Portuguese vocalist Ana Moura, whose soulful and riveting interpretation of… Read Full Bio ↴Portuguese vocalist Ana Moura, whose soulful and riveting interpretation of her land's captivating fado style has made her a star in Europe.

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)

Amor em Tons de Sol Maior
Ana Moura Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Seria menos triste o meu cantar
Se esses olhos que me olham
Não me olhassem, nem me vissem
Se os acordes das guitarras fingissem
Alegrias de quem já deixou de amar

Se esta sala cheia de cantos
Em vez de casa, fosse um rio

Virava as costas, parava este fado
Soltava o barco ancorado
E fugia até um dia ver chegar o meu navio

Mas ao ver-te assim voltar
Infeliz e magoado
Sem querer, mudei de fado
Dei mais força na minha voz
E só deus sabe o que vai ser de nós

Amei-te um dia, meu amor, meu amor
Amo-te hoje em tons de sol maior
Nunca o nosso amor será menor

Amei-te um dia, meu amor, meu amor

Amo-te hoje em tons de sol maior
Nunca o nosso amor será menor

Overall Meaning

In Ana Moura's song "Amor em Tons de Sol Maior," the singer laments the presence of someone who no longer loves her. She wishes that her audience did not see her pain and that the guitar chords would not feign happiness. She imagines leaving her current life behind, travelling on a river until she sees her ship arrive on the horizon. The singer becomes distracted when she sees her lover returning, unhappy. She changes her song, singing with more power and giving voice to the hope that despite everything, their love will never be smaller.

The lyrics convey feelings of pain, regret, and a desire to escape. The singer longs for anonymity and the freedom to move on, free from the scrutiny of others. However, upon seeing her lover, she realizes that she cannot escape her feelings. Instead, she decides to confront them, singing with all of her strength to show her love. The song becomes a testament to the power of love in the face of hardship, reminding listeners that even when we feel small and insignificant, our love can make the world feel brighter.

Line by Line Meaning

Seria menos triste o meu cantar
My singing would be less sorrowful

Se esses olhos que me olham
If those eyes that look at me

Não me olhassem, nem me vissem
Didn't look at me, nor saw me

Se os acordes das guitarras fingissem
If the chords of the guitars feigned

Alegrias de quem já deixou de amar
Joys of someone who's already stopped loving

Se esta sala cheia de cantos
If this room full of corners

Em vez de casa, fosse um rio
Instead of a house, was a river

Virava as costas, parava este fado
Turned my back, stopped this fado

Soltava o barco ancorado
Released the anchored boat

E fugia até um dia ver chegar o meu navio
And fled until one day my ship arrived

Mas ao ver-te assim voltar
But upon seeing you return like this