“Canção do Mar” (song of the sea) began as “Solidão”, sung by the great fado singer Amália Rodrigues in a 1950s film. In 1993 Dulce Pontes recorded it with new words and a powerful modern arrangement, and her version travelled far beyond Portugal — it was used in the Hollywood film Primal Fear.
The song is short and mysterious: a woman goes out to dance in her small boat on a cruel sea, and the sea, the wind and the waves answer her. Portugal's long relationship with the ocean — journeys, longing, loss — sits under every line.
Dulce Pontes's voice is huge and dramatic but every word is sung fully, which makes it great listening practice for European Portuguese. Learn the sea vocabulary first.