When Portuguese girls lie in bed at night dreaming of the spotlight, they don’t yearn to become Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga. They want to be Amalia Rodrigues.
Traveling, in great part, is the process of learning about the places through which you pass and being astounded by all the things you don’t know about them. Of all the many and wonderful things we didn’t know about Portugal, the music called fado was the most exciting surprise. And, Amalia Rodrigues was fado.
We had read a little about fado before our trip across the ocean, but the reality surpassed our expectations. “Fado” comes from the Latin word for “fate,” and in fado music this often means tragedy.
In fado there is longing for people and places that are far away or inaccessible. There is mourning and resignation, melancholy, love, and recognition of the world’s cruelty. It’s like the American blues without the beating and shooting of women.
Fado is believed to have emerged in the early 1800s, though some trace it roots back to the Middle Ages or even Moorish times. It was originally associated with sailors, prostitutes and those on the fringes of society. The Alfama neighborhood, where we stayed in Lisbon, is considered the hotbed of fado.
Read more: Commentary: If you want to know the soul of Portugal, listen to fado | masslive.com
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