Two of my favorite Fado songs, by two of my favorite singers, Cristina Branco and Carminho: Translation: This love is not a river It has the vastness of the sea The green dance of the waves Sobbing in my eyes. I tried to forget the words Unspoken between us But hanging over the silence On…
More fado…
Translation: Lady of Nazareth, pray for me, I am also a fisherman walking on the sea. Off life’s dock in endless waves, I’ve seen my little boat of dreams sinking perpetually. My nets cast with confidence, I hauled in only disappointments on a bad sea. I lost the rudder of hope, I can not row well. Lady of…
Blow winds, blow
Ḥallāj: Translation (a bit of license taken): O wind of the dawn, I say to the gazelle it only makes me thirstier, the water of this well I have a beloved whose love lives within me And if she likes, she walks on my cheeks as well Her spirit is my spirit and my…
Ibn ‘Arabi, Hallaj, and Carminho
When my Beloved appears, with what eye do I see Him? With His eye not with mine; for no one sees Him except Himself. -Ibn ‘Arabi Original: إذا تجلى حبيبي بأي عين تراه بعينه لا بعيني فما يراه سواه Hallaj: I saw my Lord with the eye of my Heart, I…
Carminho and Rumi-Pain
A Voz Translation: Sometimes there is a voice that rises Higher than the world and higher than us And makes my eyes weep, when it sings In the tears that silence my voice It plunges my senses and time To the farthest point of who I am And embraces that place, so gray…
Carminho-Silence is never empty
Nunca é silêncio vão Translation: Silence is never empty When it is between you and me. Thinking about whatever may be All I know is I feel love When you’re silent with me Here we are the two of us Holding hands inside my car You alway console me that way Silent, next to me…
Carminho-I said goodbye…
Disse-te adeus Translation: I said goodbye to you, I don’t remember What day in September it was Only that it was dawn The street was empty And even the moon, not wanting to intrude, Pretended that it saw nothing We smiled at farewell Like people who know that life Is just another name that…
Carminho-My love, the sailor
I feel jealous Of the green waves of the sea That insistently try to kiss your body, as you stand before the tides. I feel jealous Of the wind that betrays me Kissing you as you stand in the bow, And runs away through the deck. I feel jealous Of the light of the…
‘Attar and Carminho
The Soul’s Dilemma Once again, each day, I travel the path of your love Every night without fail I mourn your absence anew. My soul lacks the courage to love one such as you- and my heart lacks the strength to abandon you too -‘Attar From Love’s Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition. New World…
Songs from Andalus
Fado: Casa de Fados (from Carlos Saura’s film Fados) Lyrics (from the film’s subtitles): First singer: A lost friendship can never return It’s a forged firendship That jokingly comes and goes It’s a forged friendship that jokingly comes and goes No one gives a thing If behind that gesture there is no value Only a…