Then Aldina was invited to sing nightly in a Fado venue; it was as if she had passed a tough entrance exam into a Fado school. She respected and maintained the rituals she had always found distinctive and beautiful about Fado: a black shawl, a black dress, silence, diffuse lighting. Everything she had ever loved about Fado. Her success led to invitations to sing in other Fado venues, to guest in concerts. One day she was invited to sing abroad, in the Piccolo Teatro of Milan; to sing Fado in a play about poet Fernando Pessoa, written by novelist and essayist Antonio Tabucchi and directed by lead actor Giancarlo Dettori, director Lamberto Puggelli and the Master, Giorgio Strehler. The experience helped shape what was to become her attitude towards Fado, leading her to be more careful about what she sang, and how she sang it. Besides singing professionally at the Senhor Vinho venue, Aldina has worked in the the Portuguese Cinemathèque - Cinema Museum and is currently a researcher at EMI Music Portugal where she is organizing the company's immense archives of Portuguese music - much of which is made up of Fado recordings. Beginning 2004, Aldina Duarte released her debut album “Apenas o Amor”. Since then she has been performing concerts in Portugal, Spain, France, Morocco, Italy, Belgium, Austria and The Netherlands. “Apenas o Amor” since its release has been referred as one of the best albums of 2004 by the Portuguese press. Her second cd "Crua" was released in January of 2006.The album was produced by João Monge who was also responsible for writing the lyrics... And now, 2008, the third album "Mulheres ao Espelho"...
Flor Do Cardo
Aldina Duarte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Não ter a mão de ninguém;
Tenho a estranha natureza
De florir com a tristeza
E com ela me dar bem
Dói-me o Tejo, dói-me a lua
Dói-me a luz dessa aguarela
Se transforma em solidão
Visto da minha janela
O tempo não me diz nada
Já nada em mim se consome
Não sou princípio nem fim
Já nada chama por mim
Até me dói o meu nome
Dói-me ser a flor do cardo
Não ter a mão de ninguém
Hei-de ser cravo encarnado
Que vive em pé separado
E acaba na mão de alguém
In “Flor Do Cardo” by Aldina Duarte, the singer expresses her emotions about being the flower of the thistle. She laments the fact that she is alone, and nobody cares for her. She explains that she is the kind of flower that thrives in sadness, and it somehow soothes her. However, she feels the pain brought by the Tejo (a river that runs through Portugal) and the moon, which creates a melancholic mood. She feels the need to transform her loneliness into something beautiful, something like a painting that can be admired from afar, but she cannot find a way out of her emotional solitude.
The singer feels that nothing around her is meaningful anymore. She is consumed by her own emotions and feels disconnected from the world. She does not have a sense of belonging or purpose, which makes her question the meaning of her existence. She feels like she is wasting her life and that time does not have any power over her anymore. She expresses her sadness by saying that even her name hurts her. However, she finds solace in the fact that, like a flower, she will eventually find her place, and her purpose will be fulfilled. She will become a red carnation that grows on its own and finds its way into someone else's hand.
Line by Line Meaning
Dói-me ser a flor do cardo
It pains me to be the thistle's flower
Não ter a mão de ninguém;
Without anyone to hold
Tenho a estranha natureza
I have a strange nature
De florir com a tristeza
To bloom with sadness
E com ela me dar bem
And to get along with it
Dói-me o Tejo, dói-me a lua
The Tagus river and moon hurt me
Dói-me a luz dessa aguarela
The light of that watercolor hurts me
Tudo o que foi criação
Everything that was created
Se transforma em solidão
Becomes loneliness
Visto da minha janela
As seen from my window
O tempo não me diz nada
Time tells me nothing
Já nada em mim se consome
Nothing consumes me anymore
Não sou princípio nem fim
I'm neither beginning nor end
Já nada chama por mim
Nothing calls me anymore
Até me dói o meu nome
My own name hurts me
Dói-me ser a flor do cardo
It pains me to be the thistle's flower
Não ter a mão de ninguém
Without anyone to hold
Hei-de ser cravo encarnado
I'll be a crimson carnation
Que vive em pé separado
Living upright, apart
E acaba na mão de alguém
And end up in someone's hand
Contributed by Savannah V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Pedro Teixeira da Mota
Muito belo!
paula bboavista
Apaixonei-me pelo trabalho de Aldina, quando ouvi estes poemas, onde encontrei trechos de mim , da minha vida e depois é descobrir cada um como se fosse um livro uma, uma obra e muita verdade! fantastica!!
Filipe Garcia
Insuperável Aldina!... 🥰
Júlia Silva
Lindos poemas e bem cantados como só Aldina sabe cantar
Clara Duarte
lindo
Emília Teixeira
que delicia