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 di mundo
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nh'amor é certo
Nh'amor tá longe
Nh'amor tá perto
El ta na nim
‘M ca ta sozim
Ness mundo
El é amor du criston
Qui ca quré vivé
Na meio di breu
Nh'amor é tudo qu'm tem
El é amor dum irmon
Qu'atè ainda
Ca perdè fê
Tcha'm cantá-bo nh'amor
Ô mundo
Tcha'm canta-bo nh'amor
Pa nô amá
Pa nô amá
Pa nô amá...
The lyrics to Cesária Évora's song Amor di mundo ("Love of the world") speak about the nature of love and its omnipresence in our lives. The opening lines "Nh'amor é doce/Nh'amor é certo" ("My love is sweet/My love is certain") set the tone for the rest of the song. The song's lyrics suggest that while love can be far away or nearby, it is always present, symbolized by the phrase "El ta na nim" ("It is close by").
The singer goes on to describe different aspects of love, stating that it is not just a physical attraction or obsession ("Nh'amor ca so di cretcheu/El é amor du criston"), but a force that enables people to overcome life's difficulties ("Qui ca quré vivé/Na meio di breu"). Furthermore, love is presented as an all-encompassing feeling that binds people together as brothers and sisters who can never lose their faith ("Nh'amor é tudo qu'm tem/El é amor dum irmon/Qu'atè ainda/Ca perdè fê").
Overall, the song encourages the listener to sing about love and to appreciate its power in their lives. The phrase "Tcha'm cantá-bo nh'amor/O mundo/Tcha'm canta-bo nh'amor/Pa nô amá" ("I will sing to you of love/O world/I will sing to you of love/For us to love each other") serves as a call to action, inspiring people to spread love and unity in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Nh'amor é doce
My love is sweet
Nh'amor é certo
My love is true
Nh'amor tá longe
My love is far away
Nh'amor tá perto
My love is close by
El ta na nim
He is in my soul
‘M ca ta sozim
I am not alone
Ness mundo
In this world
Nh'amor ca so di cretcheu
My love is not just a crush
El é amor du criston
It is the love of Christ
Qui ca quré vivé
That does not want to live
Na meio di breu
In the midst of darkness
Nh'amor é tudo qu'm tem
My love is all I have
El é amor dum irmon
It is the love of a brother
Qu'atè ainda
That still
Ca perdè fê
Has not lost faith
Tcha'm cantá-bo nh'amor
I will sing to you my love
Ô mundo
Oh world
Tcha'm canta-bo nh'amor
I will sing to you my love
Pa nô amá
So we can love
Pa nô amá...
So we can love...
Contributed by Bailey Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.