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)
Desamparo
Ana Moura Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No meio do meu coração
Ficou sentido, pouco claro
Se lhe falta a emoção
Um coração apaziguado
Perde muita tensão
Dei um segundo ao meu amado
Tenho buscado o meu contrário
Em quem eu me quero dar
Vim dar a um lugar errado
Que me pôs a pensar
Nem mais um passo
Ficarei onde o bréu se desfaça
Como uma névoa que vem
Como uma névoa que passa
Tenho pensado um bom bocado
No tempo que há de passar
E onde foi no meu passado
Que tive o dom de sonhar
Sonho que corro pelo prado
Até o Sol me queimar
Dei mais um passo pro meu canto
Para os males afastar
Quero o canto em que me fecho
Para não mais me fechar
Sonho que fujo pelo tejo
Até o mar me abraçar
Que eu mais não faço
Ficarei onde o bréu se desfaça
Como uma névoa que vem
Como uma nevoa que passa
Como uma névoa que vem
Como uma névoa que passa
The lyrics of Ana Moura's song Desamparo speak of a feeling of abandonment and uncertainty that the singer is experiencing within her heart. She is unsure of what is missing, but she feels a lack of emotion that is leaving her heart adrift. She muses that if her heart were at peace, it would lose a lot of its tension. It seems she is searching for something or someone that can bring her peace and help her navigate her feelings of desolation.
The singer also sings about making a mistake by going to the wrong place and being forced to reflect on her choices. She vows not to take another step until the dark clouds dissipate like a fog that comes and goes. She talks about reflecting on the past, wondering where her ability to dream went, and finding herself dreaming of running through fields until the sun burns her. The song ends with her taking another step towards finding her peace, hoping to find solace in the familiar surroundings of home, where she can close the door and let her mind wander, dreaming of running through the river until the sea embraces her.
Overall, the song is powerful and emotional, exploring themes of abandonment, confusion, and the search for solace.
Line by Line Meaning
Tenho sentido um desamparo
I have been feeling abandoned
No meio do meu coração
In the midst of my heart
Ficou sentido, pouco claro
It remained unclear
Se lhe falta a emoção
If it lacks emotion
Um coração apaziguado
A pacified heart
Perde muita tensão
Loses a lot of tension
Dei um segundo ao meu amado
I gave my lover a second
Pra me vir ali buscar
To come and fetch me
Tenho buscado o meu contrário
I have been seeking my opposite
Em quem eu me quero dar
In whom I want to give myself to
Vim dar a um lugar errado
I came to the wrong place
Que me pôs a pensar
That made me think
Nem mais um passo
Not one step more
Ficarei onde o bréu se desfaça
I will stay where the darkness dissolves
Como uma névoa que vem
Like a fog that comes
Como uma névoa que passa
Like a fog that passes
Tenho pensado um bom bocado
I have been thinking a lot
No tempo que há de passar
About the time yet to come
E onde foi no meu passado
And where it was in my past
Que tive o dom de sonhar
That I had the gift of dreaming
Sonho que corro pelo prado
I dream of running through the meadow
Até o Sol me queimar
Until the Sun burns me
Dei mais um passo pro meu canto
I took one more step towards my corner
Para os males afastar
To ward off the evils
Quero o canto em que me fecho
I want the corner where I close myself off
Para não mais me fechar
So that I won't close myself off anymore
Sonho que fujo pelo tejo
I dream of running away through the Tagus
Até o mar me abraçar
Until the sea embraces me
Como uma névoa que vem
Like a fog that comes
Como uma névoa que passa
Like a fog that passes
Writer(s): Márcia Santos
Contributed by Brooklyn Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Vianna Nt
Que lindo! Amei ! Sou fã!
Darci Ferreira Holanda
Linda música, belo arranjo e a voz doce de Ana! Fascinante!...Adoro isso
Bruno Goncalves
Bela melodia e letra, para mim a que mais se destaca do album.
David V. Estrada
Tenía mucho sin escucharle y creo que la sigo amando. No paro de oír esta bella melodía.
sundiver137
Ethereal.