Chegou Tão Tarde Lyrics in English Sara Correia

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Chegou Tão Tarde by Sara Correia from Portuguese to English.

Verse 1

My love arrived so late

And my song fell asleep

The thistles didn't give a sign

And the wood didn't creak

But what a beautiful house

It was dressed in pictures

But the story that was written

Cannot be undone

My love arrived so late

With little cotton feet

Had sand in the hair

And another light in the heart

Our story was beautiful

I will keep it while you sleep

For love doesn't even believe

That you threw it away like this

My love

I must let you go

If you no longer burn for me

If the heart wanted it this way

I must let you follow

Go, for I need to cry in peace

And with each step you take

I get closer to myself

Verse 2

I was madness, I was courage

I was sadness and I was splendor

Everything that made me love you

I will keep without resentment

I build the fortress in misfortune

As I have done so many times

For love doesn't even believe

That it cannot be happy

My love

I must let you go

If you no longer burn for me

If the heart wanted it this way

I must let you follow

Go, for I need to cry in peace

And with each step you take

I get closer to myself

Go, for I need to cry in peace

And with each step you take

I get closer to myself

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SONG MEANING

Chegou Tão Tarde takes us to the quiet hallway of a Portuguese home where love slips in on pezinhos de algodão (cotton-soft feet) long after it is welcome. Sara Correia paints the scene with typical fado imagery – creaking wood, framed photographs, dry thistles that give no warning. The singer looks back on a romance that was beautiful, yet arrived too late to survive. Instead of begging, she grants a bittersweet farewell: if the fire is gone, he must leave so she can "chorar em paz" (cry in peace) and, step by step, come back to herself.

More than a lament, the song is a quiet declaration of self-worth. Correia acknowledges every shade of the relationship – madness, courage, sadness, splendor – and pockets each memory without bitterness. Letting go hurts, but it is proof of strength; with every goodbye the narrator moves closer to her own heart. Rich in poetic Portuguese and fado soul, this track teaches that sometimes love’s greatest act is opening the door and finding freedom on the other side.

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Sara Correia Chegou Tão Tarde Lyrics