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.
Fado da partilha
Cristina Branco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Já não te peço o retrato
que há muito me prometeste,
dessa jura te desato
e de quantas mais fizeste.
Ali estavas em menino
e a linha do meu destino
ninguém a tinha traçado.
O colete que te dei
em damasco de cetim,
ainda que mande a lei,
não o quero para mim.
Só desejo que destruas
as cartas que te escrevi,
hei-de ficar de mãos nuas
firme diante de ti.
Se alguém disser que perdemos
o que era de esperar,
explica que morremos na espuma da preia-mar.
The song "Fado da partilha" by Cristina Branco is a beautiful piece of music that tells a story about two people who once loved each other but are now separated. The persona in the song is speaking to their former lover and telling them that they no longer want the promised picture and release them from any other promises that they had made. The memory of the past is very vivid in the persona's mind as they recall the time when their former lover was a child and posed for a picture with a small palm tree.
The persona then talks about the fate that they both faced, how it was yet to be determined, and no one knew what was ahead of them. The persona mentions a gift that they gave to their former lover, a damask satin waistcoat, which they do not want back even though the law demands it. The persona then asks their former lover to destroy all the letters they wrote because they want to move on and be free from the past.
Finally, the persona talks about how people might say that they lost what they were hoping for or that they failed, but they explain that they both died in the whitecaps of the waves, which suggests that they have surrendered and accepted their fate.
Overall, the song "Fado da partilha" is a beautiful and melancholic song that speaks to the struggles of letting go of a past love and moving on.
Line by Line Meaning
Já não te peço o retrato
I no longer ask you for the portrait
que há muito me prometeste,
which you promised me a long time ago
dessa jura te desato
I release you from that promise
e de quantas mais fizeste.
and from all the other promises you made
Ali estavas em menino
There you were, a boy
com uma palmeirinha ao lado,
with a small palm tree beside you
e a linha do meu destino
and the line of my destiny
ninguém a tinha traçado.
no one had traced it yet
O colete que te dei
The vest I gave you
em damasco de cetim,
made of satin damask
ainda que mande a lei,
even though the law dictates
não o quero para mim.
I don't want it back
Só desejo que destruas
I only wish for you to destroy
as cartas que te escrevi,
the letters I wrote to you
hei-de ficar de mãos nuas
I will be left with nothing
firme diante de ti.
standing firm in front of you
Se alguém disser que perdemos
If someone says we lost
o que era de esperar,
what we hoped for
explica que morremos na espuma da preia-mar.
explain that we died in the foam of the tide.
Contributed by Maya M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.