No Rancho Fundo – Bilingual Lyrics Portuguese/English

• By: António Zambujo, Miguel Araújo

Lyrics & Translation

[Portuguese]

[English]

No rancho fundo

In the deep ranch

Bem p'ra lá do fim do mundo

Way beyond the end of the world

Onde a dor e a saudade

Where pain and longing

Contam coisas da cidade

Tell stories of the city

No rancho fundo

In the deep ranch

De olhar triste e profundo

With a sad and profound gaze

Um moreno canta as mágoas

A dark-haired man sings his sorrows

Tendo os olhos rasos d'água

With eyes brimming with tears

Pobre moreno

Poor dark-haired man

Que de noite no sereno

Who at night, under the stars

Espera a lua no terreiro

Waits for the moon in the courtyard

Tendo um cigarro por companheiro

With a cigarette as his companion

Sem um aceno

Without a gesture

Ele pega na viola

He takes up his guitar

E a lua por esmola

And the moon, out of charity

Vem p'ro quintal desse moreno

Comes to the yard of this dark-haired man

No rancho fundo

In the deep ranch

Bem p'ra lá do fim do mundo

Way beyond the end of the world

Nunca mais houve alegria

There's never been joy again

Nem de noite, nem de dia

Neither at night, nor during the day

Os arvoredos

The groves

Já não contam mais segredos

No longer share secrets

E a última palmeira

And the last palm tree

Já morreu na cordilheira

Has died in the mountains

Os passarinhos

The birds

Hibernaram-se nos ninhos

Have hibernated in their nests

De tão triste esta tristeza

Such is the sorrow that fills

Enche de trevas a natureza

Nature with darkness

Tudo porque

All because

Só por causa do moreno

Just because of the dark-haired man

Que era grande, hoje é pequeno

Who was great, now is small

P'ra uma casa de sapê

For a house made of thatch

Se Deus soubesse

If God knew

Da tristeza lá da serra

Of the sorrow in the mountains

Mandaria lá p'ra cima

He would send all the love on earth

Todo o amor que há na terra

Up to the top

Porque o moreno

Because the dark-haired man

Vive louco de saudade

Lives crazy with longing

Só por causa do veneno

Just because of the poison

Das mulheres da cidade

Of the city women

E ele que era

And he who was

O cantor na primavera

The singer in spring

E que fez do rancho fundo

And who made the deep ranch

O céu melhor que há no mundo

The best heaven in the world

Se uma flor

If a flower

Desabrocha e o sol queima

Blooms and the sun burns

A montanha vai gelando

The mountain will freeze

Lembra o cheiro da morena

Reminding him of the dark-haired woman's scent

...

...

E agora vamos ter aqui um momento em que

And now we're going to have a moment here

António Zambujo pela segunda vez

António Zambujo for the second time

Voltas que analisaram o mundo do fado

Turns that analyzed the world of fado

Desembainhando, empunhando uma guitarra elétrica

Unsheathing, wielding an electric guitar

E vai acontecer agora

And it's going to happen now

António Zambujo na guitarra elétrica

António Zambujo on the electric guitar

E Miguel no rabecão também

And Miguel on the rabecão too

...

...

Peço para não se preocuparem

I ask you not to worry

Porque nós somos profissionais treinados

Because we are trained professionals

...

...

Valha-me São Francisco gentil

May Saint Francis protect me

...

...

Era só isto, obrigado!

That's all, thank you!

...

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
rancho /ˈʁɐ̃ʃu/ B1	noun - a large farm or estate, especially in South America
saudade /sawˈðaðɨ/ B2	noun - a deep emotional state of melancholic nostalgia and yearning
moreno /moˈɾenu/ A2	noun - a dark-haired or dark-skinned person
triste /ˈtɾiʃtɨ/ A1	adjective - sad, unhappy
cordilheira /koɾdiˈʎɐjɾɐ/ B1	noun - a mountain range
palmeira /pawˈmejɾɐ/ B1	noun - a palm tree
natureza /nɐtuˈɾezɐ/ B1	noun - nature
veneno /vɨˈnɛnu/ B1	noun - poison
mulher /muˈʎɛʁ/ A1	noun - woman
canto /ˈkɐ̃tu/ A1	verb - to sing
violão /vi.oˈlɐ̃w/ B1	noun - guitar
lua /ˈlu.ɐ/ A1	noun - moon
amor /ɐˈmoʁ/ A1	noun - love
serra /ˈsɛʁɐ/ B1	noun - mountain range
primavera /pɾi.mɐˈvɛ.ʁɐ/ B1	noun - spring
flor /ˈfloʁ/ A1	noun - flower
sol /ˈsoɫ/ A1	noun - sun

Key Grammar Structures

• No rancho fundo

  ➔ Prepositional phrase indicating location

  ➔ 'No' is a preposition meaning 'at' or 'in', used here to specify the location of the ranch.

• O moreno canta as mágoas

  ➔ Definite article + noun + verb + direct object

  ➔ ‘O’ is the definite article ‘the’, used to specify 'the dark-skinned man', and 'canta' is the verb 'sings'.

• De olhar triste e profundo

  ➔ Prepositional phrase describing the look

  ➔ ‘De’ is a preposition meaning ‘of’, and the phrase describes the look as ‘sad and deep’.

• E a lua por esmola

  ➔ Prepositional phrase indicating manner or means

  ➔ ‘Por’ is a preposition meaning ‘for’ or ‘by’, and the phrase suggests the moon is given as ‘alms’.

• Vive louco de saudade

  ➔ Verb + adjective + preposition + noun

  ➔ ‘Vive’ is the verb ‘to live’ and ‘louco’ means ‘crazy’, with ‘de saudade’ indicating ‘filled with longing’.

• Se uma flor Desabrocha e o sol queima

  ➔ Conditional clause + verb + conjunction + verb

  ➔ ‘Se’ is the conjunction ‘if’, introducing a conditional clause. ‘Desabrocha’ and ‘queima’ are verbs ‘bloom’ and ‘burn’.

• Lembra o cheiro da morena

  ➔ Verb + article + noun + preposition + noun

  ➔ ‘Lembra’ is the verb ‘remembers’. ‘O cheiro da morena’ means ‘the smell of the brunette’.