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)

De Quando Em Vez
Ana Moura Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

De quando em vez lá te entregas
Nesse sim, em que te negas,
Ou se não, que me é tanto
Não te pergunto os porquês
Deste amar, de quando em vez,
Ou talvez de vez em quando

Quase sempre de fugida,

Como criannça escondida,
Nosso amor brinca com o fogo
Se queremos dizer adeus,
Porque dizemos meu Deus
Simplesmente um até logo

E o enleio continua
À mercê de qualquer lua
Que nos comanda os sentidos
E a paixão que não tem siso,
Deixa-nos sem pré-aviso
De corpo e alma despidos

Por teimosia, ou loucura,
Algemamos a ventura,
Do amor, em nós, reencarnando
Prefiro, como tu não vês,

Amar-te de qundo em vez
Ou talvez de vez em quando

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Ana Moura's song "De Quando Em Vez" speaks about a love that is not constant, but sporadic. The singer is addressing her lover who sometimes gives in and sometimes denies the love they have for each other. The singer is not interested in knowing the reasons why this love is happening in bits and pieces, sometimes frequently and sometimes not. The curious part of this love is that it plays with fire and often happens in secret. Even when they want to say goodbye, they say 'until next time', suggesting that they are not completely done with this love affair. They are at the mercy of their feelings and passion, which takes over their body and mind, leaving them with little control. The singer and her lover are so drawn to each other that they cannot let go, even if it may not make practical sense.

The song speaks about a relationship that is not stable, but nevertheless the lovers are unable to let go of each other. The love sometimes happens frequently and sometimes hardly happens at all. The singer is not interested in the reasons and justifications for the intermittent love affair, they just want to enjoy each other when the love happens. They understand that the love affair plays with fire and often happens in secret; yet when they want to say goodbye, they can’t completely let go. They continue to be consumed by their feelings and passion, which takes control over their minds and bodies. The singer asks her lover to value the occasional love and appreciate it when it happens rather than trying to make sense of it.

Line by Line Meaning

De quando em vez lá te entregas
Every once in a while you surrender yourself

Nesse sim, em que te negas,
In that yes, where you deny yourself,

Ou se não, que me é tanto
Or if not, which means so much to me,

Não te pergunto os porquês
I don't ask you why

Deste amar, de quando em vez,
Of this love, every once in a while,

Ou talvez de vez em quando
Or maybe from time to time

Quase sempre de fugida,
Almost always on the run,

Como criannça escondida,
Like a hidden child,

Nosso amor brinca com o fogo
Our love plays with fire

Se queremos dizer adeus,
If we want to say goodbye,

Porque dizemos meu Deus
Why do we say 'my God'