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.
Frutu Proibido
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ma m'ca podê squêcé bô
Mi um'sabê c'ma m'peca
Desde dia q'um'conxê bô
Longe de mi bo ti ta bai
Imagem querida que prendêm
Longe nha coraçon ja bai
Se crime alguem cré bo tcheu
Mi bô 'podê condena
Bo olhar bo sorriso puxam
Pa bô fruto proibido
The lyrics of Cesária Évora's song Fruto Proibido express the bittersweet emotions associated with a forbidden love affair. The singer admits that the forbidden fruit is tempting and alluring, and that she cannot forget the person who introduced her to it. She also acknowledges that she feels guilty for giving into her desires, and that she has been consumed by a sense of longing and sadness since the day she met her love interest.
The song portrays the singer as being hopelessly devoted to her forbidden lover, even though they are separated by distance and social stigma. She acknowledges that if anyone were to accuse her love interest of a crime, she would be unable to judge them impartially, due to her feelings of passion and longing. The lyrics also suggest that the singer is aware that her love is taboo and frowned upon by society, but she cannot help her feelings as they are too intense and overpowering.
Overall, the lyrics of Fruto Proibido evoke a sense of emotional turmoil and inner conflict, as the singer struggles to come to terms with her forbidden love and the societal pressures that come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
Fruto proibido é bô
Forbidden fruit is good
Ma m'ca podê squêcé bô
But I can't forget you
Mi um'sabê c'ma m'peca
I know I sin by missing you
Desde dia q'um'conxê bô
Since the day I met you
Longe de mi bo ti ta bai
You're going far away from me
Imagem querida que prendêm
My beloved image is captured
Longe nha coraçon ja bai
My heart has already gone far away
Enflamado na dor, dor di sodade
Burning in pain, the pain of longing
Se crime alguem cré bo tcheu
If someone thinks you're guilty
Mi bô 'podê condena
I can't condemn you
Bo olhar bo sorriso puxam
Your eyes and smile attract
Pa bô fruto proibido
To your forbidden fruit
Contributed by Zoe L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Regina Kato
Incomparable Cesaria❤
Regina Kato
Heavenly voice❤
Regina Kato
Divine emotions with Cesaria’s songs❤
Dominique Bala
Au top will always be in our hearts RIP 🙏 Cesaria Evora.
Ivone Piedade Silva
Linda Morna da nossa Diva❤
Мирослав Ницер
Magnific !!!!
Regina Kato
Superb❤
Boss zulu
Sweetness personified
Regina Kato
Cesaria is able to bring divine emotions with her songs❤
Sven Lima
!!