I Filipe Sambado and his #FestivaldaCanção entry, “Gerbera Amarela do Sul” are getting some #eurovision love abroad. I’ve decided to translate the lyrics & share my interpretation of them, based on my perception and the hints that the artist himself has put out. A thread:

I posted the translation here as well (without the interpretation), if you want to see the English vs Portuguese line by line equivalence: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/gerbera-amarela-do-sul-southern-yellow-gerbera.html-0

So, Filipe wrote this song specifically for Festival da Canção because he doesn't feel right about the format itself. On one hand, he feels that it's a bit weird to reduce a whole country and all of its art into a single song from a single artist.

On the other, he is very surprised by how the contest makes people take sides and be hostile towards one another and be so critical of artistic works that are meant to be an expression of art, and not something crafted mathematically to suit a particular taste scheme.

Apart from that, you have to understand that he loves rhyming, so sometimes he puts in words that are kinda weird if taken at face value, so you have to play with metaphors and symbols

"The aristocratic thesis stinks already, with so little math and wisdom of opinion" <- Criticism of people who go on about art as if it were something purely objective in the most snobbish and arrogant way, and who chastise those who have a different opinion to them...

... because their own opinion is a "fact" that cannot be challenged.

"More eucalypts than pines, it's a desert the whole year"
Wildfires in many areas of the world are the result of ecosystems being changed to suit human "needs". In Portugal (as in many other countries), local flora (pines) has been replaced by more-lucrative faster-growing...

... species from abroad (eucalyptus). The problem is that the latter dry out their habitat very quickly and thus bring about a much higher flammability. In here, Filipe is referencing two big problems of the industry (that can be extrapolated to the art industry in general)...

... how the search for "radio-friendliness" kills diversity in the industry as a whole and endangers the alternative scene; and how "global" music trends and expressions are taken to be better than local ones by default...

... It’s not rare to read comments in Eurovision NFs like “oh, it’s a good song but it’s too local to be understood abroad”, “they won’t appreciate the lyrics because they’re not in English, “that is TOO Portuguese (so it’s bad)”...

... From a more abstract point of view, these lines could be a reference to how quick-wins tend to be preferred even if they are actually bad in the long run.

“And the basil pot* on the perch** sings [about] its male inferno”

* In decorated basil pots are a gift that symbolizes love, they are traditional for St. Anthony’s and St. John’s day in June || **”Being on the perch” means being in a position of authority...

...the pretty "perfect" basil pot is up there, unscathed and safe, singing about a ravaging (masculine, hence harsh, consuming and violent) inferno. From the artistic point of view, it's probably a reference to how the most "dark" or "outcast" pieces or artists are modified in...

... the commercial industry to make them more ‘palatable’ to a broader audience by putting some glitter and/or make-up to make them look "happy" and/or conform to the standards (of beauty; of art; of what is "good"). From the political point of view, it's a reference to...

...how politicians create problems that end up creating chaos around them that somehow doesn't affect them much. The same politicians who approved replacing pines w/ eucalypts get amazed by the intensity of wildfires that were created because of their very own decision...

...and yet, they keep on being up there, in power, unscathed.

"So much lily-like* candor**, your words are my martyrdom”

(*Important wordplay here: de lírio = of lily, lily-like (in this context, white ); delírio = raving, delirium)
(**It can also be translated as innocence). Hence, also:

“So much innocence, delirium!”

With the advent of internet, people have no problem voicing their "candid" opinion disregarding any notion of basic respect to the people they are talking about, carelessly attacking them with their words. More often than not, they even believe that they are helping those...

...who they attack with their ravings. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in a context like Festival da Canção. Instead of appreciating the fact that artists are putting themselves out there, many in the audience choose to martyrize them because of their songs or performances...

... Filipe himself said an example of this were the comments below thr YouTube videos of the semifinal acts. || The more political reading of these lines is basically that hate speech is rampantly being disguised as "just an honest/innocent opinion".

"Southern yellow gerbera”

Filipe has explained that he chose the gerbera because it is a common flower with exotic and unclear origins, that grows easily and adapts to new homes; and the yellow color symbolizes envy. He is representing Portugal (a southern European country)...

...with this flower. He is highlighting the good side and the bad side he sees in Portuguese society; and also low key shaming the racists who portrait Portugal as a ‘pure white country’ above other countries. (“Chill, you’re exotic too!”)

"And even when I belong to whatever caste**, and only wearing beach clothes, they make of me some exotic fruit* to become a consul"

*He literally sings ‘pitaya’ (dragonfruit) which not only rhymes but is also an -exotic-, funky-looking American fruit:

**In this sentence he uses very colloquial pronunciations of ‘mesmo’ (memo) and ‘para a’ (pa) to highlight how he is just a normal non-fancy guy like anybody else #humbleking

Filipe feels that whoever wins Festival da Canção becomes a consul of Portugal to Europe. No matter their ilk, they suddenly have a duty to represent their country.... and accordingly, they are expected to somehow become more 'respectable' and 'acceptable'...

... A normal guy/girl who normally wears beach clothes is now dressed in big fancy costumes (think of the pitaya) and has to act in a certain way to please, and to live up to some sort of collective expectation...

... The political reading of these lines is basically a condemnation of corruption: people who don't have the experience or the qualifications for a certain responsibility are suddenly, magically, converted into the perfect candidates for the job.

"A consulate* for you, a consulate for me, a consulate for the uncle... oh, uncle, I'm so consoled*”

(*These words are homophones in the original Portuguese! We stan wordplays!)

The denunciation of corruption continues, and now we add a specific reference to nepotism ("I am a politician and the guy/girl I just named [insert political position] is the best fit for it... it's just a coincidence that he is my uncle")...

... Now, there is an easter egg here. When you want to say that someone is whiny and focuses only on complaining and not solving their problems, you say that they are pulling an "ó tio, ó tio" ("oh uncle, oh uncle"; or "uncle [this], uncle [that]")...

... So those last two lines are basically expressing how a lot of people find some sort of awkward solace in complaining about everything and only highlighting flaws. Filipe said RESPECT ARTISTS

So those funky hypnotic “ó tio”s you can hear throughout the song are not only a fun earworm... they represent all the painful hatred-fueled complainers in the internet!

Some people say he hates FdC. Nope. What he (seems to, I’m not him ofc) hates is the toxicity that comes along with the program, yet not the program itself. And how some people kill off the non-mainstream “weird” songs without giving them a chance...

As you see, that’s why Filipe went for the funeral aesthetic. He’s mourning the death of diversity, the wildfires, hate speech, corruption and nepotism.

TYSM for making it this far! I know it was maybe a bit too much, but the song’s so rich I didn’t want to leave out any detail.

Bottomline, doesn’t matter who your #FestivaldaCanção or #Eurovision favorite is. #OpenUp : Be open-minded! Be respectful! Celebrate, don’t hate!