This text is published on home.no/tabanka with permission from the author.

Sodadi

{vocables} Ai i i i, Ai i i ya,   
N' odja porto Cidade,    Cidade Velha, botardi

Ai i i i, ma N' odja Cidade di Praia,
N'odja Vila Tarrafal, ma N'odja Cidade di Praia

Ai i i, Ai i i ya,
Na Praia Santa Maria, sodadi dja'n bai

Ma Praia na cidadi, Santiago na conselho
Tarrafal na Jornada, sodadi ta mata'n

Linho Rincon na Selada, Finka odjo Tchada Lagoa
N' ta bai Porto Rubera da Barca, Tchada Lem ki N' ka ta bai 

Santantão, Sanikulau
ma N' ta ba ilha di Brava

Ai i i, Ai i i ya
Ya, yoi, pa obi boi ta bomba
 

Ma N' lembra Tchada São Francisco
N' bem di tardi p'an bai ta parmanha
N' bem di noti pa'n ba madrugada
N' toma semana pa ponta

Coxi sabi marra pano, peto sabi da braçada
Boka sabi da bejinho, kabelo sabi korri mo

Translation
a i i i , ai i i ya

I saw the port, Cidade;   Cidade Velha, good afternoon.

ai i i i, and I saw the city of Praia
I saw the village of Tarrafal
and I saw the city of Praia

ai i i i, ai i i i, in Praia Santa Maria
Nostalgia, I'm already leaving

Praia the city, Santiago the district
Tarrafal the journey, Nostalgia is killing me

Linho Rincon na Selada; See Achada Lagoa from there.
I go to Porto Rubera da Barca; Tchada Lem, there I don't go 

Santo Antão, São Nicolau
and I go to Ilha di Brava .  .  .

Ai i i i, Ai i i ya
Ya, yoi, to hear the bulls mooing

But I remember Achada São Francisco
I will leave in the afternoon and return in the morning
I will go at night and return at dawn
I took the whole week

Hips nice for wearing pano
Breast nice for hugs
Mouth nice for little kisses
Hair nice for stroking

“Sodadi” is a song dealing with the protagonist's nostalgic memories of a trip to Tarrafal, a village in northwest Santiago. During the course of the song, the protagonist makes the trip again in his mind and fondly notes all the things and places he saw on the way. The journey begins in Kodé's home village of São Francisco, in southeast Santiago, leads to the village of Tarrafal in northwest Santiago, and then goes back home again. The narrator begins by noting he is in Cidade Velha.  The "boatardi" at the end of the first stanza can either be a direct address to the audience at this performance in Cidade Velha, or the character in the song saying hello to Cidade Velha. 

On his journey, he mentions that he saw the city of Praia, then Cidade Velha, and then Praia again on his return.  When he arrives in Praia Santa Maria (the patron saint of Praia is Mary and people often refer to the city as Praia Santa Maria), he feels nostalgic for his home in São Francisco and wants to leave again. 

The protagonist makes a mental map of his journey leading from Praia the city, to Santiago the district, and finally to Tarrafal, the object of his journey.  He sings that nostalgia for the places that he is remembering is killing him. 

When he visits Linho Rincon in Selada, he can see a place called Achada Lagoa. He goes to Ribeira da Barca, on the west coast of the island, but doesn't go to Achada Lem.

The singer mentions the islands, Santo Antão and São Nicolau, and says he will also go to Brava.  After a musical interlude, he says he will go to Brava to hear the bulls mooing.  But as he continues his journey, he thinks again about home in São Francisco.  He debated whether to leave home in the afternoon and be back the next morning, or whether to leave in the night and be back by dawn.  His trip took a whole week, in spite of his intentions to return home quickly. On the way, he saw a beautiful woman with nice hips, chest, lips, and hair and he lingers on the memory of her. 

It is interesting to note how similar this tale of a journey around the island is to Norberto Tavares's song, "Jornada di un Badiu" (1989) (A Badiu's Journey).  It is also an account of a man's journey around the island of Santiago