She grew up far from the fado houses of Lisbon and nothing suggested that she was predestined for the fado. Like almost all young Portuguese born after the revolution of 1974, she was interested in folk music, jazz, blues, bossa nova but not in fado. She regarded it as a genre for a different generation. This lasted until her 18th birthday, when her grandfather gave her the album Rara e Inédita by Amália Rodrigues. Suddenly, Cristina Branco discovered all the emotions that the genre could offer in the close connections that arose among voice, poetry and music. The amateur singer - then studying communication sciences and still full of her ambition to become a journalist - began to develop her vocal technique and to take her new vocation seriously.
After that, Cristina studied the poems from which major fado lyrics are taken.
Since then, Cristina has worked on her fado repertory, accompanied by Custódio Castelo on guitar and as composer.
Halfway through the nineties, other young musicians also found a new means of expression in the fado and this contributed to a surprising renaissance. Just as they did, Cristina Branco began to make clear choices in which respect for the tradition went hand in hand with the desire for renewal.
There can be no doubt that Cristina Branco is developing her own style from a number of primary components. She employs a traditional group (voice, Portuguese guitar, guitar and bass guitar) and offers us concurrently a light, warm and experienced voice; she mixes the traditional fado with themes and folk songs that are personal favourites and seems always to choose the words of the best Portuguese, or even Dutch poets with discretion.
A Uma Princesa Distante
Cristina Branco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Jamais voltaremos a ver-nos,
Entre nós dois há um mundo pelo meio.
Por vezes, de noite, à janela nos detemos
Mas são outras as estrelas que vemos...
Doutros tempos o enleio.
É tão longínquo o vosso país do meu:
Que viajando sem parar nas asas do desejo, eu
Vos saudaria num suspiro agonizante.
Porém, se for verdade,
Que sonhando o impossível,
Se leva o maior dos anseios
À estrela mais intangível:
Então eu voltarei,
Voltarei todas as noites...
De saudade.
The lyrics of Cristina Branco's song A Uma Princesa Distante (To a Distant Princess), written by J.Slauerhoff and arranged by Custódio Castelo, depict the yearning of two lovers separated by distance, both spatial and temporal. The opening lines, "Jamais voltaremos a ver-nos, / Entre nós dois há um mundo pelo meio" (We will never see each other again / There is a world between us), set the tone for the rest of the lyrics. The division between the two lovers is made clear, with the "other stars" they see at night serving as a reminder of the "times gone by".
The second stanza continues with the metaphor of distance and separation, comparing the distance between the two lovers' countries to "the light of the deepest darkness - so distant - that traveling endlessly on the wings of desire, I would greet you in an agonizing sigh". The implication is that the singer's desire to be reunited with their distant partner is unattainable and yet their longing is so strong it is a source of pain. The final stanza offers a glimmer of hope, however, suggesting that if it is true that "dreaming the impossible carries the greatest of desires to the most intangible star", the singer will return to the window every night to greet the memory of their distant love.
In summary, Branco's interpretation of A Uma Princesa Distante employs striking imagery to showcase the pain of two distant lovers separated by time and space, with an ending that teases the possibility of their future reunion, albeit only in memory.
Line by Line Meaning
Jamais voltaremos a ver-nos,
We will never meet again
Entre nós dois há um mundo pelo meio.
There is a world between us
Por vezes, de noite, à janela nos detemos
Sometimes at night, we stop at the window
Mas são outras as estrelas que vemos...
But we see different stars...
Doutros tempos o enleio.
The infatuation of another time.
É tão longínquo o vosso país do meu:
Your country is so distant from mine:
Como a luz da mais funda escuridão - tão distante -
Like the light from the deepest darkness - so far -
Que viajando sem parar nas asas do desejo, eu
Traveling endlessly on the wings of desire, I
Vos saudaria num suspiro agonizante.
Would greet you with a desperate sigh.
Porém, se for verdade,
But if it's true,
Que sonhando o impossível,
That by dreaming the impossible,
Se leva o maior dos anseios
The greatest of desires is reached
À estrela mais intangível:
To the most intangible star:
Então eu voltarei,
Then I will come back,
Voltarei todas as noites...
Come back every night...
De saudade.
Out of longing.
Contributed by Kayla E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.