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)

Rumo Ao Sul
Ana Moura Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Estou na estrada p'ra onde eu já não quero ir
No escritório esta tarde foi tudo p'ra me deprimir
A buzina apressada de um carro que me quer passar
Na portagem um rosto indiferente diz-me para pagar

Rumo ao sul, sem amor, devagar
O meu sonho faz-se ao mar
Seu amor rumo ao sul

O meu céu perdeu o azul

Volto as costas às luzes brilhantes da cidade mãe
Sou sombra impiedosa do apego a quem já não se tem
Sei que ao fim desta estrada há uma casa que suponho ter
E a vontade indomável que teima em me querer perder

Jestem w drodze stamtąd, gdzie już nie chcę iść
Dziś w biurze wszystko sprzysięgło się, żeby mnie zdeprymować
Niecierpliwy klakson samochodu, który próbuje mnie wyprzedzić
Obojętna twarz z budce karze mi zapłacić [za przejazd]

Biorę kurs na południe, bez miłości, powoli
Mój sen rusza w morze
Bez miłości, biorę kurs na południe
Moje niebo utraciło błękit

Odwracam się plecami do błyszczących świateł rodzimego miasta
Jestem bezlitosnym cieniem przywiązania, którego już się nie czuje

Wiem, że na końcu tej drogi jest dom, który, jak sądzę, posiadam
I nieposkromione pragnienie, które uparcie chce mnie zgubić

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Ana Moura's song Rumo Ao Sul tell a story of a person who is unhappy with their life, and who decides to set out on a journey towards the south of Portugal. The singer is tired of their job and the city they live in, and feels like they are losing everything they once held dear. They describe the indifference of people they encounter on their journey, from the careless driver beeping their horn to the unfeeling toll booth worker. Despite feeling lost and alone, the singer is also driven by a sense of indomitable will, a stubborn desire to find their own way in the world.

The chorus of the song seems to suggest a sense of longing for something beyond what the singer currently has. They dream of a life by the sea, of finding new love and letting go of the pain of the past. The repetition of the phrase "rumo ao sul" (heading south) gives the song a sense of direction and purpose, even as the singer struggles to find their way. Ultimately, the song is a meditation on the complexity of human emotions, and the ways in which we can find meaning even in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Line by Line Meaning

Estou na estrada p'ra onde eu já não quero ir
I'm on the road to where I no longer want to go

No escritório esta tarde foi tudo p'ra me deprimir
Everything in the office this afternoon was meant to depress me

A buzina apressada de um carro que me quer passar
The hasty honking of a car that wants to overtake me

Na portagem um rosto indiferente diz-me para pagar
At the toll booth, an indifferent face tells me to pay

Rumo ao sul, sem amor, devagar
Headed south, without love, slowly

O meu sonho faz-se ao mar
My dream sets sail to the sea

Seu amor rumo ao sul
Your love headed south

O meu céu perdeu o azul
My sky lost its blue

Volto as costas às luzes brilhantes da cidade mãe
I turn my back to the bright lights of the mother city

Sou sombra impiedosa do apego a quem já não se tem
I am the ruthless shadow of attachment to those no longer with me

Sei que ao fim desta estrada há uma casa que suponho ter
I know that at the end of this road there's a house I suppose I have