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.
Cize
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ele lumiam caminho, de nha destino
Amim, jam conchê felicidade
O Deus, mas que pura verdade!...
Esse bô odjinho, di luz sim c'ma prata
Esse bô rostinho, ta parce-me qu'um santa
O Cize, bô qu'ê luz di nha vida
'M dormi nôte, 'm sonha qu'nha crêtcheu
Um sonho feliz, mas que realidade
'M pedi Deus, pa bô bem ser di meu
Sem bô amôr, 'm ca tem felicidade !...
The lyrics to Cesária Évora's "Cize" are full of emotion and imagery, expressing the feeling of being in the presence of true love and happiness. The opening lines describe a ray of light shining on the singer's face, illuminating the path to their destiny. The singer expresses their joy and gratitude towards God for this truth that they have found.
As the song continues, the singer addresses their beloved, referring to their eyes as shining like silver and their face like that of a saint. The singer declares that this person is the light of their life, and they would die without them. The lyrics also reveal the importance of the connection between two people, as the singer expresses their desire for their beloved to be theirs forever.
The final lines of the song convey the importance of love and the absence of happiness without it. The singer dreams of a happy life with their beloved and prays that they belong to them. The lyrics of "Cize" are a beautiful expression of love and the importance it holds in our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Um raio de luz, senta na bo rosto
A beam of light shines on your face
Ele lumiam caminho, de nha destino
It lights up the path towards my destiny
Amim, jam conchê felicidade
I never knew what happiness was
O Deus, mas que pura verdade!...
Oh God, but what a pure truth
Esse bô odjinho, di luz sim c'ma prata
Your beautiful eyes shine like silver
Esse bô rostinho, ta parce-me qu'um santa
Your face looks like that of a saint
O Cize, bô qu'ê luz di nha vida
You are the light of my life, Cize
Jam crê morrê, si bô negam, querida !...
I would die if you rejected me, my love
'M dormi nôte, 'm sonha qu'nha crêtcheu
I sleep at night and dream of my sweetheart
Um sonho feliz, mas que realidade
A happy dream that feels like reality
'M pedi Deus, pa bô bem ser di meu
I pray to God that you become mine forever
Sem bô amôr, 'm ca tem felicidade !...
Without your love, I can never be happy
Contributed by Dylan B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Luiz Augusto Bernardo Silva
A sutileza do piston equipara-se a delicadeza da voz impar da sempre saudosa Cesaria Évora.
Solange Tavares
Escutar Cesaria Evora Acalma a Alma.E Tudlo de Bom.❤❤❤❤
Marco Barreiros
A mi é di Lima meu avô nasceu em Santo Antão, minha avó Santa Catarina, minhas tias mais velhas São Nicolau ,minha tia mais nova e a minha ❤️🙏 Mãe Nadir Marise nasceram em Santiago Praia ..ainda hoje procuramos as nossas raízes..talvez perdidas no tempo..🌹
Antonieta López
Me encanta esta canción Cesaría
Juan Ceballos
Gracias por tan buena música, te amo mi negra.
jonathan veale
Haunting!
L Ch. Mtz
Mi dulce negrita
David Estrela
Miss perfumada.... sodade
ledey ledey
extra ...tout!!!
Ayesha N Hassan
10 on sem bo 💔🥺