Carla Pires is one of the finest fado singers of her generation. Her concer… Read Full Bio ↴Carla Pires is one of the finest fado singers of her generation. Her concerts have been very successful due to her beautiful voice, a program with a careful selection of fados and also because she is backed by a brilliant trio of musicians.
Carla Pires started her singing career in 1993. She recorded several soundtracks for TV shows and has also played roles as an actress.
In 2002 she was invited to participate in the biggest musical ever produced in Portugal "AMALIA", in which she performed the role of Amalia Rodrigues at a young age.
In 2002, Carla Pires recorded 12 hits of Amalia Rodrigues in the CD "O Fado em Concerto", having been backed by a classical string quartet.
In 2005, Carla Pires released "Ilha do meu fado" edited by OCARINA label. Several tracks of this CD were licensed for collections in Portugal, France, The Netherlands and Korea

Amiga
Carla Pires Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Amiga

Deixa-me ser a tua amiga, Amor,
A tua amiga só, já que não queres
Que pelo teu amor seja a melhor,
A mais triste de todas as mulheres.

Que só, de ti, me venha mágoa e dor

O que me importa a mim?! O que quiseres
É sempre um sonho bom! Seja o que for,
Bendito sejas tu por mo dizeres!

Beija-me as mãos, Amor, devagarinho...
Como se os dois nascêssemos irmãos,
Aves cantando, ao sol, no mesmo ninho...

Beija-mas bem!... Que fantasia louca
Guardar assim, fechados, nestas mãos,
Os beijos que sonhei prá minha boca!...

Florbela Espanca (1919), in ""Livro de Mágoas""

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Carla Pires's song "Amiga" are actually a poem written by Florbela Espanca in 1919 and included in her book "Livro de Mágoas". The poem explores the theme of unrequited love and the desire to remain close to someone even if they do not reciprocate the same romantic feelings.

The singer in the poem expresses a willingness to be just a friend to their beloved because the person they love does not want to be with them romantically. They are willing to accept the role of being "the best, the saddest of all women" as long as they can be in the person's life somehow. The singer acknowledges that the only thing they will experience from this relationship is pain and sorrow but insists that they don't mind because any attention from their beloved is a cherished dream.

In the second stanza, the singer asks their beloved to kiss their hands gently, as if they were siblings who were born together. The comparison to birds singing in the same nest under the sun emphasizes the idea of shared intimacy and connection. The final lines reveal the singer's longing for the kisses they have only dreamt of and the bittersweetness of keeping those dreams locked away in their hands.

Line by Line Meaning

Deixa-me ser a tua amiga, Amor,
Allow me to be your friend, my love,

A tua amiga só, já que não queres
Your only friend, since you don't want

Que pelo teu amor seja a melhor,
To be the best for your love,

A mais triste de todas as mulheres.
The saddest of all women.

Que só, de ti, me venha mágoa e dor
That only from you, I receive sorrow and pain

O que me importa a mim?! O que quiseres
What does it matter to me?! Whatever you want

É sempre um sonho bom! Seja o que for,
It's always a good dream! Whatever it is,

Bendito sejas tu por mo dizeres!
Blessed are you for saying it to me!

Beija-me as mãos, Amor, devagarinho...
Kiss my hands, my love, slowly...

Como se os dois nascêssemos irmãos,
As if we were born siblings,

Aves cantando, ao sol, no mesmo ninho...
Birds singing in the sun, in the same nest...