Practice your Portuguese by listening to and translating songs from Portuguese to your native language. This song is called Home do Leme – Xutos & Pontapés.
I’ve translated the song into English after the lyrics below. (the music video is not mine nor was it produced by me).
If you’re here from the 30-Day Free Portuguese Challenge for your daily goal, the task for today is to listen to the song a few times and try to follow along with the lyrics in Portuguese. At the end of the task, try to rate yourself and include the date. This is so you can later come back to this exercise and see how you have improved over time. Let’s jump in. (You don’t need to be a part of the challenge to do these suggested exercises 😉 )
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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 more on.
- 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.
Homem do Leme (“Man of the helm”) by Xutos & Pontapés
Sozinho na noite
um barco ruma para onde vai.
Uma luz no escuro brilha a direito
ofusca as demais.
E mais que uma onda, mais que uma maré…
Tentaram prendê-lo impor-lhe uma fé…
Mas, vogando à vontade, rompendo a saudade,
vai quem já nada teme, vai o homem do leme…
E uma vontade de rir nasce do fundo do ser.
E uma vontade de ir, correr o mundo e partir,
a vida é sempre a perder…
No fundo do mar
jazem os outros, os que lá ficaram.
Em dias cinzentos
descanso eterno lá encontraram.
E mais que uma onda, mais que uma maré…
Tentaram prendê-lo, impor-lhe uma fé…
Mas, vogando à vontade, rompendo a saudade,
vai quem já nada teme, vai o homem do leme…
E uma vontade de rir nasce do fundo do ser.
E uma vontade de ir, correr o mundo e partir,
a vida é sempre a perder…
No fundo horizonte
sopra o murmúrio para onde vai.
No fundo do tempo
foge o futuro, é tarde demais…
E uma vontade de rir nasce do fundo do ser.
E uma vontade de ir, correr o mundo e partir,
a vida é sempre a perder…
Translation
Alone in the night
a boat heads where it’s going.
A light in the dark shines straight
overshadowing the others.
And more than a wave, more than a tide
They tried to bind him to a faith
But, sailing at will, breaking the longing
He who fears nothing, the man at the helm goes…
And an urge to laugh rises from the depths of his being.
And a will to go, to run the world and to leave,
Life is always to be lost…
At the bottom of the sea
lie the others, the ones that stayed there.
On grey days
Eternal rest they found there.
And more than a wave, more than a tide
They tried to bind him, to impose faith on him
But, sailing at will, breaking the longing
the man of the helm goes, he who fears nothing…
And an urge to laugh rises from the depths of his being.
And a will to go, to run the world and to leave,
Life is always to be lost…
On the deep horizon
blows the murmur where you’re going.
In the depths of time
The future flees, it’s too late…
And a desire to laugh is born from the depths of being.
And a will to go, to run the world and leave,
Life is always losing…
For more songs in Portuguese click here. To learn more about the 30-Day Portuguese Challenge click here or sign up below.