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.
Mar Nha Confidente
Cesária Évora Lyrics
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Para bô ouvi ess nha lamento
Ouvi bem mar ka bu ri
Dess nha grande sofrimento
Djam flabo ke lingua di mundo
É mas comprido ke bô fundo
El têm na nha pêto c'daz
Nhôs falam sim m'ka têm razon
Fazêm mar nha confidente
Se m'ta triste el ta tchora
Se m'sta ri el ta contente
Hay un mar
Para oír.
Para oír
Es mi lamento.
Hoy vive el mar
Cabo Ríe,
Desde su gran
Sufrimiento.
Tan basto,
Que las lenguas del mundo.
Y más,
Cómplice que tu fondo
Él tiene,
Muchos pasos por dar.
Él hace…. perder mi amor
Algunos hablan sin siquiera tener razón;
Hace la mañana,
Confidente.
Si está triste, está llorando.
Si está riendo, está contento.
Cesária Évora's song Mar Nha Confidente expresses the singer's relationship with the sea as a confidant or a listener of her sorrowful lament. The lyrics convey the pain of a broken heart as she compares the vastness of the ocean to the many languages in the world, and describes how it holds her love and makes her lose it. She acknowledges that some people talk without reason, but the sea remains her trusted companion, sharing her emotions whether she is sad or happy.
The lyrics of the song Mar Nha Confidente reflect the deep emotional connection between Cesária Évora and the sea as a source of comfort and inspiration. The metaphor of the sea as a confidant emphasizes the importance of having someone or something to confide in during difficult times. The repetition of the phrase "para bô ouvi" emphasizes the singer's desire for the sea to listen to her lament, suggesting that the act of expressing one's pain can provide some form of relief. The contrast between sadness and happiness also highlights the cyclical nature of life, where one's emotions can fluctuate from one moment to another.
Line by Line Meaning
Ai, ai ô mar para bô ouvi
Oh sea, listen to me
Para bô ouvi ess nha lamento
To hear my lament
Ouvi bem mar ka bu ri
Listen well, sea, don't laugh
Dess nha grande sofrimento
From my great suffering
Djam flabo ke lingua di mundo
I speak the language of the world
É mas comprido ke bô fundo
It's longer than your depth
El têm na nha pêto c'daz
It has a firm grip on my heart
El fazêm perdê nha amor
It makes me lose my love
Nhôs falam sim m'ka têm razon
Some speak without reason
Fazêm mar nha confidente
The sea becomes my confident
Se m'ta triste el ta tchora
If I am sad, it cries
Se m'sta ri el ta contente
If I am happy, it rejoices
Contributed by Bella M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.