Music Appreciation Through Eurovision
Eurovision was last weekend and I still have some thoughts.
More accurately, I started writing this a month ago but still felt compelled to finish the thought.
I didn't actually watch the Portugal national final, but when the winner was announced, I went and watched their performance.
And I... wasn't impressed. Sure, it's pretty, but kinda boring, you know?
I think it was ESC Gabe who pointed out in his livestream that these guys are singing Cante Alentejano, one of two Portuguese music forms that are recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. (God bless you, UNESCO). (The other one is Fado, which has been at Eurovision a few times). This is the first time Cante Alentejano has been at Eurovision.
So that's nice.
The lyrics are pretty straight-forward. I see a rose. It reminds me of you. But there's something more there. A melancholy. Loss.
There is no rush in the place I come from
There is no price for this peace
If I failed, I paid in double
Little remains, or almost nothingOnly the roses I have planted
When we were true
Little remains, I didn't water them
And the garden turned into longing
So, with that in mind, they dropped their "a little bit more!" version (each Eurovision entry puts out a video before the show, usually of an alternate version of their song or a cover of another song), which was a traditional choral version of Rosa.
And I'm balling. Man, this hit me hard.
It's hard to explain why I found the choral version so much more moving. But I think just having more context about the meaning of the song, the cultural context of the music form or just having it sit with me for a while.
I thought it was lovely and I wanted to share.
In the end, Portugal failed to qualify. They came in 12th in their semi-final (you need to be in the top 10 to move on to the final).
And, you kinda get it. There was some thought it might qualify on the basis of being a bit of a breath of fresh air on a pretty hectic night, and they bookies were giving them a 50/50 chance, but it was not to be. (If they weren't in a semi with a notorious bad actor (Paywalled NYT article), maybe things would've been different. We'll never know).