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.

nao pecas demais a vida
Amália Rodrigues Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Não peças demais à vida
Aceita o que ela te deu uma janela florida
Mostra a cor de todo o céu

Afinal a felicidade cabe num rosto a sorrir
Ai de quem sente a ansiedade
De viver sempre a pedir

Não peças demais à vida
Aceita o que ela te dá
Porque ambição desmedida
Faz nos querer o que não há

E não há sinceramente maneira de ser feliz
P'ra quem quer constantemente
Ser mais feliz do que quis

Não peças demais à vida
E aceita o que ela te der
Às vezes basta a guarida
Dum abraço de mulher

Num sorriso de criança
Ou no sol quente a brilhar
Existe um tesouro de esperança
Que ninguém pode comprar

Se afinal basta a guarida

Dum abraço de mulher não peças demais à vida
E aceita o que ela te der

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Amália Rodrigues's song "Não Peças Demais à Vida" carry a profound message about appreciating and accepting what life offers us. The singer advises not to ask too much from life and instead embrace what one already has, symbolized by a "floral window" that presents the colors of the entire sky. This imagery suggests finding beauty and fulfillment in simplicity and small joys, rather than constantly craving more.

The notion that happiness can be found in a smiling face and that anxiety arises from always wanting more is emphasized in the verses. The lyrics caution against excessive ambition and the pursuit of unattainable desires, as they can lead to dissatisfaction and a perpetual state of longing. By advocating for contentment with what is given by life, Amália urges listeners to appreciate the present moment and find joy in modest pleasures.

The theme of moderation and gratitude continues as the song emphasizes the importance of accepting what life provides and not coveting what is beyond reach. The idea that excessive desires can hinder one's happiness is reiterated, as the singer conveys that true fulfillment lies in being satisfied with what one has rather than constantly striving for more. This perspective encourages a shift towards a more balanced and appreciative outlook on life.

In the final refrain, Amália Rodrigues reinforces the message that a simple gesture of love, symbolized by a woman's embrace, or the innocence of a child's smile can hold immeasurable value. These acts of kindness and moments of connection are portrayed as treasures that cannot be bought or measured by material wealth. The song ultimately conveys a sense of gratitude, humility, and the importance of finding contentment in life's simple pleasures, highlighting the beauty and richness that can be found in the present moment.

Line by Line Meaning

Não peças demais à vida
Do not ask too much of life

Aceita o que ela te deu uma janela florida
Accept what it has given you, a flower-filled window

Mostra a cor de todo o céu
Shows the color of the entire sky

Afinal a felicidade cabe num rosto a sorrir
After all, happiness fits in a smiling face

Ai de quem sente a ansiedade
Woe to those who feel anxiety

De viver sempre a pedir
To always live asking

Aceita o que ela te dá
Accept what it gives you

Porque ambição desmedida
Because excessive ambition

Faz nos querer o que não há
Makes us want what is not there

E não há sinceramente maneira de ser feliz
And there truly is no way to be happy

P'ra quem quer constantemente
For those who constantly want