The 7 best Portuguese fado songs

Fado is the most worldwide known Portuguese musical genre. It is a music characterized by melodies and lyrics that are generally very sad but of great beauty. The feelings they convey are of a melancholy that can sometimes border on fatality, although sometimes it is only resignation and even a certain joy in sadness.

The topics generally speak of the lives of simple people and their love problems. In this way, they are inspired by urban stories of the working class, although in the best Portuguese fado songs there are also stories inspired by maritime life.

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Top 7 Portuguese fado songs

This particular musical genre has somewhat unknown roots, but there is evidence that in the 1820s it was already sung in Lisbon. Its origins are probably previous, but since then the genre has flourished enormously in the Lusitanian country, which has made this genre its own brand.

Fado is a symbol of Portugal, to the point that it is a great tourist attraction

. The fact that in 2011 it was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO has only increased its fame.

1. Uma Portuguese House - Amália Rodrigues

Amália Rodrigues (1920-1999) is considered the greatest historical exponent of fado. We could not start the list without a magnificent song of hers, since with her fado became popular and without her influence nothing would be the same today.

Uma portuguese house It is one of the best known songs in all Portuguese music. She deals with melancholy in the memory of a humble home and the kindness of the Portuguese people.

To listen to the song:

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2. People Da Minha Terra - Mariza

Mariza She is at the top of fado and is very loved in Portugal, and is possibly the Portuguese artist with the most international repercussion. To a Portuguese father and a Mozambican mother, she grew up in a Lisbon neighborhood surrounded by music. She started out singing many styles including gospel, soul and jazz, but her father encouraged her to sing fado and since then she has won many awards.

Da Minha Terra People pays tribute to the Portuguese people with a lot of feeling (melancholic, of course). Mariza is a singer capable of transmitting great emotional intensity as can be seen in her songs. She is an artist who evokes a sensibility and a full-fledged fado flagship.

To listen to the song:

3. Lisboa Menina e Moça - Carlos do Carmo

Lisbon Menina e Moça it was a poem by José Carlos Ary dos Santos, Joaquim Pessoa and Fernando Tordo. Paulo de Carvalho put music to it and it became a very emblematic song of the city of Lisbon. It was also one of the most recognized songs in the career of Carlos do Carmo, who was the one who interpreted it with the most popularity.

Carlos do Carmo he is one of the fado singers who has obtained the most international repercussion. His mother was already a fado player, and his family ran a fado house. He is an ambassador of Portuguese music and culture thanks to his performances in many countries.

To listen to the song:

Next we will find this beautiful song performed by 35 artists in the same streets of the Portuguese capital.

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4. Defiance - Ana Moura

Ana Moura She is the fado singer who has sold the most records and is very popular inside and outside of Portugal. She has achieved success thanks in part to a personal and modern touch that she has given to fado, making it more accessible to new generations.

Defiance It is a very witty song on a lyrical level in which Ana Moura shows great poetic ingenuity. It transmits in it a series of sentimental paradoxes charged with melancholy.

To listen to the song:

5. Canção do Mar - Dulce Pontes

Canção do Mar it's a song is an already traditional Portuguese song. With lyrics by Frederico de Brito and music by Ferrer Trinidad, it was Amália Rodrigues who popularized it in 1955 in the movie “Amantes do Tejo”. It was also sung by Tristão da Silva, but it was Dulce Pontes who brought it to the highest popularity.

Sweet pontes She is currently one of the best known Portuguese artists in the world, and was the greatest exponent of fado in the 90s. Her style nourishes fado with characteristics belonging to genres such as classical music or pop. His vocal capacity is very versatile and dramatic, being able to convey unusual emotions.

To listen to the song:

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6. Se não Chovesse - Cristina Branco

Cristina Branco she started her interest in music through jazz. It was thanks to the fact that her grandfather taught her the work of Amália Rodrigues that she was introduced to fado to the point of studying the poems that inspired fado. The mixture of tradition and modernity is a hallmark of this artist.

Se não Chovesse It is one of the best known songs by Cristina Branco. It deals with the feelings of a woman having hers in love with her far from home. A repressed love and a feeling of great melancholy at not even knowing when she is going to return.

To listen to the song:

7. Meu Amor de Longe - Raquel Tavares

Rachel Tavares She started as a child singing fado and at age 12 she already won the youth award at the “Grande Noite do Fado”, an annual event dedicated to fado. In 2006 she won the revelation of the year award, and today she is already a consecrated singer who crosses borders.

On Meu Amor de Longe the protagonist conveys her happiness due to the fact that the one in love with her sees her again. She expresses her happiness as she walks through the streets of a town on the banks of the Tagus (surely Lisbon).

To listen to the song:

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