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 das águas
Ana Moura Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No leito da minha voz
Há uma saudade que morre
Dentro do rio que corre
Em lágrimas até à foz
Dentro do mar mais profundo
Reflectido em meu olhar
Dentro do mar mais profundo
No meu rosto a desmaiar
Dentro das águas nascentes
Das fontes que a alma canta
Num crescendo de correntes
Dentro das águas nascentes
Correm mágoas pela garganta
Dentro da chuva caída
Como franjas do meu fado
Eu encharco a minha vida
Dentro da chuva caída
Meu canto é d'águas lavado
Eu encharco a minha vida
Dentro da chuva caída
Como franjas do meu fado
The lyrics of Ana Moura's song "Fado das águas" express a deep sense of longing and sadness, using water as a metaphor for these emotions. The song begins by describing a river within the singer's voice, carrying a sadness that dies in tears as it flows towards the mouth. This portrays a feeling of internal sorrow that is released through the act of singing.
The next verse mentions the deep sea, reflecting in the singer's eyes, where the tears do not stop for a second. This highlights a profound and continuous sadness that seems to consume the singer. The following verse refers to the fresh water sources, the fountains that the soul sings from, where the sadness runs through the throat in a crescendo of currents. This portrays a sense of sorrow that grows stronger and more intense, representing the emotional weight that the singer carries.
Lastly, the chorus repeats the idea of the singer soaking their life in the fallen rain, comparing it to the fringes of their fado. Fado is a traditional Portuguese music genre known for its mournful and melancholic tones. Therefore, this line suggests that the singer immerses themselves in their own sorrow, using it as a source of inspiration for their fado singing.
Line by Line Meaning
Dentro do rio que corre
Within the flowing river
No leito da minha voz
In the depths of my voice
Há uma saudade que morre
There is a longing that dies
Dentro do rio que corre
Within the flowing river
Em lágrimas até à foz
In tears until the mouth
Dentro do mar mais profundo
Within the deepest sea
Reflectido em meu olhar
Reflected in my gaze
Não pára o pranto um segundo
The tears don't stop for a second
Dentro do mar mais profundo
Within the deepest sea
No meu rosto a desmaiar
In my fading face
Dentro das águas nascentes
Within the rising waters
Das fontes que a alma canta
From the sources that the soul sings
Num crescendo de correntes
In an increasing flow
Dentro das águas nascentes
Within the rising waters
Correm mágoas pela garganta
Grief runs through the throat
Dentro da chuva caída
Within the fallen rain
Como franjas do meu fado
Like fringes of my fate
Eu encharco a minha vida
I soak my life
Dentro da chuva caída
Within the fallen rain
Meu canto é d'águas lavado
My song is washed with water
Eu encharco a minha vida
I soak my life
Dentro da chuva caída
Within the fallen rain
Como franjas do meu fado
Like fringes of my fate
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Alfredo Marceneiro
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Silvério Brás
Fado das Águas
Ana Moura
Compositor: Mário Raínho e Alfredo Marceneiro (Fado Bailado)
Dentro do rio que corre
no leito da minha voz
Há uma saudade que morre
dentro do rio que corre
Em lágrimas até à foz
Dentro do mar mais profundo
reflectido em meu olhar
Não pára o pranto um segundo
dentro do mar mais profundo
No meu rosto a desmaiar
Dentro das águas nascentes
das fontes que a alma canta
Num crescendo de correntes
dentro das águas nascentes
Correm mágoas p'la garganta
Dentro da chuva caída
como franjas do meu fado
Eu encharco a minha vida
dentro da chuva caída
Meu canto é d'águas lavado
Eu encharco a minha vida
Dentro da chuva caída
Como franjas do meu fado
Amândio Amaral
Lindo e bem cantado por uma voz maravilhosa.
Bruno Carvalho
Lindo este fado... e com uma voz destas!!! Parabéns Ana... és a Verdadeira Fadista!!! xxx
Rita6ouveia
Caro Mário, bem sei que a letra é de sua autoria e é, por sinal, uma letra que muito aprecio (bem como o poema "Primeira Vez" também de sua autoria), e terei todo o gosto em incluir no vídeo dita informação. Melhores cumprimentos, Rita G.
Luis Perez
..."E a chuva cai levemente...dentro do meu coração." F.P
Helbe Franco
Ate sentei para ouvir. Que maravilha 💋❤