Ana Sofía Varela was born in Lisbon, although she grew up in the countrysid… Read Full Bio ↴Ana Sofía Varela was born in Lisbon, although she grew up in the countryside (Serpa, Alentejo), where she lived until a few years ago, when she returned to the capital.

Her first contact with fados came as she listened to songs by Amália, at the age of 10. By the time she was 14 years old, she had become an increasingly popular fixture at local fado clubs and schools.

Her commitment to and contact with traditional Alentejo music has been a constant factor since her childhood. She created her own repertoire from fados by Amália and Nuno de Câmara Pereira and the lyrics of Rui Veloso, Vitorino and Resistência.

She then took part in a number of local fado competitions, and reached the finals of the Portuguese TV programme "Selecçao Nacional" as “the most beautiful and interesting voice of the Music Festival 95”. In 1997 she was invited to sing at a fado club in Lisbon, and on that occasion Carlos Zei introduced her to the famous Portuguese guitarist Mário Pacheco, with whom she later sang at many concerts (Macao, Japan, Italy etc.). She was subsequently invited to join the team of permanent artistes at "Clube de Fado", where she is a regular fixture.

Another important connection was her relationship with António Chaínho, who invited her to guest on a CD, " A guitarra e Outras Mulheres", with Marta Dias, Teresa Salgueiro (Madredeus) and Filipa Pais. This subsequently evolved into a European tour.

At Expo 98 she took part in "De Sol a Lua- Flamenco & Fado", a tour of Spain, Germany, Holland and Switzerland. In 1999 she accepted João Braga’s invitation to sing at a number of concerts, and this produced another CD, "Cem Anos de Fado".

The launch of the "Ana Sofía Varela" CD in 2002 marked the beginning of a new direction in her career: the public discovered “the fado they had been waiting for for so long”. This album arose from the "De Sol a Lua- Flamenco & Fado" tour, during which two of the composers, João Monge and João Gil, introduced her to Manuel Paulo Felgueiras de Alas dos Namorados, who produced the CD.

"I was given the chance to sing what I wanted to sing, all the songs I love to sing: classical fados, new songs, experimental songs influenced by flamenco … of course, everything I sing sounds like a fado, because that’s what I am – a fado singer."

Nor did she forsake her origins: "My childhood in Serpa gave me so much contact with music in Alentejo and Spanish music. João Monje is from the same area, and while we were working on the CD we would chat about local traditions, and I asked him to write a poem about all these things ("Ducados"). Manuel Paulo was then inspired by flamenco and Alentejo music for the musical arrangements with Pedro J'oia on flamenco guitar ... this became a homage to my musical and personal relationship with Serpa.”

On the poetry side, the great Vasco Graça Moura heard her singing "Las Letras do Fado Vulgar" live, and offered her a book of poems based on the fado. Mário Pacheco also features on two songs in the album.

She claims that "Ana Sofía Varela" is a dream come true, at the right time, with the right people. Songs about Love, Passion, Hope – these are the deepest emotions that anyone can ever feel ..."

O Corvo
Ana Sofia Varela Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Tenho um corvo à flor da pele
Vive de uma ferida aberta
Acorda quando me deito
Levanta voo do meu peito
Sempre, sempre à hora certa

Passa por aquela case
Onde resta uma roseira

Dá contigo junto ao mar
Beija-te sem te acordar
Depois fica a noite inteira

Entra pela minha vida
Como a Lua no jardim
Pendura tudo o que valha
No gume de uma navalha
Traz-me pedaços de mim

Tenho um corvo à flor da pele
Um irmão da minha idade
Acorda quando me deito

Levanta voo do meu peito
Diz que se chama Saudade

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Ana Sofia Varela's song O Corvo describe the constant presence of Saudade, the Portuguese word for longing, and how it affects the singer's life. The metaphor of a crow that lives inside her, always ready to take flight from her chest, represents the feeling of constant pain and sorrow that comes with longing for something or someone that is no longer there. The crow also symbolizes the singer's own mortality and the inevitable end of life. The bird's visits to different places, such as a house with a remaining rose bush and the sea, evoke memories and emotions that are both painful and comforting. The crow brings back fragments of the singer's identity, reminding her of who she used to be and the experiences that shaped her.

Overall, the song is a nostalgic and melancholic representation of the complexity of longing and its impact on our lives. It speaks to the universal experience of loss and the ways in which we try to make sense of it.

Line by Line Meaning

Tenho um corvo à flor da pele
I have a deep emotional pain that is always present.

Vive de uma ferida aberta
It feeds off of a wound that never fully heals.

Acorda quando me deito
It awakens when I try to rest or relax.

Levanta voo do meu peito
It takes flight from the depths of my heart.

Sempre, sempre à hora certa
It always arrives at the right moment, never too early or too late.

Passa por aquela case
It passes by that house where there is only a rosebush left.

Onde resta uma roseira
Where only a rosebush remains.

Dá contigo junto ao mar
It finds you by the sea.

Beija-te sem te acordar
It kisses you without waking you up.

Depois fica a noite inteira
Then it stays the whole night.

Entra pela minha vida
It enters my life.