How does one mourn through music? This may appear as a novel concept to the modern Western audience, which has grown very used to party music or bubbly pop songs by insisting that only the good times are worth singing about. However, it is the songs that speak to mourning rather than pure joy that stick with us, even in the West. There still exists a very old kind of music that stands as a designated UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage practice, and represents the fickle power of the sea, which can turn from calm to cruel and has taken the lives of many sailors. This genre is known as fado, meaning ‘fate’ or ‘destiny,’ and has no better cause to be sung than on the docks and ports of Renaissance Portugal. In a time in which going out to the sea meant possible death, and yet was depended upon in the day-to-day for exploration, travel, and sustenance, the power of music made a powerful ode in the form of the fado, traditionally paired with mandolins and crooned in taverns. Though it began as a resignation of fate to the perils of the sea, modern fado could be about much more—lost love, the plight of the poor, or disease and starvation. It is meant to penetrate, to draw tears, and to give words to a deep, indescribable emotion that many may feel, but have no name for.

This is not to say that fado is meant to depress the listener. Instead, it is meant to build up an emotion. On the most well-known fado singer from Portugal, Amália Rodrigues, it was said by NPR music producer Tom Huizenga that she “put her entire soul [on her sleeve]” in her performances, turning pain into beauty through her rich voice. Fado, therefore, could be seen more as a release of melancholy rather than an indulgence of it, putting one’s heart into the mourning tune, and hoping for brighter days ahead as a result. It is no accident that fado has some of its roots in Moroccan slaves singing in melancholy while being shipped across seas. There is great power in putting words to the sadness one feels, and especially in experiencing that feeling. Picture sitting as a group, all quiet, in a squat little tavern and sipping on wine in the dark, listening to a lament. It asks the listeners to share the burden and bring their own conclusions from the music, whether the lyrics speak directly to their situation or to something similar. It can be considered to be a complex, grieved release of tension.

Fado is a beautiful kind of music full of melancholy and soul, and an ode to bereavement all over the world. Throughout human history and all time, there has always been a need to put sadness into words. I highly recommend “Fado Menor” by Amália Rodrigues as a quintessential fado piece for anyone who would like to give it a listen.