Carta de Maputo

Carta de Maputo... (mm)

Minha filha, come bem e dorme cedo
Her handwriting leans like a hut in wind
Reading on the bus with my forehead on the window
Hillbrow lights going past and the day wearing thin
A man sells airtime at the corner by the bin
Dona Lurdes wrote it down, she has the good pen
Mamã cannot see the lines but she knows every word
Deus te guarde, a porta está aberta
The last line is the only one I heard
Ella perguntou da tosse e do aluguer
Asked about my cough, asked about the rent
Asked if I am eating, asked where the wages went
O mar não mudou, filha, o mar não mudou
The sea has not changed, she wrote, the sea has not changed

Dobra a carta, guarda no peito
Fold it small and keep it there
O coração sabe o caminho

Carta de Maputo, mãe escreveu
Cheira a mar, cheira a pão
Carta de Maputo, a porta está aberta
Saudades, saudades, saudades

O telhado já está novo, filha, a chuva não entra
The roof is new, the money came on time
I washed other women's hair for six hundred Fridays
Now the rain stays out of that front room of mine
Ngiyabonga, Mama, ngiyabonga kakhulu
Your thank-you stretches over every mile
Tell me what you cooked, tell me who came by
Tell me if the old dog still waits at the gate and smiles
A vizinha trouxe pão, the neighbour brought us bread
And Father Joaquim blessed the roof and said a prayer instead
I read it twice, I read it three times more
A thin blue envelope with salt stuck to the door

Dobra a carta, guarda no peito
Fold it small and keep it there

Carta de Maputo, mãe escreveu
Cheira a mar, cheira a pão
Carta de Maputo, a porta está aberta
Saudades, saudades, saudades

Mm, Maputo, Maputo (mm)
Mm, Maputo, mãe (mm)
Mm, a porta está aberta (mm)

Filha, não te esqueças de comer
Tens a tua cama, tens o teu lugar
O teu pai plantou a mangueira, já dá fruta
Quando vieres, vais ouvir o mar

(guitar answers the melody, piano keeps the chord)

I stand up at my stop with the letter in my hand
The bus doors fold open on the cold Joburg air
Fold it into my apron where the scissors always stay
The conductor calls out Jeppe, I call out Maputo
Booking the Christmas bus on my phone today
Passagem paga, a conta feita
A window seat facing east, and the sea at the end

Dobra a carta, guarda no peito
Fold it small and keep it there
Vou voltar, mamã, vou voltar

Carta de Maputo, mãe escreveu
Cheira a mar, cheira a pão
Carta de Maputo, a porta está aberta
Vou chegar, vou chegar, vou chegar

Saudades... (saudades)
Saudades...
Mãe... (a porta está aberta)