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.
Abandono
Cristina Branco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Foram-te longe encerrar
Tão longe que o meu lamento
Não te consegue alcançar
E apenas ouves o vento
E apenas ouves o mar
Levaram-te a meio da noite
A treva tudo cobria
De todas a mais sombria
Foi de noite, foi de noite
E nunca mais se fez dia.
Ai! Dessa noite o veneno
Persiste em me envenenar
Oiço apenas o silêncio
Que ficou em teu lugar
E ao menos ouves o vento
E ao menos ouves o mar.
The song "Abandono" by Cristina Branco, translated as "Abandonment" in English, deals with the theme of separation and loss. The lyrics describe the pain of being separated from a loved one, who has been taken away by force, by free will or by death. The opening lines of the song, "For your free thoughts, they locked you up far away", suggest that the person in question has been taken away from the singer because of their beliefs or ideas that were deemed dangerous or inappropriate.
The second stanza describes the circumstances of the separation more vividly, saying that it happened in the middle of the night during the darkest of all nights. The metaphor "the darkness covered everything" is particularly powerful, conveying a sense of hopelessness and despair. The use of repetition in the final lines, "it was at night, it was at night, and the day never came again", emphasizes the finality of the separation and the sense of loss that never fades away.
The chorus, "Oh, that night's poison persists in poisoning me, I hear only the silence that remained in your place, and at least you hear the wind, and at least you hear the sea", adds another layer of meaning to the song. The singer is not only mourning the loss of the person's physical presence but also the loss of communication and connection with them. The fact that the other person is still able to hear the wind and the sea, while the singer can only hear silence, illustrates the depth of their emotional distance.
Line by Line Meaning
Por teu livre pensamento
Because of your free thought and choice
Foram-te longe encerrar
They took you far away, imprisoned you
Tão longe que o meu lamento
So far that my grief
Não te consegue alcançar
Cannot reach you
E apenas ouves o vento
And you only hear the wind
E apenas ouves o mar
And you only hear the sea
Levaram-te a meio da noite
They took you in the middle of the night
A treva tudo cobria
Darkness covered everything
Foi de noite numa noite
It was at night, on a night
De todas a mais sombria
The darkest of them all
Foi de noite, foi de noite
It was at night, it was at night
E nunca mais se fez dia.
And the day never came again.
Ai! Dessa noite o veneno
The poison of that night, oh!
Persiste em me envenenar
Continues to poison me
Oiço apenas o silêncio
I only hear the silence
Que ficou em teu lugar
That remained in your place
E ao menos ouves o vento
And at least you hear the wind
E ao menos ouves o mar.
And at least you hear the sea.
Contributed by Julian J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.