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Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. It was about time I finally tackled the last major Romance language left, and I wanted to start with a more obscure folk song from the area of Fundão, in Beira Baixa. This is originally a field work song, as evidenced by it being referred to as “tosquias,“ aka shearing. The earliest recording we have of it is in this album I wanted to bring together different aspects of the music in the area surrounding Fundão, namely of the Beiras and the general Centro region. The main percussive drive is provided by the adufe, a square frame drum said to be of Moorish origin, and most often associated with religious music, though it also had secular uses, specifically for field work. I modelled the rythm after a simple triple metre pattern heard in this recording: I also brought in the sound of a bagpipe, the gaita-de fole de Coimbra, which has affinities with its northern sibling, the Northern Portuguese-Galician gaita, and of an accordion, an instrument commonly heard in the region. Lyrics in Portuguese: Ó meu amor, se tu fores, Leva-me, podendo ser! Eu quero ir acabar Onde tu fores morrer. Eu hei-de morrer cantando, Já que chorando nasci, Já que as glórias deste mundo Se acabaram p’ra mim. English translation: O my love, if you go, Take me, maybe! I want to end Wherever you are going to die. I will die singing, Since I was born crying, Since the glories of this world, Are over for me.
