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.
Alfonsina Y El Mar
Cristina Branco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Que lame el mar
Su pequeña huella
No vuelve más
Un sendero solo
De pena y silencio llegó
Hasta el agua profunda
Un sendero solo
Hasta la espuma
Sabe Dios qué angustia
Te acompañó
Qué dolores viejos
Calló tu voz
Para recostarte
Arrullada en el canto
De las caracolas marinas
La canción que canta
En el fondo oscuro del mar
La caracola
Te vas Alfonsina
Con tu soledad
Qué poemas nuevos
Fuíste a buscar?
Una voz antigüa
De viento y de sal
Te requiebra el alma
Y la está llevando
Y te vas hacia allá
Como en sueños
Dormida, Alfonsina
Vestida de mar
Cinco sirenitas
Te llevarán
Por caminos de algas
Y de coral
Y fosforescentes
Caballos marinos harán
Una ronda a tu lado
Y los habitantes
Del agua van a jugar
Pronto a tu lado
Bájame la lámpara
Un poco más
Déjame que duerma
Nodriza, en paz
Y si llama él
No le digas que estoy
Dile que Alfonsina no vuelve
Y si llama él
No le digas nunca que estoy
Di que me he ido
Te vas Alfonsina
Con tu soledad
¿Qué poemas nuevos
Fueste a buscar?
Una voz antigua
De viento y de sal
Te requiebra el alma
Y la está llevando
Y te vas hacia allá
Como en sueños
Dormida, Alfonsina
Vestida de mar
In Cristina Branco's song "Alfonsina y el mar," the lyricist describes the tragic death of the Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni. The song begins with the image of Alfonsina leaving a small footprint in the soft sand by the sea, which she will never return to after walking out into the water. The trail of her sadness and silence leads to the depths of the sea, where she finds solace in the song of the seashells.
The singer questions what anguish and pain accompanied Alfonsina on her journey, as she sought comfort in the embrace of the sea. The lines "Que dolores viejos/Calló tu voz" suggest that Alfonsina had been carrying old wounds within her, which she finally let go of in the face of the vastness of the ocean. The singer imagines Alfonsina going on a journey with the sea as her only companion, leaving behind her loneliness and pain.
The song's final stanza speaks of Alfonsina's peaceful departure, leaving her sorrows behind as she is carried away by the waves. The singer conjures up visions of mermaids and seahorses who will keep her company as she journeys into the unknown. The final lines of the song suggest that Alfonsina has found peace in the sea and does not plan to return, asking the "nodriza" to tell any callers she has gone.
Line by Line Meaning
Por la blanda arena
Over the soft sand
Que lame el mar
Which kisses the sea
Su pequeña huella
Its small trace
No vuelve más
Will never return
Un sendero solo
A solitary path
De pena y silencio llegó
Of sorrow and silence it came
Hasta el agua profunda
Until the deep water
Un sendero solo
A solitary path
De penas mudas llegó
Of silent sorrows it came
Hasta la espuma
Until the foam
Sabe Dios qué angustia
God only knows what anguish
Te acompañó
Accompanied you
Qué dolores viejos
What old pains
Calló tu voz
Silenced your voice
Para recostarte
To lay you down
Arrullada en el canto
Soothed by the song
De las caracolas marinas
Of the seashells
La canción que canta
The song it sings
En el fondo oscuro del mar
In the dark bottom of the sea
La caracola
The seashell
Te vas Alfonsina
You are leaving Alfonsina
Con tu soledad
With your loneliness
Qué poemas nuevos
What new poems
Fuíste a buscar?
Did you go in search of?
Una voz antigüa
An ancient voice
De viento y de sal
Of wind and salt
Te requiebra el alma
Your soul is torn apart
Y la está llevando
And is taking it away
Y te vas hacia allá
And you are going there
Como en sueños
As if in a dream
Dormida, Alfonsina
Sleeping, Alfonsina
Vestida de mar
Clad in sea
Cinco sirenitas
Five little mermaids
Te llevarán
Will carry you
Por caminos de algas
Along paths of seaweed
Y de coral
And coral
Y fosforescentes
And phosphorescent
Caballos marinos harán
Seahorses will make
Una ronda a tu lado
A circle around you
Y los habitantes
And the inhabitants
Del agua van a jugar
Of the water will play
Pronto a tu lado
Soon by your side
Bájame la lámpara
Lower the lamp for me
Un poco más
A little more
Déjame que duerma
Let me sleep
Nodriza, en paz
Nurse, in peace
Y si llama él
And if he calls
No le digas que estoy
Don't tell him I'm here
Dile que Alfonsina no vuelve
Tell him Alfonsina is not coming back
Y si llama él
And if he calls
No le digas nunca que estoy
Don't tell him ever that I am here
Di que me he ido
Say that I have gone
Te vas Alfonsina
You are leaving Alfonsina
Con tu soledad
With your loneliness
¿Qué poemas nuevos
What new poems
Fueste a buscar?
Did you go in search of?
Una voz antigua
An ancient voice
De viento y de sal
Of wind and salt
Te requiebra el alma
Your soul is torn apart
Y la está llevando
And is taking it away
Y te vas hacia allá
And you are going there
Como en sueños
As if in a dream
Dormida, Alfonsina
Sleeping, Alfonsina
Vestida de mar
Clad in sea
Lyrics © ONErpm, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ariel Ramirez, Felix Cesar Luna
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind