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.
Destino negro
Cesária Évora Lyrics
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Tristeza di nha vida
Sem consolança dum mãe querida
Sem um doce olhar dum moreninha
Dixam cantabo ness morninha
Tristeza di nha vida
Sem consolança dum mãe querida
Qui sina trista tão profundo
Q'm'ta destinado pa sofrê
Ness nha mundo d'amargura
Nha vida é so dor ma tortura
Antes m'crê morrê
Pam ca sofrê mas ness mundo
Qui sina trista tão profundo
Q'm'ta destinado pa sofrê
Ness nha mundo d'amargura
Nha vida é so dor ma tortura
Antes m'crê morrê
Pam ca sofrê mas ness mundo
Qui sina trista tão profundo
Q'm'ta destinado pa sofrê
Ness nha mundo d'amargura
Nha vida é so dor ma tortura
Antes m'crê morrê
Pam ca sofrê mas ness mundo
Qui sina trista tão profundo
Q'm'ta destinado pa sofrê
Ness nha mundo d'amargura
Nha vida é so dor ma tortura
Antes m'crê morrê
Pam ca sofrê mas ness mundo
These lyrics are from the song "Destino negro" by Cesária Évora. The song is a testament to the hardships and struggles faced by the singer, with self-reflection and contemplation about the purpose of her existence. The lyrics reveal a deep sadness in the singer's life, stemming from the absence of a comforting mother and a sweet love.
The first two lines read as "Let me sing in the morning / The sadness of my life." The singer is acknowledging that her life has been painful and difficult, and is seeking solace by expressing her sorrows through song. The subsequent lines, which are repeated throughout the song, mention the absence of a nurturing mother and a loving partner, highlighting the singer's sense of loneliness and isolation.
The chorus "What a sad fate so profound / That I am destined to suffer" indicates a deeper contemplation about the purpose of the singer's existence. Despite the hardships she has faced, the singer is resigned to her fate and finds hope in the idea of escaping her pain in death. The final line reads "So as not to suffer in this world," indicating a sense of resignation and acceptance of the inevitability of her own mortality.
Overall, the song is a poignant reflection on the harsh realities of life, the deep sadness and loneliness that can come with it, and the hope for an escape in death.
Line by Line Meaning
Dixam cantabo ness morninha
Let me sing this morning
Tristeza di nha vida
Sadness of my life
Sem consolança dum mãe querida
Without the consolation of a loving mother
Sem um doce olhar dum moreninha
Without a sweet gaze from a young woman
Qui sina trista tão profundo
What a sad fate so deep
Q'm'ta destinado pa sofrê
That I am destined to suffer
Ness nha mundo d'amargura
In my world of bitterness
Nha vida é so dor ma tortura
My life is only pain and torture
Antes m'crê morrê
I'd rather die
Pam ca sofrê mas ness mundo
Than suffer in this world
Contributed by Sadie T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
山中雅和
初めて聴きました。・・かなりまえ1988ですか?・・若い時ですね。声も姿もきりっとしています。このワンピースとても好いです。私は亡くなってからSEZARIA EVVORAの事を知りました。音楽の素晴らしさにあまり気付いていませんでした.むしろ”難しいもの”とさえ思っていました。子供の頃から良い曲を日常的に聴いていれば・・・・・。このような素晴らしい音楽があったのですね。 『母ウェ・コスモスのBGM』として、『母ウェにも、聴いてもらいたい』です。・・・