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.
Sentimento
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mi taglia nel petto e poi va, dritto al cuore.
Affondano in lacrime i miei pensieri,
È forte il bisogno che ho, di amare te.
L'amore che io ti darò fa volare.
Più in alto del manto di nuvole che copre il sole.
E ti raggiungerò e sarò nel vento che fa incontrare
Le ombre che si toccano
La luce le dipingerà
Preziosi desideri, che stretti a me terrò
Poi ti racconterò.
Così per sempre sarai il fuoco che mi fa bruciare.
Sei la lente che accende per me, ogni colore.
L'amore che io ti darò fa vibrare.
I nostri due corpi al ritmo di un'unico cuore.
E ti raggiungerò e sarò nel vento che fa incontrare
E ogni attimo dentro del mio sentimento.
Le ombre che si toccano
La luce le dipingerà
Preziosi desideri, che stretti a me terrò
Poi ti racconterò.
Al silenzio di candele
Delle notti per sognare.
Oh, l'amore che ci fa sentire
Dolcemente così uomini
Uomini, UOMINI.
The lyrics of Cesaria Evora's song "Sentimento" speak of a deep and intense love that cuts through the very soul of the singer. The opening lines, "Semplicemente perchè,questo amore.. Mi taglia nel petto e poi va, dritto al cuore," express the overwhelming nature of this emotion, which finds expression in tears and intense longing for the beloved. The singer describes how her love for the other person makes her feel alive and fills her with a sense of purpose.
As the song progresses, Cesaria speaks of the power and beauty of the love she shares with her lover. She speaks of how their love makes everything else pale in comparison, and nothing can compare to the intensity and depth of their feelings. She compares their love to a raging fire that consumes her, and how the light of their love illuminates even the darkest corners of their hearts. The final lines of the song speak of the transformative power of love and how it makes us more human, more alive, and more complete.
Overall, the lyrics of "Sentimento" are a powerful expression of the transformative power of love and how it can change us at the very core of our being. Cesaria's evocative and poetic language takes the listener on a journey through the depths of human emotion, leaving us feeling both moved and inspired.
Line by Line Meaning
Semplicemente perchè,questo amore..
This love that I have for you is simple yet strong.
Mi taglia nel petto e poi va, dritto al cuore.
This love cuts through my chest and straight into my heart.
Affondano in lacrime i miei pensieri,
My thoughts sink in tears.
È forte il bisogno che ho, di amare te.
The need I have to love you is strong.
L'amore che io ti darò fa volare.
The love I will give you will make you fly.
Più in alto del manto di nuvole che copre il sole.
Higher than the cloud cover that shades the sun.
E ti raggiungerò e sarò nel vento che fa incontrare
I will reach you and will be the wind that brings together our feelings.
Ogni attimo del tuo e del mio sentimento.
Every moment of your feelings and mine.
Le ombre che si toccano
The shadows that touch.
La luce le dipingerà
The light will paint them.
Preziosi desideri, che stretti a me terrò
Precious desires that I will hold tight.
Poi ti racconterò.
Then, I will tell you about them.
Così per sempre sarai il fuoco che mi fa bruciare.
You will forever be the fire that burns within me.
Sei la lente che accende per me, ogni colore.
You are the lens that ignites every color in my life.
L'amore che io ti darò fa vibrare.
The love I will give you will make us both vibrate.
I nostri due corpi al ritmo di un'unico cuore.
Our two bodies beating to the rhythm of one heart.
Al silenzio di candele
To the silence of candles.
Delle notti per sognare.
Of the nights we dream of.
Oh, l'amore che ci fa sentire
Oh, the love that makes us feel.
Dolcemente così uomini
Gently so, like men.
Uomini, UOMINI.
Men, MEN.
Contributed by Gabriel I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.