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.
Quem Bô Ê
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
C'ess sparate que bô tem na vida
Ka bô ingana
Ja bô ka é nada
Quem bô é
C'ess sparate que bô tem na vida
Ka bô ingana
Bô é um zero na vida
Bô podê para bô jeep
Procura ot vida
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
Bô é um zero na vida
Bô podê para bô jeep
Procura ot vida
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
Quem bô é
C'ess sparate que bô tem na vida
Ka bô ingana
Ja bô ka é nada
Quem bô é
C'ess sparate que bô tem na vida
Ka bô ingana
Ja bô ka é nada
Bô é um zero na vida
Bô podê para bô jeep
Procura ot vida
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
Bô é um zero na vida
Bô podê para bô jeep
Procura ot vida
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
Bô é um zero na vida
Bô podê para bô jeep
Procura ot vida
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
Bô é um zero na vida
Bô podê para bô jeep
Procura ot vida
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
Procura ot vida
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
Procura ot vida
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
Procura ot vida
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
Procura ot vida
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
The lyrics to Cesária Évora's song Quem Bô Ê convey a message about the importance of one's sense of purpose in life. The song opens with the repeated line "Quem bô ê" which translates to "who are you." The subsequent lines, "c'ess sparate que bô tem na vida" and "ka bô ingana, ja bô ka é nada," ask the listener to consider what they have accomplished or achieved in their life and how genuine their answer is. The song then continues with the statement "bô ê um zero na vida," meaning that if you cannot find a sense of purpose, you are nothing in life. The lyrics state that you must search for a meaningful life, or risk not truly living at all.
The repetition of the phrase "procura ot vida, paqué ess ja ka creb" serves as a plea to the listener to search for a more fulfilling life, so that they do not die without having ever truly lived. The line "bô podê para bô jeep," translates to "you can stop your car" and suggests that you can take a break from your current life and reevaluate your sense of purpose.
Overall, the lyrics to Quem Bô Ê are introspective and encourage the listener to reflect on their purpose in life. The song emphasizes the importance of finding meaning and living a fulfilling life, rather than just simply "existing."
Line by Line Meaning
Quem bô é
Who you are
C'ess sparate que bô tem na vida
It's what you have in life that separates you
Ka bô ingana
Don't deceive yourself
Ja bô ka é nada
You are nothing
Bô é um zero na vida
You are a zero in life
Bô podê para bô jeep
You can stop your Jeep
Procura ot vida
Look for a better life
Paqué ess ja ka creb.
Before it's too late
Contributed by Samantha L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Emmet Ray
She's Queen..!
Sarah&Lina
J'adore cette femme diva aux pieds nus RIP
Fabiano Salvalai
Love you