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.
Tudo tem se limite
Cesária Évora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nem tampóc rochegadôr
Nem marinhêr nem catraêr
Nem carpinter nem pêdrêr
Nem pêder nem pescadôr
E nem tembê um catadôr
Dificuldade bô ca conchêl
Pobreza pa bô ê lenda de gente gentil
Bem dzêm'quem bô ê na vida
Pa julgá realidade
Dess nôss pais
Pa móde cristôm ta estód calóde
E justiça de povo nunca tem voz
Lá de bô tribuna bô ta insultá
E caluniá'tê Deus na ceu
Ma cma debóxe de ceu tudo tem seu limite
Bô pudêr ca ê infinito
O li ê que ê Cabo Verde
The lyrics of Cesária's song "Tudo tem se limite," which can be translated to "Everything has its limit," speak about the limitations and struggles of different professions and societal issues. The first verse talks about various professions, such as a fireman, a mechanic, a sailor, a carpenter, and a fisherman, that face their own struggles and limitations. The chorus acknowledges poverty as a legend of gentle people and emphasizes the freedom to not fight. The second verse addresses the lack of justice and the inability of the people to have a voice in society. It talks about how those in power often insult and defame people from their tribunes, but everything has its limit, and power is not infinite. The song ends with a statement about Cabo Verde (Cesária's home country) that everything is limited but that is what makes it unique.
Line by Line Meaning
Bô pápá ca foi foguêr
Your father wasn't a fireman
Nem tampóc rochegadôr
Nor a shoemaker
Nem marinhêr nem catraêr
Nor a sailor or a farmer
Nem carpinter nem pêdrêr
Nor a carpenter or a mason
Nem pêder nem pescadôr
Nor a miner or a fisherman
E nem tembê um catadôr
Not even a scavenger
Dificuldade bô ca conchêl
You don't know difficulties
Pobreza pa bô ê lenda de gente gentil
Poverty is a legend of kind people to you
Bô liberdade bô ca brigál
You don't struggle for your freedom
Bem dzêm'quem bô ê na vida
People say that you live
Pa julgá realidade
To judge reality
Dess nôss pais
From our ancestors
Pa móde cristôm ta estód calóde
So that Christianity remains warm
E justiça de povo nunca tem voz
And justice of the people never has a voice
Lá de bô tribuna bô ta insultá
From your podium, you insult
E caluniá'tê Deus na ceu
And blaspheme against God in heaven
Ma cma debóxe de ceu tudo tem seu limite
But even above the sky, everything has its limit
Bô pudêr ca ê infinito
Your power is not infinite
O li ê que ê Cabo Verde
This is what Cape Verde is
Contributed by Nora F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@annamaksimova8510
Восхитительно!
@carmenmaraschin5785
❤❤ FICAMOS DE JOELHOS E DESCALÇOS com sua magnifica e docê voz,Rainha 👑 Cezária Évora! AMO-TE!❤❤
@tarcizobatista1421
Adoro as músicas dessa diva maravilhosa Cesária Évora,
@edmeiaalmeidacardosocoelho1880
Que maravilha de voz e de músicas! Como tocam meu coração!
@mariahumanaprovisional9197
escucha petit pays y sodade de ella,tambien
@margaritahernandez4881
Yo adoro la música pero esta me esta asiendo enamorarme mas de la música mi respeto con esta artista que Dios la bendiga
@marinhateixeiradasilvabrit9647
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!
@jamjarbarcelo9601
Sorprendente
@GuadalupePicasso
Such a musical treasure.
@nicolatavano9545
La tua voce mi accarezza.