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)
Fado Alado
Ana Moura Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Trago o teu mundo por dentro
No lenço que tu me deste
Vou do Algarve ao Nordeste
Trago o teu beijo bordado
Sou um comboio de fado
Levo o amor encantado
Sou um comboio de gente
Sou o chão do Alentejo
De ferro é o meu beijo
Tão quente como a liberdade
E se não trago saudade
É porque vives deitado
Num amor que não está parado
Sou um comboio de fado
Sou um comboio de gente
Não há amor com mais tamanho
Que este amor por ti eu tenho
Voo de pássaro redondo
Que não aporta no beiral
Não há amor que mais me leve
Que aquele em que se escreve
Ai, lume brando
Paz e fogo
Luz final
Desço do Porto ao Rossio
Levo o abraço do rio
Douro amante do Tejo
Nos ecos dum realejo
Chora minha guitarra
Trazes-me a paz da cigarra
Num desencontro encontrado
Sou um comboio de fado
Se for morrer a Coimbra
Traz-me da luz a penumbra
Do amor que nunca se fez
Corre-me o sangue de Inês
Mostra-me um sonho acordado
Somos um povo alado
Um povo que vive no fado
A alma de ser diferente
Não há amor com mais tamanho
Que este amor por ti eu tenho
Voo de pássaro redondo
Que não aporta no beiral
Não há amor que mais me leve
Que aquele em que se escreve
Ai, lume brando
Paz e fogo
Luz final
Ai, lume brando
Paz e fogo
Luz final
The lyrics of Ana Moura's song "Fado Alado" are a beautiful ode to Portugal and its culture. The song speaks of the singer's journey from Lisbon to Sao Bento, carrying with her the essence of her lover in a handkerchief. She travels from the south (Algarve) to the northeast fusing her journey with the passion of Fado, a traditional Portuguese music genre. She describes herself as a train, carrying the enchanting love of her lover and the passion of the people.
The song mentions several different regions in Portugal, including the Alentejo and Porto, each with its unique charm, captured by the echoing real jo and the mourning guitar. She speaks about an intense and all-consuming love, using imagery like the bird that never stops, the blood of Inês, and the light that gradually dies.
Through these lyrics, Ana Moura portrays the diverse and colorful nature of Portugal, converting it into a melancholic ballad adorned with passion, love, and an acceptance of life's fleetingness. It is a song that celebrates Portugal and its people, making one feel its essence and touching the heart.
Line by Line Meaning
Vou de Lisboa a São Bento
I travel from Lisbon to São Bento carrying your world inside me
Trago o teu mundo por dentro
I carry your world inside me
No lenço que tu me deste
In the handkerchief you gave me
Vou do Algarve ao Nordeste
I go from the Algarve to the Northeast
Trago o teu beijo bordado
I carry your embroidered kiss
Sou um comboio de fado
I am a train of Fado music
Levo o amor encantado
I carry enchanted love
Sou um comboio de gente
I am a train of people
Sou o chão do Alentejo
I am the ground of Alentejo
De ferro é o meu beijo
My kiss is made of iron
Tão quente como a liberdade
As hot as freedom
E se não trago saudade
And if I don't bring longing
É porque vives deitado
It's because you live lying down
Num amor que não está parado
In a love that never stops
Não há amor com mais tamanho
There is no love greater in size
Que este amor por ti eu tenho
Than the love I have for you
Voo de pássaro redondo
I fly like a round bird
Que não aporta no beiral
That doesn't come to the eave
Não há amor que mais me leve
There is no love that takes me more
Que aquele em que se escreve
Than the one that is written
Ai, lume brando
Ah, gentle flame
Paz e fogo
Peace and fire
Luz final
Final light
Desço do Porto ao Rossio
I go down from Porto to Rossio
Levo o abraço do rio
I carry the river's embrace
Douro amante do Tejo
Douro, lover of Tejo
Nos ecos dum realejo
In the echoes of a barrel organ
Chora minha guitarra
My guitar weeps
Trazes-me a paz da cigarra
You bring me the peace of the cicada
Num desencontro encontrado
In a found mismatch
Se for morrer a Coimbra
If I die in Coimbra
Traz-me da luz a penumbra
Bring me the twilight of light
Do amor que nunca se fez
Of the love that was never made
Corre-me o sangue de Inês
The blood of Inês runs through me
Mostra-me um sonho acordado
Show me a waking dream
Somos um povo alado
We are a winged people
Um povo que vive no fado
A people who live in Fado music
A alma de ser diferente
The soul of being different
Ai, lume brando
Ah, gentle flame
Paz e fogo
Peace and fire
Luz final
Final light
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Pedro Abrunhosa
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind