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.
Ingrata
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Es alguien que se acuerda de ti cuando reza.
Es alguien que te quiere por lo que eres
y no por lo que tienes ni por lo que sabes.
Es alguien que no se queda mirando,
sino que te lleva a mirar juntos en la misma dirección.
Es alguien que se interesa por tus cosas...
aunque sean pequeñas.
y no te deja cuando fracasas.
These lyrics from Cesária Évora's song Ingrata describe a person who embodies the traits of a true friend. They can be joked around with without causing offense, and they remember you in their prayers. They love you for who you are without any materialistic motivations or for your intellect. This person doesn't just watch you from the sidelines but instead, leads you to look in the same direction together. They have an interest in your affairs, even the minutest ones. This friendship extends beyond when you are absent, and even in the face of failure, they will not abandon you.
This touching song highlights the value of true friendship and the importance of having someone who deeply cares for you. The lyrics showcase the idea that genuine friendship is more about the emotional connection and care for each other rather than any physical or intellectual attributes. Through this song, Cesária Évora reminds us of the value of finding true connections with people that we can trust, confide in and have by our side during good and tough times.
Line by Line Meaning
Es alguien con quien se puede bromear sin que te enojes.
A person with whom you can joke without getting angry.
Es alguien que se acuerda de ti cuando reza.
A person who remembers you when they pray.
Es alguien que te quiere por lo que eres y no por lo que tienes ni por lo que sabes.
A person who loves you for who you are and not for what you have or know.
Es alguien que no se queda mirando, sino que te lleva a mirar juntos en la misma dirección.
A person who doesn't just stare, but takes you to look together in the same direction.
Es alguien que se interesa por tus cosas... aunque sean pequeñas.
A person who is interested in your things... even if they are small.
Es alguien que se acuerda de ti cuando tu no estas y no te deja cuando fracasas.
A person who remembers you when you are not there and doesn't leave you when you fail.
Contributed by Skyler O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mindelo23
I've translated this song to english. As a native Cape Verdian, the mornas she sang were written in the 40's and 50's and there's a lot of context behind them and their meaning. In those years many cape verdians left the country and immigrated to various parts of the world because famine and harsh treatment under the Portuguese regime(we were a portuguese colony until 1975). In the song she's talking about her daughter that left her(the country) and has not returned.
(2X)
oh sea, oh sea, oh my daughter
let me weep
my longing for you is immense
(Chorus also 2x)
That ungrateful
that went and left me
Left me with sorrow in my heart
But i have faith that she'll return
Until that day, if god wills it.
(2x)
One day i saw a little flower
that would give me
confort in my life
@joana_alegria
Наша Сезарія, наше сонечко, наша мила Сіз❤ Моя мама з України, а тато з Бразилії, а мені судилося жити на Кабо Верде, в Мінделу. Дякую Сезарії за пісні і за цю чудову країну, за те що маю мирне небо😥
@raisayakhina4348
Какой чудный голос, какая великолепная женщина!...Посчастливилось быть на ее концерте - я словно в раю побывала! Храню в душе и сердце это драгоценное воспоминание ощущения безграничного чуда и счастья. Переслушиваю песни, окунаюсь в этот голос, интонации, смыслы..Спасибо, Сезария, навсегда в наших сердцах!..
@reginakato7374
How lucky you were to be at her concert! ❤
@RascalCind
Певица, неповторимый голос которой будет завораживать поклонников её таланта по всему миру ещё долгие годы! Столько тепла, добра и любви она несла людям! Слушая её пение, зрители, растроганные до слёз, становились чище душой, песни были так созвучны сердцам, что всё было понятно даже не знающим языка! Вечная светлая память! Души не забывают !!!
@reginakato7374
You made my words❤amazing Cesaria❤
@user-vu6rw5zh1t
ОНА НАША !!!!! НАРОДНАЯ !!!!
@user-wb7vo5io9r
Очень,очень нравятся песни,что поет Сезария!!!!Спасибо тем,кто дает возможность их слушать.👏❤️❤️❤️
@ninazalesskaya3977
Пение трогает до слез. Вот что значит проживать в песне кусочек жизни.Потому и обожают Сезарию миллионы. Остались ее песни и поколения многих десятилетий будут ее поклонниками.Нет слов....... Прекрасно!!!!!!!!. Россия.
@klainkanjatah4908
Simple, yet extremely sophisticated. Bitter, yet very sweet. No other singer I have ever listened to can so smoothly blend such diametrically opposite forces... the irreplaceable Cesaria Evora.
@charlieibarrahinarejos4434
Qá❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤