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"Grândola, vila morena, terra da fraternidade,o povo é que mais ordena, dentro de ti, ó cidade".
These were the words that started a path to freedom and the verses that began the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, 47 years ago.
It was the song Grândola, Vila Morena, by José Afonso, forbidden by the dictatorial regime of Dr Antonio Oliveira Salazar, who ruled and suppressed the country since 1926.
In the early hours of April 25th, 1974, the Portuguese people were in suspense, waiting to hear the two signals agreed upon by the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) to begin the uprising against the established power.
The first "alarm code", sounded at 10.55 pm on the 24th of April with the song that represented Portugal at the 1974 Eurovision festival, "E Depois do Adeus" by Paulo de Carvalho.
This song was transmitted by the journalist João Paulo Diniz from "Rádio Emissores Associados de Lisboa".
On the following day, the long-awaited day of freedom, at 0h25, the military of the MFA occupied the studios of Rádio Clube Português and, through the radio, explained to the population that they wanted the country to be a democracy again, with elections and freedoms of all kinds, and songs that the dictatorship did not like, like Grândola Vila Morena, by Zeca Afonso, were put on the air.
That was the second signal, indicating that the revolutionary military should occupy the strategic points of the country.
In the following hours, the dictatorship collapsed, unfortunately with four deaths, and true, compared to other revolutions there were few deaths, although these deaths were committed by PIDE, police of the dictatorial state.
The Portuguese Revolution was with the aim of a peaceful revolution because all people create the same, FREEDOM!
The Portuguese revolution just proves that music is something that connects us all and brought freedom to a country that was suffering and suppressed for a long time.
Francisco Diońisio Is a Portuguese Student Studying at USW Atrium, Cardiff, and a Valued Contributor to KCL.