Throughout her career, in which it is clearly traced and expressed a deep respect, understanding and humbleness before Fado, Mísia developed a new style: she stripped the Fado off the shawl of the "amalian" type, and adds to the traditional instruments (bass guitar, classical guitar and Portuguese guitar) the sensuality of the accordion and the violin, and borrows from the best Portuguese poets their finest verses. The piano was often used in fado before, and this she also uses.
Her 2003 album "Canto" may be considered her masterpiece. Mixing pieces of the best works of the Portuguese guitarist Carlos Paredes with poems of Vasco Graça Moura (and some of Sérgio Godinho and Pedro Tamen), Mísia has built a piece of music that she would describe as belonging to her "gallery of impossible things". Mísia is also known for covering other artists' songs in a very "fadoish" way. The classic "As time goes by", and some of the songs of Luis Eduardo Aute ("De Alguna Manera", for instance) are some of the examples.
Mísia is a polyglot. Despite singing mostly fado (which is sung in Portuguese), she sings some of her themes in Spanish, French, Catalan or even English. One of the examples is her last album "Drama Box", a collection of tangos, boleros and fados, sung in Portuguese and Spanish. In "Drama Box", Mísia depicts herself as a cabaret dancer living in the "Drama Box Hotel" with her musicians. It's a very personal album, simultaneously a tribute to her mother and a real description of her life: travelling through the world, taking fado everywhere.
In spite of being famous in Portugal, her music has from the beginning been greatly appreciated in foreign countries: France and Japan for example.
Discography
1991 — Mísia
1993 — Fado
1995 — Tanto menos, tanto mais
1998 — Garras dos Sentidos
1999 — Paixões Diagonais
2001 — Ritual
2003 — Canto (music by Carlos Paredes)
2005 — Drama Box
2009 — Ruas
Garras dos Sentidos
Mísia Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
N?o quero cantar amores, / Amores s?o passos perdidos. / S?o frios raios solares, / Verdes garras dos sentidos. / S?o
cavalos corredores / Com asas de ferro e chumbo, / Ca?dos nas ?guas fundas. / N?o quero cantar amores. / Para?sos
proibidos, / Contentamentos injustos, / Feliz adversidade, / Amores s?o passos perdidos. / S?o dem?ncia dos olhares,
/ Alegre festa de pranto. / S?o furor obediente, / S?o frios raios solares. / Da m? sorte defendidos / Os homens de
bom ju?zo / T?m nas m?os prodigiosas / Verdes garras dos sentidos. / N?o quero cantar amores / Nem falar dos seus
motivos.
In MISIA's song Garras dos Sentidos, the lyrics express a strong feeling of reluctance towards singing about love, as it represents lost steps and the green claws of the senses. The lyrics use powerful imagery to compare love to horses with wings made of iron and lead, fallen into deep waters. The idea of forbidden paradises and unjust contentment also adds to the negative connotation surrounding love in the song.
The lyrics also touch on the idea of the madness of gazes and the contradictory nature of love as a joyful festival of tears, yet an obedient fury and cold solar rays. The final lines talk about how only men with great wisdom have the miraculous ability to defend themselves from the green claws of the senses. Overall, the song delves deep into the complexities and contradictions of love and provides a profound reflection on its nature.
Line by Line Meaning
N?o quero cantar amores,
I do not want to sing about love
Amores s?o passos perdidos.
Love is a lost step
S?o frios raios solares,
Love is like cold sunrays
Verdes garras dos sentidos.
They are the green claws of senses
S?o cavalos corredores / Com asas de ferro e chumbo, / Ca?dos nas ?guas fundas.
Love is like a rushing horse with wings of iron and lead, fallen into deep waters
Para?sos proibidos, / Contentamentos injustos, / Feliz adversidade, / Amores s?o passos perdidos.
Love is a forbidden paradise, unjust contentment, and a happy adversity, ultimately leading to a lost step
S?o dem?ncia dos olhares, / Alegre festa de pranto.
Love makes one crazy and brings a bittersweet celebration of tears
S?o furor obediente, / S?o frios raios solares.
Love is both an obedient madness and a cold sunray
Da m? sorte defendidos / Os homens de bom ju?zo / T?m nas m?os prodigiosas / Verdes garras dos sentidos.
Wise men, protected from bad luck, have in their hands the wondrous green claws of senses
N?o quero cantar amores / Nem falar dos seus motivos.
I do not want to sing or talk about love and its reasons
Contributed by Penelope Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.