# The 7 Best Fado Tracks of All Time

Portuguese urban song, born in the taverns and back streets of Lisbon, built on a voice, a Spanish guitar and the pear-shaped Portuguese guitarra. Its subject is saudade — longing for something that may never have existed.

- **Origin:** Lisbon, Portugal, 1820
- **Tempo:** 60–100 BPM
- **Also known as:** fado de lisboa, fado de coimbra, saudade
- **Tracks:** 7
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/fado/

## The list

### 1. [Amália Rodrigues](https://waxonia.com/artist/amalia-rodrigues/) — [Barco Negro](https://waxonia.com/track/amalia-rodrigues--barco-negro/)

*1955*

A woman on a beach insisting to herself that the drowned man will return. Amália is fado, and this is the performance that carried it out of Portugal without softening a syllable.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Am%C3%A1lia%20Rodrigues%20Barco%20Negro) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5XMdrUTxk)

### 2. [Amália Rodrigues](https://waxonia.com/artist/amalia-rodrigues/) — [Estranha Forma de Vida](https://waxonia.com/track/amalia-rodrigues--estranha-forma-de-vida/)

*1965*

Her own lyric, set to an old fado, about a heart that goes its own way regardless. The most economical statement of what the form is for.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Am%C3%A1lia%20Rodrigues%20Estranha%20Forma%20de%20Vida) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=VGgIlLfVEmQ)

### 3. [Amália Rodrigues](https://waxonia.com/artist/amalia-rodrigues/) — [Lágrima](https://waxonia.com/track/amalia-rodrigues--lagrima/)

*1983*

Late Amália, the voice worn and all the better for it. Written with Carlos Gonçalves, and the last great song she added to the standard repertoire.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Am%C3%A1lia%20Rodrigues%20L%C3%A1grima) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yxxq0ge1Fg)

### 4. [Alfredo Marceneiro](https://waxonia.com/artist/alfredo-marceneiro/) — [Meu Amor É Marinheiro](https://waxonia.com/track/alfredo-marceneiro--meu-amor-e-marinheiro/)

*1960*

The carpenter who sang, and the model every male fadista still works from. Marceneiro phrases against the guitars rather than with them, which is harder than it sounds.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Alfredo%20Marceneiro%20Meu%20Amor%20%C3%89%20Marinheiro) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=fTdzI6mNl_0)

### 5. [Carlos do Carmo](https://waxonia.com/artist/carlos-do-carmo/) — [Coimbra](https://waxonia.com/track/carlos-do-carmo--coimbra/)

*1977*

Lisbon's other great voice, bringing arrangements and a lightness Amália never wanted. Carlos do Carmo is why fado had somewhere to go after her.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Carlos%20do%20Carmo%20Coimbra) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=KJpKtelRxdI)

### 6. [José Afonso](https://waxonia.com/artist/jose-afonso/) — [Balada da Despedida](https://waxonia.com/track/jose-afonso--balada-da-despedida/)

*1959*

Coimbra fado — the student tradition, sung by men in capes, and quite different from Lisbon's. Afonso later wrote the song that started a revolution; the discipline is audible here first.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Jos%C3%A9%20Afonso%20Balada%20da%20Despedida) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=x-J_dp-K02A)

### 7. [Mariza](https://waxonia.com/artist/mariza/) — [Foi Deus](https://waxonia.com/track/mariza--foi-deus/)

*2001 · World Connection*

The revival, and proof it is not a museum. Mariza takes a standard everyone has heard and finds room in it, which is the only test that matters.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Mariza%20Foi%20Deus) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=NH7ZN363_xY)

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