Não sei... Não sabe ninguém
I don't know... Nobody knows
Porque canto o fado
Why I sing the fado
Neste tom magoado
In this aggrieved tone
De dor e de pranto!
Full of pain and tears!
E, neste tormento,
And, in this torment,
Todo o sofrimento
All of the suffering...
Eu sinto que a alma
I feel that my soul
Cá dentro se acalma,
Becomes calm deep within
Nos versos que canto...
The stanzas that I sing...
Quem deu voz aos olhos,
Who gave a voice to these eyes,
Perfumou as rosas,
Lent to roses their perfume,
Deu ouro ao sol
Gave gold to the sun
E prata ao luar!
And silver to moonlight!
Quem me pôs, no peito,
Who placed, in my breast,
Um rosário de penas
A rosary of sorrows
Que vou desfiando
The beads of which I keep counting
E choro a cantar!
As I weep while singing!
E pôs as estrelas do céu
And He placed the stars in the sky
E fez o espaço sem fim,
And created the boundless space,
Deu o luto às andorinhas...
Covered the swallows in mourning...
Ai! E deu-me esta voz a mim!
Ah! And gave this voice to me!
Se canto... Não sei o que canto!
If I sing... I don't know what I'm singing!
Misto de ventura,
Blend of fortune,
Saudade e ternura
Melancholy and tenderness
E, talvez, amor!
And, maybe, love!
Mas sei que, cantando,
Yet I know that, while singing,
Sinto mesmo quando
I feel the same as when
Se tem um desgosto
One is beset with woe
E o pranto, no rosto,
And tears, down our faces,
Nos deixa melhor...
Make us better in the end...
Quem deu voz ao vento,
Who gave its voice to the wind,
Luz ao firmamento
Filled the firmament with light
E deu o azul
And gave their blueness
Às ondas do mar!
To the waves of the sea!
Que me pôs, no peito,
Who placed, in my breast,
Um rosário de penas
A rosary of sorrows
Que vou desfiando
The beads of which I keep counting
E choro a cantar!
As I weep while singing!
Fez poeta o rouxinol,
He turned the nightingale into a poet,
Pôs no campo o alecrim,
Placed the rosemary in the fields,
Deu as flores à Primavera...
Filled the Spring with flowers...
Ai! E deu-me esta voz a mim!
Ah! And gave this voice to me!
Deu as flores à Primavera...
He filled the Spring with flowers...
Ai! E deu-me esta voz a mim!
Ah! And gave this voice to me!