Despiu A Saudade Lyrics in English by Ana Moura
Saudade is a unique Portuguese word that encapsulates a deep emotional state of melancholic longing or nostalgia for a person, place, or thing that is absent. It's often described as a bittersweet feeling of missing something or someone that one loves.
In the song, the phrase "Despiu a saudade" (She undressed the saudade) is a powerful and poetic way to describe shedding this profound feeling of longing, suggesting a moment of liberation or moving on from a past love. It's a word central to Portuguese culture and music, making it incredibly interesting for learners.
"Despiu A Saudade" opens with a woman who has just shed her longing after dinner, "Num prato já frio de tanto esperar" (On a plate already cold from waiting so long), worn down by a string of lovers who show up "tão cheio de nada pra dar" (so full of nothing to give). The title itself means she stripped off her saudade, that specifically Portuguese ache for something absent. She shakes the dust off an old love kept in a locked corner of her heart, a photograph frozen in place that still "morde por fora, magoa por dentro" (bites on the outside, hurts on the inside).
Then the mood flips. "Mas de repente como um sol depois da chuva" (But suddenly like a sun after the rain), she goes to the mirror, puts on red lipstick and a cotton-print dress, and rushes out already running late. "Saltou pra lua, na minha rua na madrugada" (She jumped to the moon, on my street at dawn), free and a little wild, a queen of her own night. By the end she is dancing through the streets of life with someone new, the years of waiting finally behind her.
