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)
Meu Triste Triste Amor
Ana Moura Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Das noites inocentes
Que o amor ao possuir-me
Inocentiza-me o ser
Por sobre a minha pele
As tuas mãos reluzentes
Afadigam-se no corpo
Por sobre a minha pele
As tuas mãos reluzentes
Afadigam-se no corpo
P'ra melhor o conhecer
Meu triste, triste amor
De anseios prematuros
De ventos circundantes
Incentivados por nós
O amor se faz ouvir
Por entre beijos seguros
Num sussurro insolente
Que não nos chega a ser voz
O amor se faz ouvir
Por entre beijos seguros
Num sussurro insolente
Que não nos chega a ser voz
Meu triste, triste amor
De inusitada memória
De incontadas promessas
Em tímido pudor
Somente a nossa voz
Poderá contar a história
Do quanto nos amamos
Meu triste, triste amor
Somente a nossa voz
Poderá contar a história
Do quanto nos amamos
Meu triste, triste amor
In Ana Moura's song "Meu Triste, Triste Amor," the lyrics convey the turmoil of a sad and premature love. The singer narrates how this love has both possessed and innocent-ing them in the innocuous evening hours. The lines "Por sobre a minha pele/As tuas mãos reluzentes/Afadigam-se no corpo/P'ra melhor o conhecer" [Above my skin/ Your shining hands/ Fatigued the body/ To better know it] describe the lover's rush to explore the lover's body when they are close to each other, highlighting the passion and intensity of the relationship.
The poet goes on to describe the anxiety and uncertainty of young love in lines like "De anseios prematuros/De ventos circundantes/Incentivados por nós" [Of premature yearnings/Of surrounding winds/Encouraged by us]. The singer is aware that their feelings for their lover have developed too soon and too deeply but remains powerless to stop them. The lyric "O amor se faz ouvir/Por entre beijos seguros/Num sussurro insolente/Que não nos chega a ser voz" [Love makes itself heard/In secure kisses/In an insolent whisper/That is not quite voice] repeats, emphasizing how the lovers are still shy about expressing their emotions fully.
Line by Line Meaning
Meu triste, triste amor
My sad, sad love.
Das noites inocentes
Of innocent nights.
Que o amor ao possuir-me
That when love possesses me.
Inocentiza-me o ser
It makes me innocent.
Por sobre a minha pele
Over my skin.
As tuas mãos reluzentes
Your shining hands.
Afadigam-se no corpo
Tire themselves out on my body.
P′ra melhor o conhecer
To know it better.
De anseios prematuros
Of premature longings.
De ventos circundantes
Of surrounding winds.
Incentivados por nós
Encouraged by us.
O amor se faz ouvir
Love makes itself heard.
Por entre beijos seguros
Amidst secure kisses.
Num sussurro insolente
In an insolent whisper.
Que não nos chega a ser voz
That doesn't quite reach our voice.
De inusitada memória
Of unusual memory.
De incontadas promessas
Of countless promises.
Em tímido pudor
In shy modesty.
Somente a nossa voz
Only our voice.
Poderá contar a história
Could tell the story.
Do quanto nos amamos
Of how much we loved each other.
Meu triste, triste amor
My sad, sad love.
Writer(s): Alfredo, Jorge Fernando, Marceneiro
Contributed by Madelyn A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.