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.
Sayko Dayo
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dansa sabe so nos so
Passa sabe so nos so
Qu′é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Brinca sabe so nos so
Dansa sabe so nos so
Passa sabe so nos so
Se alguem t′entra li
Es ca têm nada pa fazê li
Entra é so nos so
Qu'é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Se alguem t'entra li
Es ca têm nada pa fazê li
Entra é so nos so
Qu′é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Brinca sabe so nos so
Dansa sabe so nos so
Passa sabe so nos so
Qu′é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Brinca sabe so nos so
Dansa sabe so nos so
Passa sabe so nos so
Qu'é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Se alguem t′entra li
Es ca têm nada pa fazê li
Entra é so nos so
Qu'é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Se alguem t′entra li
Es ca têm nada pa fazê li
Entra é so nos so
Qu'é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Brinca sabe so nos so
Dansa sabe so nos so
Passa sabe so nos so
Qu′é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Brinca sabe so nos so
Dansa sabe so nos so
Passa sabe so nos so
Qu'é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Se alguem t'entra li
Es ca têm nada pa fazê li
Entra é so nos so
Qu′é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Se alguem t′entra li
Es ca têm nada pa fazê li
Entra é so nos so
Qu'é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Brinca sabe so nos so
Dansa sabe so nos so
Passa sabe so nos so
Qu′é di grupo Saiko Dayo
Brinca sabe so nos so
Dansa sabe so nos so
Passa sabe so nos so
Qu'é di grupo Saiko Dayo
The lyrics of Cesária Évora’s song Sayko Dayo are in Cape Verdean Creole, a language spoken in Cape Verde, an island nation off the west coast of Africa. The song begins with a repetitive chorus that translates to “Jump, know only us, Dance, know only us, Pass, know only us, what’s the group Saiko Dayo?” The lyrics are celebratory and center on the idea of group unity and enjoyment of music and dance. The lines “if someone enters here, they have nothing to do here, only enter if you’re us, what’s the group Saiko Dayo?” indicate that the group is exclusive and focused on its own members.
The repetitive nature of the song’s chorus symbolizes the idea of coming together and finding joy in the shared experience of music and dance. The use of Cape Verdean Creole language, which is a symbol of the island’s complex cultural heritage, is a nod to the artist’s upbringing and cultural roots. The song’s message is one of community-building and the idea that group experiences can bring people together and create a sense of belonging.
Line by Line Meaning
Brinca sabe so nos so
We play, we know how to play, together only among ourselves
Dansa sabe so nos so
We dance, we know how to dance, together only among ourselves
Passa sabe so nos so
We pass the time, we know how to pass the time, together only among ourselves
Qu'é di grupo Saiko Dayo
That's the Saiko Dayo group
Se alguem t'entra li
If someone comes in here
Es ca têm nada pa fazê li
They don't have anything to do here
Entra é so nos so
They can only come in if they are one of us
Writer(s): Gregorio Jose Goncalves
Contributed by Aaron C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.