Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues (1920–1999) was a Portuguese singer an… Read Full Bio ↴Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues (1920–1999) was a Portuguese singer and actress.

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.

Marcha de Centenario
Amália Rodrigues Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Toda a cidade flutua no mar da minha canção
Passeiam na rua, retalhos de lua
Que caem do meu balão deixei Lisboa folgar
Não há mal que me arrefeça
A rir, a cantar, cabeça no ar
Que eu hoje perco a cabeça
Lisboa nasceu, pertinho do céu
Toda embalada na fé

Lavou-se no rio, ai ai ai menina
Foi baptizada na Sé!
Já se fez mulher e hoje o que ela quer
É bailar e dar ao pé
Vaidosa varina, ai ai ai menina
Mas que linda que ela é!
Dizem que eu velhinha sou
Há oito séculos nascida
Nessa é que eu não vou, por mim não passou
Nem a morte nem a vida
O Pagem me fez um fado
De novo ali me leu a sina

Não ter namorado, amor nem cuidado
E ficar sempre menina!

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Amália Rodrigues's song "Marcha de Centenario" evoke a sense of nostalgia and pride for the city of Lisbon. The opening lines, "Toda a cidade flutua no mar da minha canção" (The whole city floats in the sea of my song), suggest a deep connection between the singer and the city, as if the song itself is a vessel carrying the essence of Lisbon. The image of "retalhos de lua que caem do meu balão" (patches of moonlight falling from my balloon) adds a whimsical touch, implying a dreamlike quality to the scene being described.

The mention of Lisbon being "pertinho do céu" (close to the sky) and "toda embalada na fé" (rocked in faith) speaks to the spiritual and cultural roots of the city. The reference to Lisbon's baptism in the Sé Cathedral symbolizes its birth and evolution over time, with the city now being portrayed as a proud woman who loves to dance and show off her beauty. The pride and vibrancy of Lisbon's character are emphasized through the imagery of the "vaidosa varina" (proud fisherwoman), highlighting the city's resilience and allure.

The lyrics take a poignant turn as the singer reflects on her own age and mortality, stating "Dizem que eu velhinha sou" (They say I'm an old lady). Despite the passing of time, the singer defiantly asserts that neither death nor life has passed her by, indicating a sense of eternal youth and spirit. The reference to the "Pagem" (Page) reading her fortune and predicting a life without love or care adds a touch of melancholy to the song, as the singer resigns herself to a fate of perpetual youth and solitude.

Overall, the lyrics of "Marcha de Centenario" convey a deep sense of love and loyalty towards Lisbon, portraying the city as a living entity with a rich history and a vibrant personality. Through poetic imagery and a mix of nostalgia and defiance, the song celebrates Lisbon's heritage while also reflecting on the passage of time and the complexity of human emotions.

Line by Line Meaning

Toda a cidade flutua no mar da minha canção
The whole city floats on the sea of my song

Passeiam na rua, retalhos de lua
Strolling on the street, moon patches

Que caem do meu balão deixei Lisboa folgar
That fall from my balloon, I let Lisbon rest

Não há mal que me arrefeça
No evil to chill me

A rir, a cantar, cabeça no ar
Laughing, singing, head in the clouds

Que eu hoje perco a cabeça
That I lose my mind today

Lisboa nasceu, pertinho do céu
Lisbon was born, close to the sky

Toda embalada na fé
All wrapped in faith

Lavou-se no rio, ai ai ai menina
Washed in the river, oh oh oh girl

Foi baptizada na Sé!
She was baptized at the Cathedral!

Já se fez mulher e hoje o que ela quer
She's already become a woman and now what she wants