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.
Nova Sintra
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mim ja m'fica ta tchora
Ma ja m'pdi Deus na Céu
Pam consola, pam ca morrê
Nha cretcheu
Dja bai sê caminho
Mim ja m'fica ta tchora
Pam consola, pam ca morrê
Amor é tão tcheu
Sodade é maior
Tcham pdi Deus na Céu
Pa el cabam cu ess dor
Amor é tão tcheu
Sodade é maior
Tcham pdi Deus na Céu
Pa el cabam cu ess dor
Nova Sintra
Ja bai terra longe
Levam qel astro do mar
Mi jam fica ta sofrê
Sodade ca ta esquêcé
Nova Sintra
Ja bai terra longe
Levam qel astro do mar
Mi jam fica ta sofrê
Sodade ca ta esquêcé
Nha cretcheu
Dja bai sê caminho
Mim jam fica ta sofrê
Ma ja m'pdi Deus na Céu
Pam consola, pam ca morrê
Nha cretcheu
Dja bai sê caminho
Mim jam fica ta sofrê
Ma ja m'pdi Deus na Céu
Pam consola, pam ca morrê
Amor é tão tcheu
Sodade é maior
Tcham pdi Deus na Céu
Pa el cabam cu ess dor
Amor é tão tcheu
Sodade é maior
Tcham pdi Deus na Céu
Pa el cabam cu ess dor
The lyrics of Cesária Évora's "Nova Sintra" express the feeling of loss and longing that comes from being separated from a loved one. The singer talks about someone who has left on a journey, and how she is left behind in tears, feeling lost and helpless without them. She turns to God for comfort and asks him to console her and prevent her from dying of grief. The chorus repeats the idea that love is small and longing is great, and that only God in heaven can take away this pain.
The song is named after a town on the island of Brava in Cape Verde, where Cesária Évora was born. The reference to "qel astro do mar" (the star of the sea) is likely to refer to Our Lady of Monte, a famous statue of the Virgin Mary that is believed to have saved the island from a severe famine in the 18th century. The song captures the feeling of homesickness and separation that was common among Cape Verdean emigrants, who often had to leave their families behind in search of work and a better life.
Line by Line Meaning
Dja bai sê caminho
I am leaving my path
Mim ja m'fica ta tchora
But I am left crying
Ma ja m'pdi Deus na Céu
I lost God in Heaven
Pam consola, pam ca morrê
To console myself, or else I will die
Nha cretcheu
My love
Amor é tão tcheu
Love is so small
Sodade é maior
But nostalgia is greater
Tcham pdi Deus na Céu
I ask God in Heaven
Pa el cabam cu ess dor
To end this pain
Nova Sintra
New Sintra
Ja bai terra longe
Has gone to a distant land
Levam qel astro do mar
Taking that sea star
Mi jam fica ta sofrê
I am left suffering
Sodade ca ta esquêcé
Nostalgia is not forgotten
Ma ja m'pdi Deus na Céu
I lost God in Heaven
Pam consola, pam ca morrê
To console myself, or else I will die
Contributed by Zoe V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@edmetzti3836
Adora essa morna, especialmente essa versão! 🖤
@arlinda.debrito9198
Uma das Belas Morhas da nossa Diva Cesaria Evora..
@alibenali5412
🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹💝💝💝💝💝