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.
Fado xuxu
Amália Rodrigues Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Todo trecheiro e lá foi com a guitarra
Até ao Rio de Janeiro
Fez-se um fadista atrevido tão destemido
E de tal marca que até já é conhecido
P'lo fadistão da Fuzarca com sambinhas
E modinhas abacate
Vitamate guaraná
Com cocada batucada
Paraty abacaxi
E goiabada o fado é bom p'ra xuxu
Com cocada batucada
Paraty abacaxi
E goiabada o fado é bom p'ra xuxu
Um portuguesinho de raça bebe cachaça
Come pipoca e no catete até passa
Por cidadão carioca às vezes vai à favela
Calça chinela todo se bamba
E o fado canção singela
Agora é todo do samba com sambinhas
E modinhas abacate
Vitamate guaraná
Maracujá e caruru
Com cocada batucada
Paraty abacaxi
E goiabada o fado é bom p'ra xuxu
Com sambinhas e modinhas
Abacate vitamate
Guaraná maracujá
E caruru com cocada
Batucada paraty
Abacaxi e goiabada
O fado é bom p'ra xuxu
In the lyrics of "Fado xuxu" by Amália Rodrigues, a vivid picture is painted of the fusion of traditional Portuguese fado music with the lively rhythms and influences of Brazilian samba. The song begins by describing how the fado, a somewhat peculiar song, attracted a "trecheiro" (a person skilled in street performances and improvisation) who took his guitar to Rio de Janeiro. This fadista (fado singer) was bold and fearless, becoming well-known even among the boisterous crowd of "Fuzarca" with their sambinhas and modinhas. The mention of exotic fruits and treats like guaraná, maracujá, cocada, abacaxi, and goiabada adds a playful and colorful element to the lyrics, emphasizing the blending of cultures.
The lyrics then shift to focus on a Portuguese man who immerses himself in the vibrant lifestyle of Rio de Janeiro. He drinks cachaça, enjoys popcorn, and even integrates so well into the community that he can pass as a carioca (a native of Rio). The imagery of him wearing "chinela" (flip-flops) and feeling the rhythm of the samba reveals his assimilation into the local culture. The transformation of the once solemn fado into a music infused with samba rhythms suggests a metamorphosis from simplicity to liveliness, from melancholy to joy.
As the song progresses, we see a clear celebration of the fusion between Portuguese fado and Brazilian samba. The repetition of phrases like "com cocada batucada, Paraty abacaxi, e goiabada" emphasizes the seamless blend of these two musical genres. Through energetic and catchy sambinhas and modinhas, the fado takes on new life, infusing flavors of abacate, guaraná, maracujá, and caruru. This blend of Portuguese and Brazilian elements creates a harmonious and eclectic musical experience that is as delightful as "xuxu" (a slang term for something very nice or enjoyable).
Overall, "Fado xuxu" encapsulates a story of cultural exchange and musical evolution. It highlights how the traditional fado music, originally from Portugal, can evolve and thrive when paired with the vibrant rhythms and influences of Brazilian samba. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a fado singer embracing the lively spirit of Rio de Janeiro, merging two distinct musical traditions into something new and exciting. The incorporation of Brazilian elements like samba rhythms and tropical fruits symbolizes the richness and diversity that can emerge from the fusion of different cultures, ultimately creating a unique and vibrant musical experience that is truly "bom p'ra xuxu".
Line by Line Meaning
O fado, canção bizarra pôs a samarra
The unique fado music style brought a new trend
Todo trecheiro e lá foi com a guitarra
All the troubadours followed along with their guitars
Até ao Rio de Janeiro
Even up to Rio de Janeiro
Fez-se um fadista atrevido tão destemido
A bold fado singer emerged, fearless
E de tal marca que até já é conhecido
Leaving a mark that is already recognized
P'lo fadistão da Fuzarca com sambinhas
By the big fado stars with some samba style
E modinhas abacate
And some tropical tunes
Vitamate guaraná
Vitamins and guaraná
Maracujá e caruru
Passion fruit and okra
Com cocada batucada
With coconut candy and percussion beats
Paraty abacaxi
Pineapple from Paraty
E goiabada o fado é bom p'ra xuxu
And guava paste, fado is great for enjoyment
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Andrew Hozier Byrne
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
JOSEFINA Coutinho
Uma canção da minha infância, que ouviamos em Moçambique, nos anos 60. Saudades e nostalgia. Maravilhosa Amália Rodrigues, única.🤩🤩❤❤❤👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Martinho soares
Querida AMÁLIA, foste a única Portuguesa que em tempos idos deixaste o rasto da tua passagem por Terras de Portugal além Mar e além Céus, cantando Portugal em Terras de Timor ! Foi no início dos anos 70 que Amália pisou solo Timorense, ela esteve em Dili a proclamar o Fado, cantando PORTUGAL pelas Terras do Oriente, Terras que outrora Portuguesas foram, onde PORTUGAL deixou suas marcas, para no tempo perpetuar ! Força PORTUGAL, não deixe as tuas marcas esquecido no tempo por onde teus antepassados implantaram nos 4 cantos deste Mundo que tanto encantam ver e ouvir-te cantar ns Língua de CAMÕES ! ,Próspero Ano Novo !
maria luiza salgueira
Muito alegre esta música é muito alegre kkk adorei.
BlueDorianGray
Muito bonito, obrigada!
Mou Brasil
❤❤❤❤
GD Magnífico
O fado é bom pra xuxu
Valéria Couto
É Paraty e não para ti