One of the best reasons for keeping your songs short

was that rather forced by circumstances on the early recordings of Lisbon-based folk group Madredeus. their first rehearsals took place in the basement of an old church on the Rua da Madre Deus in eastern Lisbon, very close to the main railway lines. As trains passed overhead every four or five minutes, creating massive rattling and vibration, their songs had to be quick enough to play between train passes.

I have therefore chosen a track of theirs that clocks in at 3.42. The district of Mouraria mentioned in the song was home to one of the main Islamic Moorish communities in Lisbon. It's one of the main places for fado, and remains a vibrant, if fairly impoverished area.

I'm told that singer Tereza Salgueiro has now gone solo, and the spelling here, as found on her new CD "Matriz" is now her preference to her former "Teresa"