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.
Espelho Quebrado
Cristina Branco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Quebra o espelho do lago
Em mim foi mais violento o estrago
Porque o vento ao passar
Murmurava o teu nome
Depois de o murmurar, deixou-me
Tão rápido passou
As mágoas em que sou tão firme
Mas a sua passagem
Em vidro recortava
No lago a minha imagem de escrava
Ó líquido cristal
Dos meus olhos sem ti
Em vão o vendaval pedi
Para que se quebrasse
O espelho que me enluta
E me ficasse a face enxuta
Ai meus olhos sem ti sem ti
Em mim foi mais violento, o vento
The song "Espelho Quebrado" by Cristina Branco talks about a broken mirror in a lake caused by the wind's whip, symbolizing the damage caused by a person's absence. The lyrics suggest that the damage caused by the absence of someone beloved is deeper and more violent than the natural destruction of the mirror. As the wind passes, it murmurs the name of the missing person, intensifying the pain caused by the broken reflection. The singer reflects on the passing of the wind, the destruction it caused, and how it cut her image in the lake, creating the appearance of a slave.
The mirror symbolizes self-reflection and self-awareness. The wind's whip represents the passing of time and changes that happen beyond our control. The name murmured by the wind echoes the voice of the absent person and serves as a reminder of their significance in the singer's life. The image of the "slave" reflects the singer's feeling of helplessness and vulnerability caused by the absence of her beloved.
The song's melancholic and poetic lyrics are complemented by the use of the Portuguese guitar, which adds a traditional and nostalgic feel to the music. The arrangement is simple and intimate, allowing the singer's voice to shine and the emotions in the lyrics to be felt by the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
Com o seu chicote o vento
The wind breaks the lake's mirror with its whip
Quebra o espelho do lago
The wind shatters the lake's mirror
Em mim foi mais violento o estrago
The damage was more violent in me
Porque o vento ao passar
Because the wind while passing
Murmurava o teu nome
Murmured your name
Depois de o murmurar, deixou-me
After murmuring it, it left me
Tão rápido passou
It passed so quickly
Nem soube destruir-me
It didn't even know how to destroy me
As mágoas em que sou tão firme
The grievances I am so firm in
Mas a sua passagem
But its passing
Em vidro recortava
In glass it was cutting
No lago a minha imagem de escrava
In the lake, my image of a slave
Ó líquido cristal
Oh liquid crystal
Dos meus olhos sem ti
Of my eyes without you
Em vão o vendaval pedi
I asked the wind in vain
Para que se quebrasse
To break
O espelho que me enluta
The mirror that saddens me
E me ficasse a face enxuta
And my face would be dry
Ai meus olhos sem ti sem ti
Oh my eyes without you without you
Em mim foi mais violento, o vento
In me, the wind was more violent
Contributed by Kylie J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.