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.
Belga
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Trazem lembrança di sodadi tcheu
Bem luminam esse mar azul
Pam ba spidi di nha cretcheu
S. vicente papia ele fla
Cu ma nha, cretcheu ja bai
Lua na céu, bem consolam
Dispidida di cretcheu é maguode
Até na letra di sê palavra
S'el tem fé di torna volta
Na tofrê ma consolado...
Belga ja bai, levam nha cretcheu
Na qu'el hora, triste di bai
Nha coraçon, tchora qu'el ai
Pam ca, sofrê mas tcheu
The song Belga by Cesária Évora is a touching tribute to the sorrow of leaving loved ones behind. The lyrics speak of the emotional pull of a full moon and the sea in Paul, which bring memories of times long gone and conjure feelings of homesickness. The song continues with a conversation between two people discussing a departing loved one, with one person stating that the departed has already left and the other trying to find solace in the moon and the sea. The song ends with a heart-wrenching farewell, with the singer expressing grief at the departure of her loved one and hoping that they will return soon.
The lyrics of Belga are beautifully written and convey a deep sense of sorrow and nostalgia. The song captures the essence of Cape Verdean saudade, a word which refers to a deep emotional state, a mixture of longing, nostalgia, and melancholy. Évora's haunting vocals add to the powerful emotions in the song, and the accompanying music, which includes elements of traditional Cape Verdean music such as morna, enhances the overall impact.
Line by Line Meaning
Lua cheia, soma na Paul
Full moon, shining down on Paul
Trazem lembrança di sodadi tcheu
Brings me memories of homesickness
Bem luminam esse mar azul
Shining brightly on this blue sea
Pam ba spidi di nha cretcheu
To see where my love has gone
S. vicente papia ele fla
São Vicente talks, he says
Cu ma nha, cretcheu ja bai
But my love has already left
Lua na céu, bem consolam
The moon in the sky, consoles me
Esse nha tristeza di bai...
My sadness of leaving...
Dispidida di cretcheu é maguode
Saying goodbye to my love is painful
Até na letra di sê palavra
Even in the letters of their words
S'el tem fé di torna volta
If they have faith to return
Na tofrê ma consolado...
They will find comfort with me...
Belga ja bai, levam nha cretcheu
Belga has already left, taking my love
Na qu'el hora, triste di bai
At this moment, sad to leave
Nha coraçon, tchora qu'el ai
My heart cries for them
Pam ca, sofrê mas tcheu
To not suffer too much
Contributed by Blake Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
higino quintas cruchaga
Cesária, SEMPRE!!!❤
Maya Toskova
💖💖💖💖💖
JOYCE ALEITE
Amazing
Norman Su
good...
Norman Su
yea
Alexios
unfortunately very annoying piezo pickup sound from the classical