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.
Sabe-se lá
Amália Rodrigues Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Vão ouvir, com base em Silva Tavares
O fado Sabe-se Lá
Atenção, senhores!
A música é da autoria do maestro Frederico Valério
Atenção, por favor!
Lá, porque ando embaixo agora
Não me neguem vossa estima
Que os alcatruzes da nora quando chora
Não andam sempre por cima
Rir da gente ninguém pode
Se o azar nos amofina
Pois, se Deus não nos acode
Não há roda que mais rode
Do que a roda da má sina
Sabe-se lá quando a sorte é boa ou má
Sabe-se lá amanhã o que virá
Breve desfaz-se uma vida honrada e boa
Ninguém sabe, quando nasce
P'ra o que nasce uma pessoa
O preciso é ser-se forte
Ser-se forte e não ter medo
Porque, na verdade, a sorte como a morte
Chega sempre tarde ou cedo
Ninguém foge ao seu destino
Nem para o que está guardado
Pois, por um condão divino
Há quem nasça pequenino
Pr'a cumprir um grande fado
Sabe-se lá quando a sorte é boa ou má
Sabe-se lá amanhã o que virá
Breve desfaz-se uma vida honrada e boa
Ninguém sabe, quando nasce
P'ra o que nasce uma pessoa
Breve desfaz-se uma vida honrada e boa
Ninguém sabe, quando nasce
P'ra o que nasce uma pessoa
The song "Sabe-se lá" by Amália Rodrigues is a beautiful and melancholic piece that speaks about the unpredictability of life and the importance of being strong and resilient in face of the unknown future. The lyrics start with an introduction by Silva Tavares, who announces the performance of the fado. Then, the singer invites the audience to pay attention to the words, which were written by Frederico Valério.
The first verse talks about the singer's current state of mind, feeling down and asking for the audience's sympathy. She compares her situation to the "alcatruzes da nora," which are the vessels of a well that go up and down depending on the water level. This image represents how life can be unpredictable, with ups and downs that we cannot control. The second verse talks about how people should not laugh at others' misfortune because one day they might experience the same fate. The chorus repeats the idea that we cannot predict our fate, and we should be strong and brave to face whatever comes our way.
The third verse talks about how destiny is something inevitable, and no one can escape it. The singer mentions that some people are born with a small stature, but they might have a significant role to play in life, represented by the expression "pr'a cumprir um grande fado." The last chorus repeats the idea that life is fleeting, and we never know when it will end or what it will bring.
Overall, "Sabe-se lá" is a poignant reminder of how unpredictable life can be and how we should embrace every moment with strength and resilience.
Line by Line Meaning
Senhoras e senhores
Attention, ladies and gentlemen
Vão ouvir, com base em Silva Tavares
You are about to hear, based on Silva Tavares
O fado Sabe-se Lá
The fado Sabe-se Lá
Atenção, senhores!
Attention, gentlemen!
A música é da autoria do maestro Frederico Valério
The music is written by Maestro Frederico Valério
Lá, porque ando embaixo agora
Right now, because I feel down
Não me neguem vossa estima
Please don't deny me your affection
Que os alcatruzes da nora quando chora
Because even the watermill sheds tears
Não andam sempre por cima
They are not always on top
Rir da gente ninguém pode
No one should laugh at us
Se o azar nos amofina
If misfortune bothers us
Pois, se Deus não nos acode
If God does not help us
Não há roda que mais rode
There is no wheel that spins more
Do que a roda da má sina
Than the wheel of ill-fate
Sabe-se lá quando a sorte é boa ou má
Who knows when luck is good or bad
Sabe-se lá amanhã o que virá
No one knows what tomorrow may bring
Breve desfaz-se uma vida honrada e boa
A good and honorable life can quickly fall apart
Ninguém sabe, quando nasce
No one knows at birth
P'ra o que nasce uma pessoa
What a person is born for
O preciso é ser-se forte
What is important is to be strong
Ser-se forte e não ter medo
To be strong and not afraid
Porque, na verdade, a sorte como a morte
Because in truth, luck and death
Chega sempre tarde ou cedo
Always arrive late or early
Ninguém foge ao seu destino
No one can escape their destiny
Nem para o que está guardado
Or what is waiting for them
Pois, por um condão divino
For by divine magic
Há quem nasça pequenino
Some are born small
Pr'a cumprir um grande fado
To fulfill a great destiny
Breve desfaz-se uma vida honrada e boa
A good and honorable life can quickly fall apart
Ninguém sabe, quando nasce
No one knows at birth
P'ra o que nasce uma pessoa
What a person is born for
Writer(s): Joao Da Silva Tavares, Frederico Valerio
Contributed by Michael P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Zelia Folgosa
Grande Artista que não mais termos outra voz maravilhosa...nos deixando tantas
Saudades...difícil
Esquecer!!
Que DEUS A TENHA NUM LIGAR DE ANJOS E NOS AJUDE NESTAS TRISTEZAS DE
VÍRUS POLÍTICOS
DESTRUINDO TANTAS VIDAS ....SEM SABEREM SEQUER
PORQUE DE REPENTE PSRTEM INDO AO PAI DE
TODOS NÓS!!!
THANKS TO ALL OF
YOU!!
ABRAÇO,
Zelia Folgosa
Grande Artista que não mais termos outra voz maravilhosa...nos deixando tantas
Saudades...difícil
Esquecer!!
Que DEUS A TENHA NUM LIGAR DE ANJOS E NOS AJUDE NESTAS TRISTEZAS DE
VÍRUS POLÍTICOS
DESTRUINDO TANTAS VIDAS ....SEM SABEREM SEQUER
PORQUE DE REPENTE PSRTEM INDO AO PAI DE
TODOS NÓS!!!
THANKS TO ALL OF
YOU!!
ABRAÇO,
jose travassos
Amália é única
Eugenia Abubacar
Eterna voz de D. AMÁLIA RODRIGUES🎻
Isabel Cardoso
Belo poema! Algumas pessoas deveriam reflectir sobre a realidade que ele encerra. ..
Margarida Silva
Orgulho de já ter interpretado este fado maravilhoso da nossa DIVA do fado ! Mas como Amália só ela mesmo!
Alicia Diaz
Vôce é que sabe.. apoiadissimo.é uma honra para vôce a sua simplicidade..um bem haja
Giancarlo Belloni
Grande FADO di Amalia! Impressionante e bellissimo! AMALIA ETERNA!!!!!❤
Iolanda Almeida
PODEROSA
de castro barros Orlanda
Verdade sim"ninguem sabe para o que nasce uma pessoa"
um dos mais lindos fadoc de Amaliae agora fois uma soberba escolha do meu amigo (poeta)Bruno Torrão).
de castro barros Orlanda
Oui,un poème plein de vérité.