E depois do adeus

Background

Conception

"E depois do adeus" was composed by José Calvário with lyrics by José Niza, and recorded by Paulo de Carvalho. The song is a ballad, with him taking the role of a man who is faced with the end of a relationship. He tells his lover how he feels, likening her to "a flower that I picked", implying that the relationship was of a comparatively short duration. He also comments on the nature of love itself, singing that it is "winning and losing".

De Carvalho also recorded an English-language version of the song titled "(And then) After love".

Eurovision

On 7 March 1974, "E depois do adeus" performed by de Carvalho competed in the of the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa. It received 245 points, winning the competition. As the festival was used by Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) to select their song and performer for the of the Eurovision Song Contest, the song became the , and de Carvalho the performer, for Eurovision.

On 6 April 1974, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at The Dome in Brighton hosted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and broadcast live throughout the continent. De Carvalho performed "E depois do adeus" sixteenth on the night, following 's "Mein Ruf nach dir" by Piera Martell and preceding 's "Sì" by Gigliola Cinquetti. José Calvário conducted the live orchestra in the performance of the Portuguese entry.

At the close of voting, it had received 3 points, placing fourteenth –tying for last with Switzerland, , and – in a field of 17. It was succeeded as Portuguese entry at the by "Madrugada" by Duarte Mendes.

Carnation revolution

Despite the modest placing in Eurovision, the song achieved considerable fame as one of the two signals to launch the Carnation Revolution in Portugal against the Estado Novo regime under Américo Tomás and Marcello Caetano – the other being the folk song "Grândola, Vila Morena" by Zeca Afonso, which was the signal for the coup leaders to announce that they had taken control of strategic parts of the country. "E depois do adeus" was broadcast at 22.55 on 24 April 1974 by Emissores Associados de Lisboa.

Histories of the contest tend to take a facetious view of this fact. In his The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History, author John Kennedy O'Connor, for example, describes it as "the only Eurovision entry to have actually started a revolution", while Des Mangan suggests that other Portuguese entries (he mentions 's "Se eu te pudesse abraçar") would not be likely to inspire coups.

References

References

1. "E depois do adeus - lyrics".
2. {{YouTube. MrW6zP161QI. "E depois do adeus" at the XI Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa (RTP)
3. "XI Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa 1974 - A votação".
4. (6 April 1974). "Eurovision Song Contest 1974".
5. "Official Eurovision Song Contest 1974 scoreboard".
6. (25 April 2024). "The song that started a revolution: 50 years of Portugal's 'E Depois Do Adeus'".
7. (25 April 2014). ""E Depois do Adeus" – Paulo de Carvalho". Altamont.
8. Mangan, Des (2004). This Is Sweden Calling.
9. O'Connor, John Kennedy. (2005). "The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History".