Dulce Pontes – Canção do Mar

Fui bailar no meu batel
Além no mar cruel
E o mar bramindo
Diz que eu fui roubar
A luz sem par
Do teu olhar tão lindo
Vem saber se o mar terá razão
Vem cá ver bailar meu coração
Se eu bailar no meu batel
Não vou ao mar cruel
E nem lhe digo aonde eu fui cantar
Sorrir, bailar, viver, sonhar…contigo

English Translation

Song of The Sea

I went to dance on my little boat
There in the cruel sea
And the sea was roaring
Telling me I went there to steal away
The peerless light
Of the beautiful look in your eyes
Come to find out if the sea is right
Come to see my heart dancing
If I go dancing on my little boat
I won’t go to the cruel sea
Nor will I tell it where I went
To smile, dance, dream, live… with you

Primal Fear_Soundtrack

Prevod na srpski

Pesma Mora

Otišla sam da plešem na svom malom brodiću
Tamo na okrutnom moru
a more je hučalo
govoreći mi da sam tamo otišla da ukradem
to nenadmašno svetlo
tvog prelepog pogleda
Dođi da vidiš da li je more u pravu
dođi da vidiš kako mi srce igra
Ako odem da igram na mom malom brodiću
Neću ići surovom moru
Niti ću mu reći gde sam išla
Da se smejem, plešem, sanjam, živim… s tobom

13 thoughts on “Dulce Pontes – Canção do Mar

  1. Thank you so much! I love this song. It is so sad and strong at the same time and I thought it was going to be about death or defiance of fate and instead it is about joy. Love it!

  2. The whole idea was to translate the song into Serbian (which had been hard as it was done through editing a combination of bad translations into English) so.. I really appreciate your help! 🙂
    Thanks again!

  3. Hello Spring:
    I came back just to check if my comment was visible as I only came here by chance, but I’m glad to help you.
    The roaring sea was telling him/her that he/she was there to steal,…, not that he/she should steal. The sea is a witness, not the boss.The seaman is probably showing off in a tempest to attract the attention of his beloved and the sea is powerful and cruel, so he tells him he knows his secret. He’s rocking the boat,literally, that’s a modern translation.
    A bigger problem is the beautiful eyes, because it’s the beautiful look in the eyes. The seaman wants to steal all the looks of his beloved.
    Come and prove the sea right is understandable, but it is in fact: Come here to know if the sea is right.
    The rest is fine, except Nor will I tell where I went, it’s Nor will I tell the sea where…
    I know it’s difficult to translate from the Portuguese, above all poetry, because the right translation won’t be poetic at all many times. Anyway, here it goes how I think it should be:

    Song of the Sea
    I went to dance on my little boat,
    There in the cruel sea,
    And the sea was roaring,
    Telling me I went there to steal away
    The peerless light
    Of the beautiful look in your eyes.
    Come here to know if the sea is right,
    Come here to see my heart dancing,
    If I go dancing on my little boat,
    I won’t go to the cruel sea,
    Nor will I tell it where I went
    To smile, dance, dream, live with you.

    Cheers!

  4. Thanks luisa but I am completely lost now.. Would you please be so kind to let me know precisely which parts of the English translation are incorrect?

  5. Hello, I’m Portuguese.
    Your translation is not that perfect. This Fado song is inspired in the medieval trobadours Songs of Love, in which many times the sea is the confident of a secret love. The situation can apply to a woman, as it was written for a singer, the greatest Amalia, but this is a sailor telling that the sea knows that he wants his beloved to see nothing but him. But if she comes to him, he will stay way from the sea and no one, not even the sea will know what they’ll do together.
    Portugal is a land with a tradition of great tragic love affairs. It’s Romantic, but also sad. The song is great anyway.
    Enjoy!!!

  6. I was totally surprised to find this beautiful haunting song to be a love story. For me it seemed to be more about grieving the loss of loved ones to the cruel sea. Except for her prancing in the sand towards the end, the scenes depict tragedy and loss. The large fire on the beach would indicate land to seamen who were lost. Did anybody else have the same feelings?

  7. Thank you Ramona very much! 🙂
    I absolutely adore the song and I wasn’t sure about the word..
    nonpareil =A person or thing that has no equal; that is unsurpassed or unmatched

  8. This is a gorgeous song – mysterious and lush. My only other comment is the translation to English – rather than “nonpareil”, the word in the 5th line would more appropriately be something like the unparalleled or incomparable light… “of your beautiful eyes”.

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