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.
Dor Di Sodade
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bô qu'ê nha dor mas sublime
Oi Cabo Verde
Bô qu'ê nh'angustia nha paixao
Nha vida nascê
Dum desafio di bô clima ingrato
Vontade ferro pô na nha peito
Gosto pa luta pô na nhas braços
Oi Cabo Verde
Bô qu'ê nha dor mas sublime
Oi Cabo Verde
Bô qu'ê nh'angustia nha paixao
Nha vida nascê
Dum desafio di bô clima ingrato
Vontade ferro pô na nha peito
Gosto pa luta pô na nhas braços
Bô qu'ê nha guerra nha doce amor
Estendê bôs braços
Bô toma' nha sangue
Bô rega' bô tchom
Bô flori
Pa' terra-longe
Bem caba' pa nôs
Bô cu mar céu e bôs fidjos
Num doce abraço di paz
Ai naquel dia di festa
'M qu rê cola' sanjom na Picos
'M qu'rê batuco
Na rebera de Juliao
Vulcao na praia de Santa Maria
Vale di Paul na Boavista
Morna de nhô Eugénio
Na nhô San Nicolau
Ai naquel dia di festa
'M qu rê cola' sanjom na Picos
'M qu'rê batuco
Na rebera de Juliao
Vulcao na praia de Santa Maria
Vale di Paul na Boavista
Morna de nhô Eugénio
Na nhô San Nicolau
Ai naquel dia di festa
'M qu rê cola' sanjom na Picos
'M qu'rê batuco
Na rebera de Juliao
Vulcao na praia de Santa Maria
Vale di Paul na Boavista
Morna de nhô Eugénio
Na nhô San Nicolau
Vulcao na praia de Santa Maria
Vale di Paul na Boavista
Morna de nhô Eugénio
Na nhô San Nicolau
The lyrics to Cesaria Evora’s song Dor Di Sodade speak of a deep longing for the singer’s homeland of Cabo Verde, which she describes as her sublime pain and her passion. She sings about how her life was born out of the challenge of living in a harsh climate, but that this has also instilled in her a strong will to fight and a love for struggle. She sees her connection to Cabo Verde as a kind of war, but also a source of sweet love. The chorus repeats these sentiments about Cabo Verde being her sublime pain and her passion, and she ends the song by expressing a yearning to be embraced by the land, the sea, and her children.
Overall, the song is a love letter to Cabo Verde, expressing the singer’s deep nostalgia and love for her homeland. The lyrics are full of imagery evoking the beauty and richness of the country, mentioning specific locations and cultural touchstones. At the same time, there is a sense that this beauty and richness is hard-won, that it is the result of Cabo Verdeans’ struggle and perseverance in the face of a difficult environment.
Line by Line Meaning
Oi Cabo Verde
Greetings to Cabo Verde
Bô qu'ê nha dor mas sublime
You are my most sublime pain
Bô qu'ê nh'angustia nha paixao
You are my anguish, my passion
Nha vida nascê
My life was born
Dum desafio di bô clima ingrato
In the challenge of your harsh climate
Vontade ferro pô na nha peito
I put an iron will in my chest
Gosto pa luta pô na nhas braços
I put a taste for struggle in my arms
Bô qu'ê nha guerra nha doce amor
You are my war and my sweet love
Estendê bôs braços
Extend your arms
Bô toma' nha sangue
Take my blood
Bô rega' bô tchom
Water your land
Bô flori
May it bloom
Pa' terra-longe
To faraway lands
Bem caba' pa nôs
Welcome us
Bô cu mar céu e bôs fidjos
With sea, sky, and your children
Num doce abraço di paz
In a sweet embrace of peace
Ai naquel dia di festa
Oh, on that festive day
'M qu rê cola' sanjom na Picos
I want to dance 'sanjom' in Picos
'M qu'rê batuco
I want to dance 'batuco'
Na rebera de Juliao
On the banks of Juliao
Vulcao na praia de Santa Maria
Volcano on the beach of Santa Maria
Vale di Paul na Boavista
Valley of Paul in Boavista
Morna de nhô Eugénio
The 'morna' of Mr. Eugenio
Na nhô San Nicolau
In Mr. San Nicolau
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING
Written by: Amandio Cabral, Luis Morais
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Antonio Carvalho
Food for the soul...fantastic!!