forma de vida / Funny way of living
O fado chora-se bem / It's easy grieving our fate
Sou filha das ervas / I'm the herbs' own daughter