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.
Papa Joachim Paris
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For one and a half hour
So I can go an cry for Fernando
Oh Fernando my first love
Father Joaquim Paris, will you please excuse me
For one and a half hour
So I can go an cry for Fernando
Witches from Ribeira de Janela (*)
They curse cats, curse dogs
Why wouldn't they curse
My sweet Fernandinho, my first love
Witches from Ribeira de Janela
They curse cats, curse dogs
Why wouldn't they curse
My sweet Fernandinho, my first love
(...repeat...)
(*) Ribeira de Janela is a location in St. Antao Island
The song "Papa Joachim Paris" by Cesária Évora is a melancholic tune about lost love and the pain of heartbreak. The singer asks for forgiveness from Father Joaquim Paris so she can go and cry for Fernando, her first love. The repetition of the request for an hour and a half conveys the depth of the singer's sorrow and the need for time to grieve. The second verse mentions witches from Ribeira de Janela who curse animals, and the singer wonders why they wouldn't curse her first love, Fernandinho. The repetition of this verse reinforces the sense of powerlessness that the singer feels in the face of her lost love.
The song captures the sense of longing and sadness that often accompanies a first love, and the use of the Catholic authority figure in the title draws attention to the idea of seeking solace and comfort in religion. At the same time, the mention of the witches and their curses adds a touch of superstition to the proceedings, suggesting that the heartbreak the singer has experienced is not easily explained or rationalized.
Overall, "Papa Joachim Paris" is a poignant and powerful song that speaks to the universal experience of heartbreak and the need for a space to grieve and process difficult emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
Father Joaquim Paris, will you please excuse me
Asking for permission to be excused by Father Joaquim Paris
For one and a half hour
Requesting to be excused for an hour and a half
So I can go an cry for Fernando
Planning to cry for Fernando
Oh Fernando my first love
Expressing love and sadness for Fernando
Witches from Ribeira de Janela (*)
Referring to witches from a specific location
They curse cats, curse dogs
Mentioning what the witches curse
Why wouldn't they curse
Questioning why the witches wouldn't curse
My sweet Fernandinho, my first love
Stating that the witches should curse her first love, Fernandinho
Contributed by Sydney G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ramses4321
For those asking for the lyrics here is the translation:
Father Joaquim Paris, will you please excuse me
For one and a half hour
So I can go an cry for Fernando
Oh Fernando my first love
Father Joaquim Paris, will you please excuse me
For one and a half hour
So I can go an cry for Fernando
Oh Fernando my first love
Witches from Ribeira de Janela (*)
They curse cats, curse dogs
Why wouldn't they curse
My sweet Fernandinho, my first love
Witches from Ribeira de Janela
They curse cats, curse dogs
Why wouldn't they curse
My sweet Fernandinho, my first love
(...repeat...)
(*) Ribeira de Janela is a location in St. Antao Island
@ramses4321
For those asking for the lyrics here is the translation:
Father Joaquim Paris, will you please excuse me
For one and a half hour
So I can go an cry for Fernando
Oh Fernando my first love
Father Joaquim Paris, will you please excuse me
For one and a half hour
So I can go an cry for Fernando
Oh Fernando my first love
Witches from Ribeira de Janela (*)
They curse cats, curse dogs
Why wouldn't they curse
My sweet Fernandinho, my first love
Witches from Ribeira de Janela
They curse cats, curse dogs
Why wouldn't they curse
My sweet Fernandinho, my first love
(...repeat...)
(*) Ribeira de Janela is a location in St. Antao Island
@serginhoviola
Oi. Será que me podia escrever a letra em crioulo? Obrigado, abraço
@imhoteptruekingofegypt4307
bless you, love💯❤
@algerous2020
It is not necessary to understand to feel this beautiful song. What a beautiful voice
@themrworldwide
I'm in love with Cesaria Evora voice( Estou apaixonado pela voz da Cesaria Evora)
@user-xn4pr3vu2n
2:09 как приятно слушать 🎉
@julyverdiano
O orgulho em ser criolo..
@balkanmachine
I'd love it if someone could translate the lyrics of this amazingly beautiful song...
@tatiana57ful
Бесподобно!!!
@dabeto510
"Pam ba, tchora fernand, o fernande nha primer amor" Cesaria voc de Nha Terra! Viva Cabo Verde!!!