Born in Lisbon, Portugal, official documents have her date of birth as the 23rd July, but Rodrigues always said her birthday was the 1st July 1920. She was born in the rua Martim Vaz (Martim Vaz Street), freguesia of Pena, Lisbon. Her father was a trumpet player and cobbler from Fundão who returned there when Amália was just over a year old, leaving her to live in Lisbon with her maternal grandmother in a deeply Catholic environment until she was fourteen, when her parents returned to the capital and she moved back in with them.
She was known as the "Rainha do Fado" ("Queen of Fado"), and was most influential in popularising fado worldwide. She was unquestionably the most important figure in the genre’s development, by virtue of an innate interpretive talent carefully nurtured throughout a forty-year recording and stage career. Rodrigues' performances and choice of repertoire pushed fado’s boundaries and helped redefine it and reconfigure it for her and subsequent generations. In effect, Rodrigues wrote the rulebook on what fado could be and on how a female singer - or fadista - should perform it, to the extent that she remains an unsurpassable model and an unending source of repertoire for all those who came afterwards.
After a few years of amateur performances, Rodrigues’ first professional engagement in a fado venue took place in 1939, and she quickly became a regular guest star in stage revues. There she met Frederico Valério, a classically-trained composer who, recognising the potential in such a voice, wrote expansive melodies custom-designed for Rodrigues’ voice, breaking the rules of fado by adding orchestral accompaniment.
Her Portuguese popularity began to extend abroad with trips to Spain, a lengthy stay in Brazil (where, in 1945, she made her first recordings on Brazilian label Continental) and Paris (in 1949). In 1950, while performing at the Marshall Plan international benefit shows, she introduced "April in Portugal" to international audiences (under its original title "Coimbra"). In the early fifties, the patronage of the acclaimed Portuguese poet David Mourão-Ferreira marked the beginning of a new phase; Rodrigues sang many of the country's greatest poets, and some wrote lyrics specifically for her.
In 1954, Rodrigues' international career skyrocketed through her presence in Henri Verneuil’s film The Lovers of Lisbon, where she had a supporting role and performed on-screen. By the late 1950s the USA, England, and France had become her major international markets (Japan and Italy followed in the 1970s); in France especially, her popularity rivalled her Portuguese success, and she graduated to headliner at the prestigious Olympia theatre within a matter of months. Over the years, she performed nearly all over the world, going as far as the Soviet Union and Israel.
At the end of the 1950s, Rodrigues took a year off. She returned in 1962 with a richer voice, concentrating on recording and performing live at a slower pace. Her comeback album, 1962's Amália Rodrigues, was her first collaboration with French composer Alain Oulman, her main songwriter and musical producer throughout the decade. As Valério had before him, Oulman wrote melodies for her that transcended the conventions of fado. Rodrigues did not shy away from controversy: her performance in Carlos Vilardebó’s 1964 arthouse film The Enchanted Islands was better received than the film, based on a short story by Herman Melville, and her 1965 recording of poems by 16th century poet Luís de Camões generated acres of newspaper polemics. Yet her popularity remained untouched. Her 1968 single "Vou Dar de Beber à Dor" broke all sales records, and her 1970 album Com que Voz, considered by many her definitive recording, won a number of international awards.
During the 1970s, Rodrigues concentrated on live work, and embarked upon a heavy schedule of worldwide concert performances. During the frenetic period after the 25th April 1974 she was falsely accused of being a covert agent of the PIDE, causing some trauma to her public life and career. (In fact, during the Salazar years, Rodrigues had been an occasional financial supporter of some communists in need.) Her return to the recording studio in 1977 with Cantigas numa Língua Antiga was received as a triumph. The 1980s and 1990s brought her enthronement as a living legend. Her last all-new studio recording, Lágrima, was released in 1983. It was followed by a series of previously lost or unreleased recordings, and the smash success of two greatest hits collections that sold over 200,000 copies combined.
Despite a series of illnesses involving her voice, Rodrigues continued recording as late as 1990. She eventually retreated from public performance, although her career gained in stature with an official biography by historian and journalist Vítor Pavão dos Santos, and a five-hour television series documenting her fifty-year career, featuring rare archival footage (later distilled into the ninety-minute film documentary, The Art of Amália). Its director, Bruno de Almeida, has also produced Amália, Live in New York City (a concert film of her 1990 performance at New York City Hall).
Rodrigues died on the 6th October 1999 at the age of seventy-nine in her home in Lisbon. Portugal's government promptly declared a period of national mourning. Her house (in Rua de São Bento) is now a museum. She is now buried at the National Pantheon alongside other Portuguese notables.
1946.
À Janela Do Meu Peito
Amália Rodrigues Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Essa garota que fui eu, sempre a sorrir
Como se a vida fosse eterna primavera
E não houvesse dores no mundo p’ra sentir
As gargalhadas vêm pousar na janela
E ao ouvi las tenho mais pena de mim
Ai quem me dera rir ainda como ela
Tenho a janela do peito
Aberta para o passado
Todo feito de fadistas e de fado
Espreita a alma na janela
Vai o passado a passar
E ao ver-se nela, a alma fica a chorar
Lá vem gingando nesse seu passo miúdo
Melena preta, calça justa afiambrada
Como mudamos, tu que foste para mim tudo
Hoje a meus olhos pouco mais és do que nada
Tuas chalaças de graçola e ironia
Eram da rua, andavam de boca em boca
Eu, era ver-te não sei o que sentia
Talvez loucura, que por ti andava louca
Tenho a janela do peito
Aberta para o passado
Todo feito de fadistas e de fado
Espreita a alma na janela
Vai o passado a passar
E ao ver-se nela, a alma fica a chorar
Desilusões as que tive
Enchem a rua, lá estão
E a gente vive dos tempos que já lá vão
In these lyrics, Amália Rodrigues reflects on her past and the changes she has experienced. The song begins with the image of a girl, represented metaphorically as a chimera, playfully wandering through life. She always wore a smile and saw life as an eternal spring, without any pain to feel. Amália remembers this carefree attitude with nostalgia, longing to laugh as genuinely and effortlessly as she did in her youth.
As she listens to laughter coming from outside her window, she feels a sense of pity for herself. She wishes she could still laugh as freely as that girl, but she acknowledges that she has changed. Her laughter has lost the liveliness and innocence it once had. Amália opens up the metaphorical window of her heart, which reveals the past to her. The window is filled with memories of fado singers and their melancholic music. Upon seeing her own reflection in this window, her soul is overcome with sadness and begins to cry.
The song then addresses someone who used to be everything to Amália but has now become insignificant in her eyes. This person, described with a black mane and tight-fitting pants, represented a past version of herself. Their witty jokes and ironic remarks used to bring joy to her, spreading through the streets as people shared them. She struggles to articulate her feelings for this person, possibly feeling a mix of excitement and longing that bordered on madness. However, as time has passed and Amália has changed, this person now holds little significance to her.
Amália again opens the window of her heart and sees the disappointments she has endured in life. The street is filled with disillusionment, representing the experiences that have shaped her. She cannot escape the memories of the past as she watches them pass by. While living in the present, she finds solace in the times that have gone by, the times she remembers and cherishes. The soul of Amália, now filled with melancholy, sheds tears as it confronts its reflection in the window of the heart.
Line by Line Meaning
Lá vai brincando, pela mão de uma quimera
There she goes, playing, guided by a fantasy
Essa garota que fui eu, sempre a sorrir
That girl who was me, always smiling
Como se a vida fosse eterna primavera
As if life were an eternal spring
E não houvesse dores no mundo p’ra sentir
And there were no pains in the world to feel
As gargalhadas vêm pousar na janela
The laughter comes to land on the window
E ao ouvi-las tenho mais pena de mim
And upon hearing them, I feel sorry for myself even more
Ai quem me dera rir ainda como ela
Oh, if only I could laugh like her again
Mas quando rio, eu já não sei rir assim
But when I laugh, I no longer know how to laugh like that
Tenho a janela do peito
I have the window of my chest
Aberta para o passado
Open to the past
Todo feito de fadistas e de fado
All made of fado singers and fado music
Espreita a alma na janela
The soul peeks through the window
Vai o passado a passar
The past goes by
E ao ver-se nela, a alma fica a chorar
And upon seeing itself in it, the soul starts to cry
Lá vem gingando nesse seu passo miúdo
There she comes, swaying with her small steps
Melena preta, calça justa afiambrada
Black mane, tight worn-out pants
Como mudamos, tu que foste para mim tudo
How we've changed, you who were everything to me
Hoje a meus olhos pouco mais és do que nada
Today, in my eyes, you are little more than nothing
Tuas chalaças de graçola e ironia
Your jokes of wit and irony
Eram da rua, andavam de boca em boca
They were from the street, passed from mouth to mouth
Eu, era ver-te não sei o que sentia
I, just by seeing you, I don't know what I felt
Talvez loucura, que por ti andava louca
Maybe madness, which was crazy for you
Desilusões as que tive
The disappointments I had
Enchem a rua, lá estão
They fill the street, there they are
E a gente vive dos tempos que já lá vão
And we live off the times that have already passed
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
JP RV
Vós Sois o Povo do Graal Ó Povo de Portugal
Pois É Entre Vós que se Encobre o Tal
Obrigado Alma Portuguesa
A Alma dos Extremos
Que vai do mais Pequeno (a Mesquinhes)
Ao mais Elevado
A Capacidade de se exprimir desta forma
Em relação aos desejos mais Metafisicos da Alma (O SER)
O Fado Exprime a Saudade que a Alma Sente pelo Eterno
De onde sabe ter vindo
Tal como a gota de orvalho procura e anseia pelo Oceano onde sabe pertencer
Esta Diva vivia nessa mesma ansiedade a saudade do Eterno
Onde o Ser se sente Completo
Por essa razão ela Canta a Saudade da Alma como mais Ninguém
Quem a conheceu a fundo creio que concordará
Esta Diva nunca se apegou a nada na Vida
Viveu-a de uma Forma Intensa mas em Completo Desapego
Tal como vivem as poucas Almas
Que Conhecem O Caminho da Evolução Humana
O Desapego permite que Conheça-mos O REAL em Nós
A Consciência (O SER) que nos Habita
Porque Viveu neste Desapego
Identificou-se Totalmente com o Fado O Seu Único apego
Dando-lhe o Verdadeiro Significado
Através da Profundidade com que o interpreta
O Fado Nasce Com Camões
Renasce Com A Diva e a Continuação da Grandiosidade da Poesia em Portugal
Esta Nostalgia da Alma Refere-se ao Futuro e não ao Passado
Saudades refere-se ao passado e está Relacionado com o Ego
Saudade é um Chamamento do Futuro do Total do Inevitável Intemporal
Está Relacionado com a Alma com o Eterno (A Existência)
Esta Diva Fala-vos do Imortal que Habita em Vós
Ó Gente da Minha Terra
Ouçam com o Coração que está mais próximo do Ser
Alimentai todas as partes que o Compõem
Corpo Mente Coração e Alma
Lembrai-vos que Sois o Povo da Luxitãnia (O povo da Luz)(A Consciência)
O Farol da Humanidade
A quem foi dada a Responsabilidade Maior
De Unir os Povos da Terra
Relembra-los que Somos Eternos
No Mínimo
Só por Respeito a Esse Facto
Deveria-mos Estar a Viver como Humanos
Esta Diva e a Diva que colocou os Cravos nas Armas de Abril
São Dois dos Mais belos Rebentos da Humanidade
Autênticas Inspirações para a Própria Existência no seu Processo de Evolução
Sois Vós a Inpiração da Terra Ó Povo do Graal Ó Povo de Portugal
É Entre Vós que se Encontra o Real
O Gene do Imortal
Denis Norton Rabij
Lá vai brincando, pela mão de uma quimera
Essa garota que fui eu, sempre a sorrir
Como se a vida fosse eterna primavera
E não houvesse dores no mundo p’ra sentir
As gargalhadas vêm poisar na janela
E ao ouvi-las tenho mais pena de mim
Ai quem me dera rir ainda como ela
Mas quando rio, eu já não sei rir assim
Tenho a janela do peito
Aberta para o passado
Todo feito de fadistas e de fado
Espreita a alma na janela
Vai o passado a passar
E ao ver-se nela, a alma fica a chorar
(Neste desfile que passa
Fica a saudade sózinha
Até a graça, perdeu a graça que tinha
Desilusões as que tive
Enchem a rua…lá estão
E a gente vive dos tempos que já lá vão)
Lá vem gingando nesse seu passo miúdo
Melena preta, calça justa afiambrada
Como mudamos, tu que foste para mim tudo
Hoje a meus olhos pouco mais és do que nada
Tuas chalaças de graçola e ironia
Eram da rua, andavam de boca em boca
Eu, era ver-te não sei o que sentia
Talvez loucura, que por ti andava louca
Tenho a janela do peito
Aberta para o passado
Todo feito de fadistas e de fado
Espreita a alma na janela
Vai o passado a passar
E ao ver-se nela, a alma fica a chorar
Desilusões as que tive
Enchem a rua…lá estão
E a gente vive dos tempos que já lá vão
Pedro Reis Silva
Como é gostoso de ovir os fados de Amalia Rodrigues, obrigado por voce existir!
Maria Alice Miranda
Adoro
Leonardo Pereira
Lindo fado ,na voz da RAINHA AMÁLIA.
Alicia Diaz
lindissimo vídeo...a janela do peito....sempre aberta...tinha está GRANDE SENHORA...a NOSSA AMÁLIA...até sempre...e até um día...
Ademar Santiago
Ninguém jamais cantou à vida como Amália.
Alicia Diaz
Ademar Santiago e à morte.....
Fatima Carneiro
Adoro esta dívida, ninguém jamais a imitará👍❤️❤️🌹🍀
José Assunção
Lindoooooooooooooo Sempre cada mais lindooooooooooooo Bom trabalho América Um Abraço
Alicia Diaz
Américo....muito obrigada pelos seus vídeos.... SEMPRE.....tão LINDOS..... AMÁLIA SEMPRE....a nossa Amália.
FadistaValeriaMendez
adoro esta fase de Amalia, a do Janes e a do Oulman.Voz quente.Adorei o video, aquela janela parece feita para Amalia