Ana Moura has become a leading exponent of this poetic, deeply expressive idiom which personifies the Portuguese psyche as it explores such universal themes as lost love, separation, and longing.
As Ana explains, "It's very special because it's all about emotions and feelings. It needs no translation."
Ana was born in 1980, in Santarém, the bustling capital of the Ribatejo province in the center of Portugal's heartland on the Tejo River northeast of Lisbon.
The city of half a million souls is also one of Portugal's most historic cities -- an ideal place to develop an appreciation for fado. "I've been singing fado since I was little, because grew up listening to it at home," she recalls of her early home life. "My parents sang well, and at family gatherings, we all would sing."
Like young people everywhere, she soon developed an appreciation for other styles of music. The lure of singing fado, however, never waned. In her late teens, while sing pop and rock music with a local band, Ana always included at least one fado in each performance. Then, one night on a whim, about five years ago, she and some friends went to one of Lisbon's storied fado houses -- small performance venues where singers, guitarists and aficionados gather to worship the affecting style that's become Portugal's most important music export.
At the urging of her companions, she sang. "People liked me," she recalls of her first foray into a venerated bastion of the fado culture. Later that year, at a Christmas party that was attended by a lot of fadistas (fado singers) and guitarists, she sang again and, as fate would have it, noted fado vocalist Maria de Fe was in the audience and was duly impressed. "She asked me to sing at her fado house," Ana recalls of the fortuitous moment that launched her career.
"My life changed when I began going to the fado houses," Ana states today. "There's no microphone -- it's very intimate. New singers learn through a kind of apprenticeship, learning the intricacies of the style from the older, more established singers."
Before long, word of Ana's rich contralto, stunning looks and innate affinity for the demanding style spread, winning airtime on local television programs devoted to fado and rave reviews in Lisbon newspapers.
Ana has emerged as a leading voice of traditional fado just as the venerable idiom is enjoying a renaissance of popularity. "Today," she explains, "there's a new generation that sings lyrics related to our time. There are some older fado songs that we, the younger singers, cannot perform, because the lyrics are about a time and themes we don't identify with. We don't feel it, and fado is all about feelings. We must feel what we sing, and there are many older fados that don't belong to our generation. Younger singers use lyrics that speak of today, so young people have begun to get more interested in the music again."
As with jazz and country music in the U.S., tango in Argentina, samba in Brazil, fado sprang from the culture of working class people. And, as with the aforementioned examples, over the years the style evolved from humble origins to win broad appeal. Today, as Ana proudly proclaims, "In Portugal, fado is for everyone."
Like virtually every aspiring fadista, Ana drew early inspiration from the example of Amalia Rodrigues, the revered singer who most personified the style. "It was her soul and her voice," she comments of the late vocalist's singular imprint on the music. "She had everything in her. Some singers have a great voice by no soul, no intensity. Others have feeling but not a suitable voice. She had it all, and, she was a very good improviser."
Improvising is an under-appreciated part of the fado tradition. One technique, which Ana uses to great effect on the song "Lavava no rio lavava" (I Went to the River to Wash), is what the Portuguese term vocalisos -- the expression of words and effects through use of vocal trills. The practice is believed to have been absorbed over centuries of exposure to Spanish flamenco and Moorish styles.
A key track from her album exquisitely sums up the magnetic pull fado has exerted on Ana. "Sou do fado, sou fadista" (I belong to fado, I am a fadista) by her mentor and primary collaborator, guitarist Jorge Fernando, eloquently explains Ana's total surrender to the style:
"I know my soul has surrendered, taken my voice in hand, twisted in my chest and shown it to the world. And I have closed my eyes in a wistful longing to sing, to sing. And a voice sings to me softly, and a voice enchants me softly, I belong to fado, I belong to fado, I am a fadista."
Today, Ana Moura still thinks of how and where it all began, and of the importance of keeping those vital ties alive. "Before," she muses, "I used to sing in the fado house every day. Today, because of my concert schedule and travel, it's impossible. But, when time permits, I like to return. Sometimes I feel that I must go there. I need that."
(Adapted from a text by Cindy Byram)
Águas Passadas
Ana Moura Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sei que as horas hão-de ser menos pesadas
E que as noites em secreto desespero
Hão-de ser recordações, águas passadas
Sei que tudo tem um fim, e o fim de tudo
É o tudo que me resta por viver
E o teu olhar inquieto, onde me iludo
Sei que sempre que te sei em outros braços
Há um punhal a atravessar todo o meu ser
Os meus olhos a alongarem-se num traço
São o espelho da minh’alma a não querer ver
Sei no entanto, que há uma luz no horizonte
Que antevejo, entre lágrimas resignadas
Que esta história, seja a história onde se conte
O que um dia em mim serão águas passadas
In Ana Moura's song Águas Passadas, the singer talks about the pain of letting go of a past relationship. She acknowledges that with time, the pain will lessen and the memories will become a thing of the past. Moura expresses the hope that she will find peace and that her nights of secret desperation will become a distant memory. She is certain that everything has an end, and what remains is what she has left to live. The singer talks about her struggle to let go completely and how her soul is torn between holding on to the memories of what could have been and the reality of what is.
Moura then talks about the pain she feels when she sees her former lover in the arms of someone else. It feels like a knife piercing through her heart, and she cannot resist looking away. She acknowledges that she is still living in denial and cannot bear to see the truth. Despite this, she knows that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that someday, these painful memories will become a thing of the past.
The song is a beautiful portrayal of the internal struggle of letting go of a past love. It speaks to the heart and the soul, capturing the complexity of human emotions when faced with the harsh reality of life. Moura's voice adds to the overall emotion of the song, making it a truly moving piece.
Line by Line Meaning
Sei que os dias hão-de dar-me a paz que eu quero
I know that one day, the days will bring me the peace that I desire
Sei que as horas hão-de ser menos pesadas
I know that the hours will become less heavy
E que as noites em secreto desespero
And the nights filled with secret despair
Hão-de ser recordações, águas passadas
Will become memories of the past, like passing waters
Sei que tudo tem um fim, e o fim de tudo
I know that everything has an end, and the end of everything
É o tudo que me resta por viver
Is all that remains for me to live
E o teu olhar inquieto, onde me iludo
And your restless gaze, where I deceive myself
É o desvio da minh’alma a se perder
Is the diversion of my soul losing itself
Sei que sempre que te sei em outros braços
I know that whenever I know you are in another's embrace
Há um punhal a atravessar todo o meu ser
There is a dagger piercing through my entire being
Os meus olhos a alongarem-se num traço
My eyes stretching out in a line
São o espelho da minh’alma a não querer ver
Are the mirror of my soul that does not want to see
Sei no entanto, que há uma luz no horizonte
However, I know that there is a light on the horizon
Que antevejo, entre lágrimas resignadas
That I foresee, amidst resigned tears
Que esta história, seja a história onde se conte
That this story may be the one where it is told
O que um dia em mim serão águas passadas
What will one day be memories of the past, like passing waters, within me
Contributed by Cole E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
luis ramalho
Linda musica
marie maurice I
So beautiful...
marie maurice I
So beautiful...