Looking for Eu Não Sei – Expensive Soul lyrics and translation? Practise your Portuguese by listening to and understanding songs in European Portuguese.
👉 Listen to the song, follow the lyrics in Portuguese, and check your understanding with the English translation below.
🎧 Listen to the song here:
🎧 Why this song is great for learning Portuguese
- Cultural context (surf, music, lifestyle in Portugal)
- Natural, spoken European Portuguese (including informal forms learners struggle to recognise)
- Repetition of key phrases like “eu não sei” and “o que vai ser melhor para mim”
- Useful everyday vocabulary (family, daily routine, emotions)
- Mix of relaxed speech and rhythm: great for training your ear
🧠 Key learning focus
One of the most useful patterns in this song is:
- eu não sei se… (I don’t know if…)
Example:
“Eu não sei se vou ficar bem assim”
→ I don’t know if I’ll be okay like this
👉 This structure is extremely common in real conversations when expressing doubt or uncertainty.
- “tá-se bem?” → “all good?” / “everything okay?” (informal spoken Portuguese)
This expression appears in the song and is extremely common in everyday conversation.
👉 This is a great example of how native speakers reduce and simplify speech in real life.
🧠 Grammar Focus: Talking About the Future
One of the most useful structures in this song is:
👉 ir + infinitivo (used to talk about the future)
Example:
“vou ficar” → I’m going to stay / I will stay
✅ How it works
- vou = I go (present of ir)
- ficar = to stay (infinitive)
👉 Together: vou ficar = I’m going to stay
🗣️ From the song
“Eu não sei se vou ficar bem assim”
→ I don’t know if I’ll be okay like this
💡 Why this is important
👉 This is one of the most common ways to talk about the future in European Portuguese.
Instead of a complex future tense, we very often use:
- vou fazer (I’m going to do)
- vou dizer (I’m going to say)
- vou trabalhar (I’m going to work)
⚠️ Don’t confuse with:
- Conjuntivo (subjunctive):
se eu ficar (if I stay) - Infinitivo pessoal:
para eu ficar (for me to stay)
👉 In this song, it’s simply: ir + infinitivo
🎯 Try it yourself
Complete the sentence:
👉 Hoje eu vou ________ (trabalhar / estudar / descansar)
🧠 Key vocabulary
- acordar – to wake up
- cansado – tired
- trabalhar – to work
- procurar – to look for
- dinheiro – money
- ficar – to stay / to become
- melhor – better
- paz – peace
🗣️ Real spoken Portuguese (important!)
In this song, you’ll also hear informal spoken forms like:
- “tá-se bem?” → “all good?”
- “tou atrasado” → informal for estou atrasado (I’m late)
👉 These are very common in real life but often not taught in textbooks.
Daily Practice (30-Day Portuguese Challenge)
If you’re following the challenge, today’s goal is simple:
- Listen to the song a few times
- Follow along with the Portuguese lyrics
- Try to understand as much as possible before checking the translation
- Rate your understanding and note the date
👉 This helps you track your progress over time.
Useful tools
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Tasks for the 30-Day Portuguese Challenge
- Beginners: Really actively listen to how the words are being pronounced. Before looking at the translation, underline the words you know and circle the ones you don’t. Write the words you don’t know into a list on your paper and save them for later. The main goal is to listen to the sounds of the language and be introduced to new vocabulary. If you’d like to take a step further, now look up words in the online dictionary and make notes if they are used in other contexts.
- Intermediates: After listening and looking at the lyrics – BUT NOT the translation yet – analyse the words more closely. Write down a summary of what you think the song is about. Then compare that to the translation. Then separate the words into different categories such as which ones are verbs (actions), which ones are nouns (names of things and people or animals) and which ones are adjectives (descriptions). You can go a step further and indicate what tense the verbs are in. The main goal is to see how your comprehension is progressing and what you need to work on more.
- Advanced: After listening and looking at the Portuguese lyrics, your task is to translate the lyrics without any help. If you come across a word you’ve never seen, try an educated guess before looking it up in the dictionary. It doesn’t always have to make perfect sense. As I’m sure you know, sometimes artists will use a word or pronounce it in an uncommon way so it fits with the rhyme. Then compare it to the translation and see how you did. If you have the opportunity to go a little further, write a composition stating your opinion on the song. And that can be anything you like: the lyrics, the melody, the voice, the feelings, how you would change it if you didn’t like it, you name it. Try to include compound tenses and the subjunctive mood in your composition.
Eu Não Sei (I Don’t Know) – Expensive Soul
Acordo relaxado, tranquilo
I wake up relaxed, peaceful
Depois de uma noite de muito ambiente e estilo
After a night full of atmosphere and style
A minha mãe na cozinha a preparar almoço
My mother is in the kitchen preparing lunch
A vontade é pouca mas tem que ser, moço
I don’t really feel like it, but it has to be done, lad
Levanta-te e vai lavar essa cara ressacado
Get up and go wash that hungover face
Aposto que a noite foi bem facturada
I bet the night went well (you made good money / had a good time)
Esse sorriso não engana ninguém
That smile doesn’t fool anyone
Como é, meu irmão, tá-se bem?
What’s up, my brother, all good?
A vida é bela, curto, curto, mas é sempre naquela
Life is beautiful — short, short, but always the same
Deixo a roupa por arrumar
I leave my clothes unpacked
Tou atrasado, está na hora de abalar
I’m late, it’s time to head off
O pessoal da bateria já me espera
The crew is already waiting for me
Granda som, onde é a ida?
Great sound — where are we heading?
Já sei, pego na prancha e no fato
I know, I grab my board and my suit
Sem me esquecer dos pés de pato
Without forgetting my fins
A próxima paragem é em casa do Max
Next stop is Max’s house
Sempre o mesmo atrasado
Always the same one running late
Para ele o tempo nunca tá controlado
For him, time is never under control
gera atrás de gera a movimentar a cena
Generation after generation keeps the scene moving
É gera atrás de gera a corresponder à cena
Generation after generation keeps up with the scene
Tudo com o mesmo feeling, tudo com o mesmo flow
Everything with the same feeling, everything with the same flow
Chegado ao local, tudo a curtir o mesmo som
Arriving at the spot, everyone enjoying the same sound
O tempo passa e não olhes para trás
Time passes — don’t look back
Olha o pico triangular, tanto dá esquerda como direita
Look at the triangle peak, both left and right
Manda-te que esta é perfeita
Go for it, this one’s perfect
Este é o sítio, este é o local
This is the place, this is the place
Leça da Palmeira terra mais bonita de Portugal
Leça da Palmeira, Portugal’s most beautiful land
Eu não sei se vou ficar bem assim
I don’t know if I’ll be okay like this
Eu só sei o que vai ser melhor para mim
I only know what will be best for me
Há muito que procurava ter este momento
I’ve been looking for a long time for this moment
Poder juntar a gera toda
To be able to bring the whole generation together
E mostrar-lhes no devido tempo
And show them in due time
Pois tudo o que eu quero
Cause all I want
Agora, agora quero paz
Now, now I want peace
Pois tudo o que eu quero
For all I want
Não vou mais olhar para trás
I won’t look back no more
Acordo stressado com o beat – pum pum
Wake up stressed with the beat – bang bang
Só de pensar que tenho que fazer
Just thinking that I gotta do
Mais um som para aquele freak – não
One more sound for that freak – no
Hoje vou parar, hoje não vai dar
I’m gonna stop today, today’s no good
Desculpa lá, mano, volta amanhã para continuar
Sorry bro, come back tomorrow and keep going
Embora eu faça o que amo
Though I do what I love
Embora eu ame o que faça
Although I love what I do
O meu som não é só love
My sound ain’t all love
O meu som não é só desgraça
My sound isn’t just doom and gloom
é tudo o que eu sei fazer e faço para ti
It’s all I know how to do and I do it for you
é tudo o que eu quero fazer e faço mesmo aqui
It’s all I wanna do and I do it right here
B.C.F. onde é que estão? eu sei que estão aí
B.C.F. Where are you? I know you’re there
A minha Ju, onde é que está? eu sei que está aí
My Ju where are you? I know you’re there
Rastaman onde é que tás? eu sei que estás aí
Rastaman where are you? I know you’re there
E vão ser esses no final que vão ficar todos aqui
And they’ll be the ones in the end who’ll all stay here
Eu não sei se vou ficar bem assim
I don’t know if I’ll be okay like this
Eu só sei o que vai ser melhor para mim
I only know what will be best for me
Depois de tanto tempo a cena rasta está no ar
After all this time the rasta scene is in the air
Depois de tanto fumo eu só quero é bombar
After all this smoke I just wanna get it on/get pumped
Quero ver o dia, ser o dia, mais um dia a passar
I want to see the day, be the day, one more day to go
Já é dia, mais que dia, tá na altura de mudar
It’s already a day, more than a day, it’s time to change
Depois de tanto tempo a cena rasta tá no ar
After so much time the rasta scene is in the air
Depois de tanto fumo eu só quero é bombar
After so much smoke I just wanna get it on/get pumped
Quero ver o dia, ser o dia, mais um dia a passar
I want to see the day, be the day, just another day to pass
Já é dia, mais que dia, tá na altura de mudar
It’s already a day, more than a day, it’s time for a change
Eu não sei se vou ficar bem assim
I don’t know if I’ll be okay like this
Eu só sei o que vai ser melhor para mim
I only know what will be best for me
Want to Go Further?
If you enjoy learning Portuguese through real-life content like music and stories, you can continue practising with:
- Beginner listening exercises
- Structured vocabulary lessons
- Guided conversation practice
👉 Explore more here: