Balada astral – Bilingual Lyrics Portuguese/English

• By: Miguel Araújo, Inês Viterbo

Lyrics & Translation

[Portuguese]

[English]

Quando Deus pôs o mundo

When God placed the world

E o céu a girar

And the sky to spin

Bem lá no fundo

Deep down

Sabia que por aquele andar

He knew that by that path

Eu te havia de encontrar

I would find you

Minha mãe no segundo

My mother at the moment

Em que aceitou dançar

When she accepted to dance

Foi na cantiga

It was in the song

Dos astros a conspirar

Of the stars conspiring

E do seu cósmico vagar

And of their cosmic wandering

Mandaram teu pai

They sent your father

Sorrir para a tua mãe

To smile at your mother

Para que tu

So that you

Existisses também

Would exist too

Era um dia bonito

It was a beautiful day

E na altura eu também

And at that time, I too

O infinito

The infinite

Ainda se lembrava bem

Still remembered well

Do seu cósmico refém

Its cosmic hostage

E eu que pensava

And I who thought

Que ia só comprar pão

I was just going to buy bread

E tu que pensavas

And you who thought

Que ias só passear o cão

You were just taking the dog for a walk

A salvo da conspiração

Safe from the conspiracy

Cruzámos caminhos

We crossed paths

Tropeçámos no olhar

We stumbled upon each other's gaze

E o pão nesse dia

And the bread that day

Ficou por comprar

Remained unbought

...

...

Ensarilharam-se as trelas dos cães

The dog leashes got tangled

Os astros, os signos

The stars, the signs

Os desígnios, as constelações

The destinies, the constellations

As estrelas, os trilhos

The stars, the paths

E as tralhas dos dois

And the clutter of the two

...

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
Deus /deus/ A1	noun - God
mundo /ˈmũdu/ A1	noun - world
céu /sɛu/ A1	noun - sky
caminhos /kaˈmiɲuʃ/ A2	noun - paths
encontrar /ẽkõˈtɾaʁ/ A2	verb - to find
dançar /dɐ̃ˈsaʁ/ A2	verb - to dance
bonito /boˈnitu/ A2	adjective - beautiful
infinito /ĩfiˈnitu/ B1	adjective - infinite
conspiração /kõspiɾaˈsɐ̃w/ B2	noun - conspiracy
cão /kɐ̃w/ A2	noun - dog
olhar /oˈʎaʁ/ B1	verb - to look
estrela /esˈtɾelɐ/ A1	noun - star
signos /ˈsiɡnus/ B2	noun - signs
constelações /kõstelaˈsɐ̃w̃s/ B2	noun - constellations
vagar /vaˈɡaʁ/ B1	verb - to wander

Key Grammar Structures

• Quando Deus pôs o mundo

  ➔ Preposition 'Quando' + indicative past tense 'pôs'

  ➔ 'Quando' is a conjunction meaning 'when', used to introduce a temporal clause with the verb in past tense.

• E o céu a girar

  ➔ Use of the definite article 'o' + noun 'céu' + infinitive 'a girar'

  ➔ The structure indicates a noun phrase with the definite article and an infinitive verb acting as a descriptive action.

• Sabia que por aquele andar

  ➔ Imperfect subjunctive 'Sabia' + conjunction 'que' + preposition 'por' + demonstrative 'aquele' + noun 'andar'

  ➔ 'Sabia' is the imperfect subjunctive of 'saber', expressing past knowledge or belief, with a subordinate clause introduced by 'que'.

• Foi na cantiga

  ➔ Preposition 'na' + noun 'cantiga' + past tense 'Foi'

  ➔ 'Na' is a contraction of 'em a', meaning 'in the', used with feminine nouns like 'cantiga' (song). 'Foi' is the past tense of 'ser' or 'ir'.

• Foi na cantiga

  ➔ Preposition 'na' + noun 'cantiga' + past tense 'Foi'

  ➔ As before, it combines the preposition and noun to indicate the location or context where the action happened, with 'Foi' indicating past tense.