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)

Havemos De Acordar
Ana Moura Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Canto o fado pela noite dentro
Ele trabalha todo o dia fora
Corre tão veloz o tempo
E chega apressada a hora
Ele suspira sonolento ó meu amor não vás embora

Fecho os olhos pela noite fora
Ele dorme pela noite dentro

De manhã não se demora, veste um casaco e sai correndo
E ouve a minha voz que implora ó meu amor fica mais tempo

Eu hei-de inventar um fado, um fado novo
Um fado que me embale a voz e me adormeça a cantar
Eu hei-de ir nesse fado ao teu sonho
No meu sonho, e por fim sós, nele havemos de acordar

Vou sonhando pelo dia fora
Ele trabalha pelo dia dentro
Não sei o que faz agora, mas ele talvez nesse momento
Entre por aquela porta ó meu amor fica mais tempo

Canto o fado pela noite dentro
Ele trabalha todo o dia fora
Já o sinto nos meus dedos como um eterno agora
Será esse o nosso tempo ó meu amor não vás embora

Eu hei-de inventar um fado, um fado novo
Um fado que me embale a voz e me adormeça a cantar
Eu hei-de ir nesse fado ao teu sonho
No meu sonho, e por fim sós, nele havemos de acordar

Canto o fado pela noite dentro

Overall Meaning

The song "Havemos De Acordar" by Ana Moura is about the yearning of a woman for her lover, who is constantly busy with work and has little time for her. The woman sings Fado, a traditional Portuguese music genre, throughout the night while her lover is asleep. She longs for her lover to stay with her longer and not leave in the morning. She dreams of a new Fado, a lullaby that will soothe her and accompany her to his dream. In this dream, they will wake up together and be finally alone.

The lyrics are sung in a melancholy tone, expressing the woman's feelings of loneliness and longing. She feels the passage of time quickly slipping away, leaving her with only brief moments with her lover. The repetition of "ó meu amor não vás embora" (oh my love, don't go away) emphasizes her desperation to keep him close.

The woman's desire to create a new Fado, a lullaby that will comfort her, is symbolic of her hope for a better future with her lover. The song ends with a beautifully vivid image of the couple waking up together in their dream, which they will make a reality.

Line by Line Meaning

Canto o fado pela noite dentro
I sing fado all night long

Ele trabalha todo o dia fora
He works hard all day

Corre tão veloz o tempo
Time passes by so quickly

E chega apressada a hora
And the hour arrives swiftly

Ele suspira sonolento ó meu amor não vás embora
He sighs sleepily, 'oh my love, don't go away'

Fecho os olhos pela noite fora
I close my eyes all night long

Ele dorme pela noite dentro
He sleeps all night long

De manhã não se demora, veste um casaco e sai correndo
In the morning, he doesn't linger, he puts on his coat and rushes out

E ouve a minha voz que implora ó meu amor fica mais tempo
And he hears my pleading voice, 'oh my love, stay longer'

Eu hei-de inventar um fado, um fado novo
I will invent a new fado

Um fado que me embale a voz e me adormeça a cantar
A fado that soothes my voice and lulls me to sleep while singing