Desfado Lyrics in English by Ana Moura

Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Desfado by Ana Moura from Portuguese to English.
These lyrics have verified word for word translations. Click any lyric word to see the translation and hear the pronunciation!
Quer o destino que eu não creia no destino
Fate wants me not to believe in fate
E o meu fado é nem ter fado nenhum
And my fado is to have no fado at all
Cantá-lo bem sem sequer o ter sentido
To sing it well without even having felt it
Senti-lo como ninguém
To feel it like nobody else
Mas não ter sentido algum
But to have no meaning at all
Ai que tristeza, esta minha alegria
Oh what sadness, this joy of mine
Ai que alegria, esta tão grande tristeza
Oh what joy, this such great sadness
Esperar que um dia
To hope that one day
Eu não espere mais um dia
I won't wait another day
Por aquele que nunca vem
For the one who never comes
E que aqui esteve presente
And who was present here
Ai que saudade
Oh what longing
Que eu tenho de ter saudade
That I have to feel longing
Saudades de ter alguém
Longing to have someone
Que aqui está e não existe
Who is here and doesn't exist
Sentir-me triste
To feel sad
Só por me sentir tão bem
Just for feeling so good
E alegre sentir-me bem
And happily feel good
Só por eu andar tão triste
Just because I'm so sad
Ai se eu pudesse não cantar
Oh if I could not sing
'Ai se eu pudesse'
'Oh if I could'
E lamentasse não ter mais nenhum lamento
And lamented having no more laments
Talvez ouvisse no silêncio que fizesse
Perhaps I'd hear in the silence I'd make
Uma voz que fosse minha
A voice that was mine
Cantar alguém cá dentro
Singing someone inside here
Ai que desgraça esta sorte que me assiste
Oh what misfortune, this luck that attends me
Ai mas que sorte eu viver tão desgraçada
Oh but what luck for me to live so unhappily
Na incerteza que nada mais certo existe
In the uncertainty that nothing more certain exists
Além da grande certeza
Besides the great certainty
De não estar certa de nada
Of not being certain of anything
Ai que saudade
Oh what longing
Que eu tenho de ter saudade
That I have to feel longing
Saudades de ter alguém
Longing to have someone
Que aqui está e não existe
Who is here and doesn't exist
Sentir-me triste
To feel sad
Só por me sentir tão bem
Just for feeling so good
E alegre sentir-me bem
And happily feel good
Só por eu andar tão triste
Just because I'm so sad
Ai que saudade
Oh what longing
Que eu tenho de ter saudade
That I have to feel longing
Saudades de ter alguém
Longing to have someone
Que aqui está e não existe
Who is here and doesn't exist
Sentir-me triste
To feel sad
Só por me sentir tão bem
Just for feeling so good
E alegre sentir-me bem
And happily feel good
Só por eu andar tão triste
Just because I'm so sad
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DesfadoUn-fado / Un-destiny

Desfado is a unique and intriguing word, as it's a neologism created by prefixing "des-" (un-) to "fado" (destiny/fate, also a traditional Portuguese music genre).

In the context of the song, it encapsulates the central theme: the singer's paradoxical relationship with destiny and the fado genre itself. She sings about not believing in destiny and having "no fado at all," yet she sings fado beautifully. This word perfectly captures the song's philosophical depth and playful subversion of tradition.

Have you ever felt happy and sad at the same time? In "Desfado," Portuguese fado singer Ana Moura explores this beautifully confusing feeling. The song's title itself is a clever play on words. Fado is a famous Portuguese music style full of feelings of fate and longing, but the prefix des- means "un-" or "not." So, the song is like an "un-fado," turning the traditional style on its head.

The lyrics are a wonderful collection of contradictions. The singer's fate is to have no fate, and she feels joy in her sadness and sadness in her joy. She sings about missing the feeling of missing someone ("Ai que saudade / Que eu tenho de ter saudade"), and waits for a person who is somehow both present and absent. It's a playful and clever look at the complex, mixed-up emotions that make us human.

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