António Zambujo was born in Beja, Alentejo (South of Portugal) in 1975. He … Read Full Bio ↴António Zambujo was born in Beja, Alentejo (South of Portugal) in 1975. He grew up listening to the traditional male chant called ‘Cante Alentejano’ that became one of his strongest influences. Around the age of 8, Zambujo started studying clarinet but soon he fell in love with Fado when listening to Amália Rodrigues, Alfredo Marceneiro, Maria Teresa de Noronha and João Ferreira Rosa. And it was singing, when he was 16 years old, that he won a regional Fado contest. His professional carreer started when Mário Pacheco, the renowned Portuguese guitarist and composer, invited him to sing in his Clube de Fado, in Lisbon. Not for a long time though… After an audition, António was chosen to take the role of Francisco da Cruz, Amalia’s first husband, in the blockbuster Musical ‘Amália’. He performed continuously during 4 years in Lisbon and after that he toured all around Portugal achieving enormous success. ‘It was a unique experience that taught me the stage «feeling» plus the strict working discipline of a theatre company’. In 2002 his first record ‘O mesmo Fado’ was released. Though you can find in it, as in all Zambujo’s records, some influences of ..Cante Alentejano’, the record achieved great recognition in the “Fado world’. Several songs were chosen to be part of major Fado anthologies and António Zambujo won the prestigious ‘Radio Nova FM’ prize for the ‘Best new Fado voice’ that was previously addressed to Mariza, Camané and Mafalda Arnauth. The 2004’s ‘Por meu cante’ gave us some clues about Zambujo’s future artistic path. His homeland influences were clearer, the merge between ‘Cante Alentejano’ and Fado was always present and, though it happened to be somehow controversial, no impeachment was called. António Zambujo won the Amália Rodrigues Foundation’s prize for the Best Fado Male Singer. 2007 is a significant year in Zambujo’s career. His third record ‘Outro sentido’ is a statement from a mature artist that has found his own particular way. Also the remarkable Lisbon’s festival closing concert and the duet with Luís Represas, a top pop singer, have shown that Zambujo and his music are really difficult to label.

Jogo de Sedução
António Zambujo Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Naquele tempo nós dois
Tínhamos manhãs de sois
Dias tristes eram poucos
Nessa era adolescente
Éramos ‘dez reis' de gente
Mas completamente loucos

Enquanto no céu bailavam

Andorinhas que chegavam
Antecedendo o verão
Nós descuidados brincando
Sem querer íamos jogando
Um jogo de sedução

Entre beijos escondidos
E desejos proibidos
Como fosse fogo posto
Pelas minhas graças mais tolas
Ramalhetes de papoilas
Vinham pousar em teu rosto

Que memoria, que loucura
Me transporta hoje à lonjura
De verdes campos, lençóis
Deixai-me sombras de infância

Contar a esta distancia
Naquele tempo, nós dois...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of António Zambujo's song Jogo de Sedução describe a time in the past when the singer and his lover were teenagers and deeply in love. The two of them had carefree days, with very few sad moments, and they were both a bit crazy. The arrival of the swallows that preceded the summer was a signal for them to start playing a game of seduction, without even realizing it. They would steal kisses and have forbidden desires, setting each other's hearts on fire. The singer remembers how he used to give his lover small gifts, like bouquets of poppies, and how that made her face light up with joy.

The lyrics are nostalgic and bittersweet, conveying a sense of longing for a time that has passed. The memories of young love that were once so vibrant have faded with time, but they are still a source of great joy and comfort to the singer. The song is a celebration of youth, love, and the fleeting nature of both.

Line by Line Meaning

Naquele tempo nós dois
In those times, it was just the two of us

Tínhamos manhãs de sois
We had sunny mornings

Dias tristes eram poucos
Sad days were rare

Nessa era adolescente
In that adolescent age

Éramos ‘dez reis' de gente
We were ten people in one

Mas completamente loucos
But completely crazy

Enquanto no céu bailavam
While swallows danced in the sky

Andorinhas que chegavam
Arriving swallows

Antecedendo o verão
Anticipating the summer

Nós descuidados brincando
Carelessly playing

Sem querer íamos jogando
Unconsciously we were playing