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)
A Fadista
Ana Moura Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cabelo negro comprido
E negro xaile bordado
Subindo à noite a avenida
Quem passa julga-a perdida
Mulher de vício e pecado
E vai sendo confundida
Insultada e perseguida
Entra no café cantante
Seguida em tom provocante
Pelos que querem comprá-la
Uma guitarra a trinar
Uma sombra devagar
Avança para o meio da sala
Ela começa a cantar
E os que a queriam comprar
Sentam-se à mesa a olhá-la
Canto antigo e tão profundo
Que vindo do fim do mundo
É prece, pranto ou pregão
E todos os que a ouviam
À luz das velas pareciam
Devotos em oração
E os que à pouco a ofendiam
De olhos fechado ouviam
Como a pedir-lhe perdão
Vestido negro cingido
Cabelo negro comprido
E negro xaile traçado
Cantando pra aquela mesa
Ela dá-lhes a certeza
De já lhes ter perdoado
E em frente dela na mesa
Como em prece a uma deusa
Em silêncio ouve-se o fado
The lyrics of Ana Moura's "A Fadista" paint a portrait of a woman whose appearance suggests she is a fallen woman, someone who is perceived by others as being sinful and lost. She wears a black dress, has long black hair, and wears a black embroidered shawl. As she walks up the avenue at night, people judge her and believe that she is a woman of vice and sin. They insult and persecute her for her supposed immoral behavior. Despite the shame and judgement directed towards her, she continues towards a café cantante.
As she enters the café, there are those who follow her provocatively, hoping to buy her. The guitar starts to play, and a shadow slowly moves towards the center of the room. The woman begins to sing, and those who sought to buy her sit down to listen. Her voice speaks an ancient and deeply emotional language, a prayer, lament, or message from God. Her singing touches the souls of those who hear it, and they look as if they are in prayer or bowed before a deity.
The song describes the power of music to transcend social expectations and bring people together in a moment of shared emotion. The woman who was judged and persecuted is suddenly embraced by those who hear her talent, and she forgives them for their assumptions about her.
Line by Line Meaning
Vestido negro cingido
A tight black dress she wears
Cabelo negro comprido
Long black hair she flaunts
E negro xaile bordado
A black embroidered shawl she's got
Subindo à noite a avenida
She walks up the avenue at night
Quem passa julga-a perdida
Those who pass by judge her lost
Mulher de vício e pecado
A woman of vice and sin, they say
E vai sendo confundida
And she's mistaken for someone else
Insultada e perseguida
Insulted and chased away
Pelo convite costumado
By the usual invitation
Entra no café cantante
She enters the singing cafe
Seguida em tom provocante
Followed in a provocative tone
Pelos que querem comprá-la
By those who want to buy her
Uma guitarra a trinar
A guitar starts to play
Uma sombra devagar
A shadow moves slowly
Avança para o meio da sala
Towards the center of the room she goes
Ela começa a cantar
She starts to sing
E os que a queriam comprar
And those who wanted to buy her
Sentam-se à mesa a olhá-la
Sit at the table to watch her
Canto antigo e tão profundo
An ancient and profound song
Que vindo do fim do mundo
Coming from the end of the world
É prece, pranto ou pregão
Is a prayer, a cry or a plea
E todos os que a ouviam
And everyone who listened
À luz das velas pareciam
In the candlelight appeared
Devotos em oração
As devoted in prayer
E os que à pouco a ofendiam
And those who had offended her earlier
De olhos fechado ouviam
With closed eyes they listened
Como a pedir-lhe perdão
Asking for her forgiveness
Vestido negro cingido
A tight black dress she wears
Cabelo negro comprido
Long black hair she flaunts
E negro xaile traçado
A black shawl draped over her
Cantando pra aquela mesa
Singing for that table
Ela dá-lhes a certeza
She gives them the assurance
De já lhes ter perdoado
That she has already forgiven them
E em frente dela na mesa
And in front of her at the table
Como em prece a uma deusa
Like in prayer to a goddess
Em silêncio ouve-se o fado
In silence the fado is heard
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Pedro Freitas, Rodrigo Dos Santos
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@miritagloria7907
Letra:
Vestido negro cingido
Cabelo negro comprido
E negro xaile bordado
Subindo à noite a avenida
Quem passa julga-a perdida
Mulher de vício e pecado
E vai sendo confundida
Insultada e perseguida
P'lo convite costumado
Entra no café cantante
Seguida em tom provocante
P'los que querem comprá-la
Uma guitarra a trinar
Uma sombra devagar
Avança p'ra o meio da sala
Ela começa a cantar
E os que a queriam comprar
Sentam-se à mesa a olhá-la
Canto antigo e tão profundo
Que vindo do fim-do-mundo
É pressa perante o pregão
E todos os que a ouviam
À luz das velas pareciam
Devotos em oração
E os que há pouco a ofendiam
De olhos fechados ouviam
Como pedindo-lhe perdão
Nestido negro cingido
Cabelo negro comprido
E negro xaile traçado
Cantando p'ra aquela mesa
Ela dá-lhes a certeza
De já lhes ter perdoado
E em frente dela na mesa
Como impressa uma deusa
Em silêncio ouve-se o fado
@nelo62pt
A black belted dress
Long black hair
And a black embroidered shawl
Walking up the avenue at night
Those passing by consider her lost
A woman of vice and sin
Being misunderstood
Insulted and persecuted
Accustomed to being invited
She enters the café cantante
Then in a provocative tone
For those who want to buy it
A guitar trilling
A shadow slowly
Advances to the middle of the room
She begins to sing
And those who wanted to buy it
Sit at the table looking at her
A song old and so deep
That comes from the ends of the earth
Is rushed before an announcement
And all who heard it
In the candlelight seemed
Devoted in prayer
And those who offended her a little
Listened with closed eyes
As if asking her forgiveness
A black belted dress
Long black hair
And a black embroidered shawl
Singing for that table
She gives them the assurance
That they are already forgiven
And in front of her on the table
As if in prayer to a goddess
The fado is heard in silence
@idaliacaeiro3363
Voz, música e poema incrivelmente belos.
@josedesousasousa9079
Que grande fadista a Aninhas e que bem canta,que lindo fado,e ela com a sua voz maravilhosa,me faz arrepiar de emoção.Linda poesia,orgulhosa da minha terra querida PORTUGAL.
@xenxopazos1532
Sou galego e desejo mil anos de explendor á música e cultura portuguesa
@baetafernandes2107
Eles não sabem o que vai na alma de um galego e de um português!........." Ir à Galiza é como viajar dentro de Portugal, o restou são tretas! um abraço
@xenxopazos1532
@@baetafernandes2107 A saudade nos une
@baetafernandes2107
@@xenxopazos1532 só os autênticos e genuínos é que entendem! isso mesmo saudade, D.Afonso Henriques ficou pelo Rio Minho, podia ter conquistado toda a Galiza para ficarmos juntos!! Filho de um colega meu estive em Vigo com mais 7 colegas de fim de curso universitário, no fim da jantar, o dono do restaurante perguntou; vocês são espanhóis ou portugueses? Nós fomos portugueses! Então não pagam nada, se fosses espanhóis pagavam! Entendes? Por vezes acontecem estas coisas de saudade!!! "Atenção, nada tem de política, só estamos a constatar factos que nos unem", fica bem
@xenxopazos1532
@@baetafernandes2107 Sim, eu compartilho o mesmo sentimento de Galiza cara o sul e suponho que teu de Portugal ao norte. Eu moro quase no cantábrico nas terras dos Andrade e dos Freire. Rui Freire de Andrade com seus filhos Nuno e Vasco baixarom para fazer a guerra aos mouros e hoje esses apelidos sao tao galegos como portugueses.
@baetafernandes2107
@@xenxopazos1532 isso mesmo! desejo-te um Bom Natal para ti e para toda a família, um abraço
@mili6834
Que letra por dios ...gracias ANA DESDE URUGUAY MONTEVIDEO
@dasilvafernandesbernardino5454
Das coisas mais lindas que escutei até hoje um
Poema que retrata a realidade da noite