Salvador Vilar Braamcamp Sobral (born 28 December 1989) is a Portuguese sin… Read Full Bio ↴Salvador Vilar Braamcamp Sobral (born 28 December 1989) is a Portuguese singer and a former psychology student. He represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with "Amar Pelos Dois", giving Portugal its first win since their debut in 1964. It was written by Sobral's sister, singer-songwriter Luísa Sobral. He has several times used his public image in favour of refugees crossing Europe.

Sobral was born in Lisbon, into a former noble family the son of Salvador Luís Cabral Braamcamp Sobral, and is related to politician Hermano José Braamcamp de Almeida Castelo Branco. He has lived in Lisbon most of his life. At the age of ten, he participated in the TV programme Bravo Bravíssimo, and at 20 he was one of the ten finalists of Ídolos, the Portuguese version of the Idols franchise. As a finalist he sang music by Stevie Wonder, Leonard Cohen and Rui Veloso. As an Erasmus student (he studied Psychology in the Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, in Lisbon), Salvador moved to Mallorca, where he started singing in bars. After he left the Psychology program, he applied to the Taller de Músics, a music school in Barcelona, where he finished his studies in 2014. In 2015 he participated in the Vodafone Mexefest and EDP Cool Jazz festivals. In 2016 he released his first album, Excuse Me.
Salvador Sobral is a fan of Chet Baker and bossa nova singers (Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque). He speaks four languages: Portuguese, Spanish, English and a little Italian.

Salvador Sobral drew attention to the European migrant crisis by turning up to the first semi-final winners' press conference in an 'S.O.S. Refugees' shirt. 'If I'm here and I have European exposure, the least thing I can do is a humanitarian message,' Sobral said. 'People come to Europe in plastic boats and are being asked to show their birth certificates in order to enter a country. These people are not immigrants, they're refugees running from death. Make no mistake. There is so much bureaucratic stuff happening in the refugee camps in Greece, Turkey and Italy and we should help create legal and safe pathways from these countries to their destiny countries,' he added, earning a round of applause.

Ay Amor
Salvador Sobral Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Amor,
Yo sé que quieres
Llevarte mi ilusión

Amor,
Yo sé que puedes también
Llevarte mi alma

Pero, ay amor
Si te llevas mi alma
Llévate de mí también el dolor
Lleva en ti todo mi desconsuelo
Y también mi canción de sufrir

Ay amor, si me dejas la vida
Déjame también el alma sentir
Si sólo queda en mi
Dolor y vida
Ay amor, no me dejes vivir

Ay amor
Si te llevas mi alma
Llévate de mí también el dolor
Lleva en ti todo mi desconsuelo
Y también mi canción de sufrir

Ay amor, si me dejas la vida
Déjame también el alma sentir
Si sólo queda en mi

Dolor y vida
Ay amor, no me dejes vivir

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Salvador Sobral's song "Ay Amor" delve into the complex nature of love and its ability to both bring joy and cause pain. The singer acknowledges that love wants to take away his hope and even his soul, but he pleads with love to also take away his pain and despair. He wants love to carry within itself all his sorrow and his song of suffering. If love were to take away his soul but leave behind only pain and life, he begs love not to let him live.

The song reflects the bittersweet and contradictory aspects of love. While love can bring immense happiness and fulfillment, it can also cause profound heartache and anguish. The lyrics highlight the singer's desire for love to take away not only the negative emotions and experiences but also the essence of his being. He longs for love to grant him the ability to truly feel and understand the depth of his soul, as he believes that without it, life would be unbearable.

Line by Line Meaning

Amor,
Love,

Yo sé que quieres
I know you want

Llevarte mi ilusión
To take away my illusion

Amor,
Love,

Yo sé que puedes también
I know you can also

Llevarte mi alma
Take away my soul

Pero, ay amor
But, oh love

Si te llevas mi alma
If you take away my soul

Llévate de mí también el dolor
Take away my pain as well

Lleva en ti todo mi desconsuelo
Carry all my despair within you

Y también mi canción de sufrir
And also my song of suffering