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.
Bia
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Perto di mar cu ceu
Longe di boca dess mundo
Na ess silencio mi cu nha cretcheu
Bia di meu
Bem nha cretcheu
Bem pa nô bem morà
Ta namorà
Longe di boca dess mundo
Mar bem contà-me ess bô distino
Ess bô distino 'sim c'ma meu
Nôs vida é rolà n'areia
Sô ta braçà sô ta beja bô cretcheu
The lyrics of Cesária Évora's song "Bia" describe the longing of the singer to be close to the sea, under the same sky as her beloved, and away from the chaos of the world. The first line of the song, "M morà perto di mar, perto di mar cu ceu," translates to "I want to live close to the sea, close to the sea with the sky." The singer finds solace and peace near the ocean and wishes to be with her lover, her "cretcheu," or sweetheart, in this serene location. She imagines herself and her beloved far away from the cares of the world, expressing a desire to be "longe di boca dess mundo."
The chorus of the song, "Bia di meu, bem nha cretcheu, bem pa nô bem morà, perto di mar, ta namorà, longe di boca dess mundo," translates to "My dear Bia, my sweetheart, come let's live close to the sea, where we can fall in love, away from the chaos of the world." The singer wants nothing more than to be with her beloved, surrounded by the calming sound of the ocean waves.
Overall, the lyrics of "Bia" express a deep longing for peace and love, away from the hustle and bustle of the world. Cesária Évora's beautiful voice and the gentle rhythm of the song evoke a feeling of serenity and tranquility.
Line by Line Meaning
M morà perto di mar
I live by the sea
Perto di mar cu ceu
Close to the sea with the sky
Longe di boca dess mundo
Far from the noise of the world
Na ess silencio mi cu nha cretcheu
In this silence, I am with my beloved
Bia di meu
My life
Bem nha cretcheu
My beloved
Bem pa nô bem morà
Come with me to live by the sea
Perto di mar
Close to the sea
Ta namorà
We will fall in love
Longe di boca dess mundo
Far from the noise of the world
Mar bem contà-me ess bô distino
The Sea tells me your destiny
Ess bô distino 'sim c'ma meu
Your destiny is the same as mine
Nôs vida é rolà n'areia
Our life is to roll in the sand
Sô ta braçà sô ta beja bô cretcheu
Only to embrace and kiss your beloved
Contributed by Kaitlyn T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
DonHer
Adoro adoro !!!!! Obrigado pela música !!!!
Antonio Carvalho
Simplesmente brilhante. 😘
Tramos
Maravillosa mujer!!!
Solange Tavares
Só,Vem,O,Sono,Depois,Que,Escuto,Cesária.💜👏👏👏
Maria Fernández
Cesaría Evora.! Grande entre las Grandes.!! Te añoramos Diva de los pies descalzos... Con la voz única y hermosisima.... Sus músicos fueron también el complemento de sus obras maestras.! Descansa al lado Dios... Que tus hermosas canciones siguen sonando por el mundo.!!!!
José Adelino
Eterna Cesaria Evora, Magnífica.
Manuel Ribeiro
UMA ESTRELA
Секлита Лимариха
Прекрасно..
orlando estrella
QUE MUJER TAN EXTRAORDINARIA , TENIA QUE SER DE LA TIERRA DE MANDELA. SI HIPOTETICAMENTE EXISTE DIOS, CREO A LOS ANGELES DESPUES QUE OYO CANTAR A CESARIA. NO DEBISTE MORIRTE.