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.
Pe di boi
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
M'assisti um pé di boi
Dos amigo engalfilhode
Por causa dum alcovitera
Dcha da uns ta dzé
Dchá mata otches ta dzé :
« Amdjor é parti
Pa ca da chatice »
Ja ta bom de caba ness terra
Ta po mut dess ignorante
Ta briga ta morrê na guerra
The lyrics to Cesaria Evora's song Pe di Boi describe a scene on the island of Madeira where the singer witnesses a fight between two friends over a gossip. One of the friends suggests that they should leave to avoid the drama, while others encourage them to stay and fight. The lyrics also touch on the topic of prostitution, as the singer remarks on the shamelessness of a girl who seems to have settled in the town. The final line of the song speaks to the illiteracy and ignorance that fuels pointless battles.
Through these lyrics, it is clear that Cesaria Evora was an expert at weaving together complex stories and deep social commentary through her music. The song touches on themes such as friendship, fighting, gossip, shame, and ignorance. Through such a rich tapestry of ideas and emotions, Cesaria Evora creates a vivid portrait of life on Madeira, highlighting the various struggles and challenges faced by the island's inhabitants.
Line by Line Meaning
Onte na Ilha di Madera
On the island of Madeira
M'assisti um pé di boi
I saw an ox's foot
Dos amigo engalfilhode
Two friends fought
Por causa dum alcovitera
Because of a gossip
Dcha da uns ta dzé
Some say
Dchá mata otches ta dzé :
Others say something else:
« Amdjor é parti
"It's better to leave
Pa ca da chatice »
To avoid trouble"
Poca vergonha dess rapariga
Shameless girls
Ja ta bom de caba ness terra
They are getting out of hand on this land
Ta po mut dess ignorante
They are acting too ignorant
Ta briga ta morrê na guerra
They fight until death
Contributed by Declan T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Marinha Teixeira da Silva Brito
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, muito bom!!!!
Raymond Helfrich
noisy