A Sense of Longing: Deolinda and "Uma Ilha"

Sometimes there is nothing better than to immerse oneself in melancholy.  The great Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, in his book Istanbul, has long descriptions of cultural melancholy as people in the modern Turkish state who are old enough to remember the splendor of the Ottoman Empire look back on glories of the past amid the uncertainties of the present and future.  Individual melancholy hits us from time to time as well, usually as we personally revisit the past and compare it with our own presents and and uncertainties, or even perhaps when we get the "grass is always greener" syndrome and think of what might have been or what could have been had we only did this or that previously.  I am as susceptible to this as any other.  I like wallowing in melancholy once in a while.  I even put together a melancholy song list that I can access to feed that particular feeling.

The Portuguese word that best describes this feeling is saudade, which is not directly translatable but connotes longing.  In Portuguese music, the fado has developed over centuries to capture this longing.  Fados are often slow, serious songs.  They are often about the sea or about the life of the poor, and are usually accompanied by Portuguese guitar.  They are an unique contribution to world culture, so much so that the UN has inscribed fado on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list to bring awareness to its significance and to protect it.  Famous Portuguese performers of fado include Amália Rodrigues, Carlos do Carmo, and Ana Moura among many others.

Deolinda is a band that formed in 2006 when the brothers Pedro da Silva Martins and Luis José Martins asked their cousin Ana Bacalhau to sing on a few songs they had written.  Realizing that her voice fit perfectly with their songs, they formed Deolinda and rounded out the band with her husband José Pedro Leitã.  Their first album, Canção Ao Lado (2008), reached number 3 on the Portuguese charts, and their followup album, Dois selos e um carimbo (2010), hit number 1.  During this period, the band performed a song called Parva que Sous at their concerts, which was a social criticism of Portugal and the lack of opportunities for young people.  Most of Europe was going through a financial crisis, and youth unemployment was enormous, especially in poorer EU countries.  The song became an anthem among economically hurt youth in Portugal and went viral on social media, with bootleg copies of concert performances shared in great numbers.  Deolinda released their third album, Mundo Pequenino, in 2013.

The band's style is inspired by fado, but they have made numerous departures from the form.  While fado utilizes Portuguese guitar, the band does not.  Deolinda's songs are often contain social criticism, and can be lively, upbeat, ironic and humorous which does not fit the usual melancholy style of fado either.  Fado performers often dress in black when performing, but Deolinda does not.  Perhaps they are defining a post-fado or neo-fado style?  However this song, Uma Ilha (An Island) from their 2010 release Dois Selos e um Carimbo, does fit the traditional fado style with references to the sea and hidden secrets from a lover, and a slow, almost mournful pace highlighting Ana Bacalhou's beautiful voice.