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)
Mapa Do Coração
Ana Moura Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nem força do universo
P'ra traduzir esse verso
Que confunde amor e dor
Albergue de quem é triste
Fortuna do condenado
Que vê no espelho do fado
Queria poder dizer
O que essa voz me diz
Estrela de um dia feliz
Ou de um doce entristecer
Fica-me a louca missão
Desejo mais ousado
De puder cantar num fado
O mapa do coração
Większego nie ma wśród słów
Ni życia we wszechświecie
A jak tłumaczyć ten werset
Co myli miłość i ból
Schronienie pełne smutku
Fortuna (Pomyślność) dla skazańca
Co widzi w lustrze losu
Osamotniona dusza
Chciałabym móc powiedzieć,
Co głos ten mówi do mnie
Dzień spod szczęśliwej gwiazdy
Taki słodko zasmucony
Daje mi misję szaloną
I życzy więcej odwagi
Być w stanie śpiewać Fado
To mapę do serca mieć
No major word
Or power in the universe
Is able to translate this verse
Which confuses the love and the pain
It is dwelling for the sad
And wealth for the doomed one
Whose own soul he sees reflected
In the mirror of the fado
Wish I could tell you what
This voice in me is telling
My shining star in a day of joy
Or in the sweet saddening of the heart
And I am left nothing but my crazy mission,
And most daring wish:
To sing through the verses from a fado
The map of a heart
The lyrics to Ana Moura's song Mapa Do Coração are a powerful and emotional representation of the Portuguese fado tradition, which is a style of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics about suffering, love, and loss. The song speaks of the intense emotions that love and pain bring, and how the fado, as a reflection of the soul, brings comfort to those who are sad, as well as a sense of wealth and fortune to those who have been condemned by fate. The singer longs to express the depths of her feelings through the fado, to sing the map of her heart.
The lyrics of Mapa Do Coração are unique in that they are bilingual, with lines sung in both Portuguese and Polish. This reflects the international appeal of the fado and the growing popularity of Ana Moura as a singer, who has gained fans around the world. The song is a collaboration between Ana Moura and the Polish jazz musician Leszek Możdżer, who also composed the music.
Line by Line Meaning
No major word
No bigger word
Or power in the universe
Or greater force in the universe
Is able to translate this verse
Is capable of translating this verse
Which confuses the love and the pain
That mixes up love and pain
It is dwelling for the sad
It is a refuge for the sad
And wealth for the doomed one
And prosperity for the condemned one
Whose own soul he sees reflected
Who sees his own soul reflected
In the mirror of the fado
In the mirror of fado
Wish I could tell you what
I wish I could tell you what
This voice in me is telling
This voice inside me is saying
My shining star in a day of joy
The star that shines on my day of happiness
Or in the sweet saddening of the heart
Or in the bittersweet sadness of my heart
And I am left nothing but my crazy mission,
All I am left with is my crazy mission
And most daring wish:
And my most daring wish:
To sing through the verses from a fado
To sing through the verses of fado
The map of a heart
A map of the heart
Contributed by Blake J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
David Rodriguez
I like her music so much I already translated Os Buzios and now going to translate this one. Beautiful, heartfelt music!
Flávio Dantét
Ana Moura,... obrigado por você ter nascido...parabéns maravilhosa cantora... Parabéns Portugal...!!!
Joshua Martin
Ana canta sempre com todo o seu coração... Que incrível canção!!
Wilkson Vitor
Não só os Portugueses têm e conseguem senti saudade , Nós Brasileiros, Angolanos, Cabo verdianos, Moçambicanos, Timorense, guineenses, são-tomenses , e alguns macaenses também podem sentir SAUDADE enfim essa palavra é de todos nós lusófonos!
cekalova c
Piękne... Pozdrowienia z Polski :)))))
Diego Fernandes Gomes
Está vai ser a última música que eu cantarei na vida, amo muito.
Estephany Guzmán
bela canção, bela mulher... maravilhoso
Tuka Scaletti
LINDO...Parabéns Ana Moura. Beijossss do Brasil
Astridy Gurgel
Linda nação!
Bert Speggly
This is great! Thank you for uploading. So simple but so pretty.