Agonia translates directly to "agony" in English. It's a strong and evocative word that immediately captures attention due to its intensity.
In "Porquê Do Fado," the singer uses agonia to describe the deep, almost painful emotion that the Fado music expresses and embodies. She sings about the "canto da minha agonia" (the song of my agony), suggesting that Fado is not just music, but a profound outlet for her deepest sorrows and struggles, making it a central theme of the song.
Sara Correia sings about a question she cannot really answer: why fado? The song frames fado not as a choice she made, but as something that chose her, calling back to the streets and songs she grew up around.
She describes fado as a companion through sadness, something that turns her own inner demons into friends rather than enemies. It is less a musical style to her and more a way of being, tied to her sense of who she is and to the lives she feels she has already lived.
By the end, the question in the title becomes almost the same as asking why she is alive at all, since for her the two are inseparable.