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.
Os Meus Olhos São Dois Círios
Amália Rodrigues Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
Dando luz triste ao meu rosto
Marcado pelos martírios
Da saudade e do desgosto
Quando oiço bater trindades
E a tarde já vai no fim
Eu peço às tuas saudades
Eu peço às tuas saudades
Um padre nosso por mim
Mas não sabes fazer preces
Não tens saudade nem pranto
Mas não sabes fazer preces
Não tens saudade nem pranto
Por que é que tu me aborreces
Por que é que eu te quero tanto
Por que é que tu me aborreces
Por que é que eu te quero tanto
És para meu desespero
Como as nuvens que andam altas
És para meu desespero
Como as nuvens que andam altas
Todos os dias te espero
Todos os dias me faltas
Todos os dias te espero
Todos os dias me faltas
In the lyrics of Amália Rodrigues's song "Os Meus Olhos São Dois Círios," there is a deep sense of melancholy and longing conveyed through the imagery of eyes as candles, giving a sad light to the singer's face, marked by the hardships of suffering and grief. The use of the metaphor of eyes as candles suggests a dim, flickering light that reflects the pain and sorrow felt by the singer. The reference to "saudade," a Portuguese word that embodies a deep emotional state of longing for something or someone absent, further emphasizes the theme of yearning and heartache present in the lyrics.
As the singer listens to the tolling of bells and sees the day fading away, there is a plea for the memories and longings of a loved one to intercede on their behalf. The act of requesting "um padre nosso," or a Lord's Prayer, through the beloved's memories indicates a desire for spiritual solace and intervention in their suffering. This intertwining of religious imagery with themes of love and loss adds a layer of complexity to the emotions expressed in the song.
The following lines shift to a lamentation over the apparent indifference of the beloved, who is portrayed as unable to pray or feel deep longing or sorrow. The repetition of the phrases "não sabes fazer preces, não tens saudade nem pranto" highlights the contrast between the singer's intense emotions and the perceived emotional detachment of the beloved. This emotional disconnection becomes a source of confusion and frustration for the singer, questioning why they are so deeply drawn to someone who seems unresponsive to their feelings.
The closing verses poignantly capture the singer's sense of despair and yearning for the absent beloved. The comparison of the beloved to distant clouds evokes a sense of unreachability and transience, highlighting the pain of waiting for someone who seems perpetually out of reach. The repetition of "todos os dias te espero, todos os dias me faltas" emphasizes the cyclical nature of longing and absence, underscoring the enduring emotional toll of unrequited love and yearning. Overall, the lyrics of "Os Meus Olhos São Dois Círios" delve into themes of longing, despair, and unreciprocated emotions, creating a poignant portrayal of the complexities of love and heartache.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@fernandagray1923
Amalia. Linda voz obrigado amigo Americo por esse lindo Fado
@rodriguesyvonne7122
Maravilhosa....E..Saudosa..Amalia....Por..Vezes...Fecho..os..Ohos...É..Sua..Voz..me....Transporta...!!!!!!!!!Obrigado....Felicidades...🍃🌹🍃🍀🍃❤️🍃
@aliciadiaz7732
AMÁLIA ATINGE A GENIALIDADE.... AMÁLIA ACONTECE....MUITO OBRIGADA LINDISSIMA POSTAGEM... PARABÉNS PELA ESCOLHA DAS FOTOGRAFIAS.... AMÁLIA SEMPRE
@AmericoPereirafados
Querida Amiga Alicia, sempre uma incondicional fã de Amália. Obrigado Amiga- Amália Sempre
@aliciadiaz7732
Américo Pereira obrigada amigo...bem haja....boa noite
@aliciadiaz7732
@@AmericoPereirafados Américo amigo..ficou sumido!!! Estamos à espera ..de um vídeo da NOSSA AMÁLIA 🌻❤️🇵🇹.. é o aniversário da sua morte.um bem haja Américo.. até á próxima.
@aliciadiaz7732
Parabéns pelos seus trabalhos...
@eldelwaisse
Simpático Amigo Américo, pela dedicatória. Parabéns pelos trabalhos sempre bonitos que faz, com a sensibilidade que o tema pede, neste caso "O Fado Menor" que o amigo descreve tão bem. AMÁLIA Sempre! Sempre no nosso coração, com a sua genialidade sem tamanho!
@aliciadiaz7732
Edelweiss UM malmequer pequenino que canta...uma diva.uma grande senhora..mas AMÁLIA É MUITO MAIS DO QUE Uma VOZ ❤️🇵🇹🌻
@aliciadiaz7732
Tudos os dias faze-nos falta AMÁLIA...