Cesária Évora (1941-2011) was a morna singa from Cape Verde. She was known… Read Full Bio ↴Cesária Évora (1941-2011) was a morna singa from Cape Verde. She was known as the "barefoot diva" because of her propensity to appear on stage in her bare feet in support of the homeless and poor women and children of her country.

Born on the 27th August 1941 in the port town of Mindelo, Cape Verde, on the island of São Vicente. Long known as the queen of the morna, a soulful genre (related to the Portuguese fado) sung in Creole-Portuguese, she mixed her sentimental folk tunes filled with longing and sadness with the acoustic sounds of guitar, cavaquinho, violin, accordion, and clarinet. Évora's Cape Verdean blues often spoke of the country's history of isolation and slave trade, as well as emigration; almost two-thirds of the million Cape Verdeans alive live abroad.

Évora's voice, a finely-tuned, melancholy instrument with a touch of hoarseness, highlighted her emotional phrasing by accenting a word or phrase. Even audiences who do not understand her language could be held spell-bound by the emotions evident in her performances.

In 2004 she won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.

A heavy smoker for decades, Évora was diagnosed with heart problems in 2005. She suffered strokes in 2008 and in September 2011, when she announced she was retiring. She died at the age of seventy in São Vicente, Cape Verde on the 17th December 2011 from respiratory failure and hypertension. A Spanish newspaper reported that forty-eight hours before her death she was still receiving people in her home in Mindelo, popular for always having its doors open.

Amor E Mar
Cesária Évora Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Amor é mister
Sima mar di mund inter
Si raso é paixao
Si fundo amizade
Ora bom pa mergudjâ
Ora bom sô pa boiâ
Pa manha podê tem lembranca

Si na mar tem spin
També tem planta
Qui ta da flor
Tudo cor
Amor podé firí
Amor també podé florí
Rotcha di mar
Ta dá praia di amor
Pa manha podé tem lembranca

Amor sima mar
Tem dia sim, tem dia nao:
Si vento ca soprâ
Bonanca, mansidao
Si fazê um viracao

Guida bem di coracao
Pa manha podé tem lembranca

Overall Meaning

The song "Amor E Mar" by Cesária Évora speaks about the mysterious nature of love and how it can sometimes be compared to the vastness and unpredictability of the ocean. Love can bring about passion and depth, but it can also foster friendship and companionship. The singer describes how love can take different forms depending on the individuals involved and how sometimes it can be remembered fondly the morning after.

The lyrics also mention how the ocean has its own balance, sometimes calm and peaceful and sometimes tumultuous and wild, just like the ups and downs of a romantic relationship. The reference to the plants and flowers that can grow in the sea alludes to the fact that despite its vastness, the ocean still has its own life and beauty. Love can thrive and blossom just like those plants and flowers, but it can also wither and die.

Overall, the song highlights the complexity and beauty of love and how it can be as mysterious and unpredictable as the ocean.

Line by Line Meaning

Amor é mister
Love is a mystery

Sima mar di mund inter
Like the world's ocean

Si raso é paixao
Its shallow waters are passion

Si fundo amizade
Its depths are friendship

Ora bom pa mergudjâ
Sometimes it's good to dive deep

Ora bom sô pa boiâ
Other times it's good to float along

Pa manha podê tem lembranca
Memories can come in the morning

Si na mar tem spin
In the sea there are thorns

També tem planta
But there are also plants that give flowers

Qui ta da flor
That give off beautiful colors

Tudo cor
All colors

Amor podé firí
Love can hurt

Amor també podé florí
But love can also bloom

Rotcha di mar
The rocks in the sea

Ta dá praia di amor
Can create a beach of love

Pa manha podé tem lembranca
Memories can come in the morning

Amor sima mar
Love is like the sea

Tem dia sim, tem dia nao:
There are good days and bad days

Si vento ca soprâ
When the wind doesn't blow

Bonanca, mansidao
There is calmness and peace

Si fazê um viracao
But when a big storm hits

Guida bem di coracao
Guide your heart well

Pa manha podé tem lembranca
Memories can come in the morning

Contributed by Elliot F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS

No Related Genres

More Genres

No Artists Found

More Artists Load All

No Albums Found

More Albums Load All

No Tracks Found

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

Most interesting comment from YouTube:

Maria Pinto

6y↑1

Amor é mister
Sima mar di mund inter
Si raso é paixao
Si fundo amizade
Ora bom pa mergudjâ
Ora bom sô pa boiâ
Pa manha podê ter lembrança

Amor sima mar
Tem dia sim, tem dia nao:
Si vento ca soprâ
Bonanca, mansidao
Si fazê um viracao
Guida bem di coracao
Pa manha podé ter lembrança

Si na mar tem spin
També tem planta
Qui ta da flor
Tudo cor
Amor podé firí
Amor també podé florí
Rotcha di mar
Ta dá praia di amor
Pa manha podé ter lembrança

All comments from YouTube:

Maria Pinto

6y↑1

jacinto vitorino ferreira Vitorino Ferreira

12y↑1

Muita saudade desta DIVA maravilhosa !!!

Carmen Naranjo

4y↑1

I only speak English & Spanish but her songs, melody is intoxicating! Love her & her music. Trying to learn her language so I could sing these songs. I could make out some of the words but I want the full scope of these.