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.

Madrugada
António Zambujo Lyrics

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Há um corpo aqui deitado
Num lençol de lua branca
Como um rio que não corre
Esse corpo abandonado
Deste canto que me arranca
Outro canto que não morre

E vi a luz mais agreste

Num frio de madrugada
Vestir-te da cor da lua
Despe-te um brilho celeste
Na febre de ser amada
Quando amor insinua

Não queiras dizer o nome
Ao ouvido deste canto
Só eu sei e conheço
O que esconde este pronome

Tu de quem fiz riso e pranto
Amor que lembro e esqueço

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Antonio Zambujo's "Madrugada" describe a scene of a body lying on a sheet of white moonlight, abandoned and forgotten. The body is associated with a stagnant river, as if it's unable to move or flow further. The singer is haunted by this sight and contrasting it with a more lively and hopeful song that's being stifled by the weight of the body. The lyrics note that there's a greater feeling of pain and sorrow that is being repressed for now. As the singer observes this scene, he sees the harshest light of the early morning sun, which gives off a coldness that is hard to shake. The image is striking and sorrowful as we see this lifeless figure amid the brevity of life.

The second verse brings some uplifting and hopeful tones as the lyrics describe the body being imbued with the shining light of the moon. The celestial light highlights the beauty of the body and warms it with a radiance that can represent the warmth of love or being desired. However, there's still a hint of sadness and dissatisfaction as the singer notes that the feeling of being loved is fleeting, and it slowly fades away. The lyrics conclude with the singer addressing a singular you - the one who has brought him both laughter and tears. This person is associated with a feeling of love, one that has been forgotten but which still lingers in the singer's memories. The lyrics also reveal the singer's apprehension in revealing the person's name, revealing that this love has been tucked deep inside, and is too precious to be shared.

Line by Line Meaning

Há um corpo aqui deitado
There is a body lying here

Num lençol de lua branca
On a white moonlit sheet

Como um rio que não corre
Like a river that doesn't flow

Esse corpo abandonado
This abandoned body

Deste canto que me arranca
From this corner that takes me

Outro canto que não morre
To another corner that never dies

E vi a luz mais agreste
And I saw the harshest light

Num frio de madrugada
In the cold of dawn

Vestir-te da cor da lua
Dressing you in the color of the moon

Despe-te um brilho celeste
Strip you of a heavenly glow

Na febre de ser amada
In the fever of being loved