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.
Margarida
Cristina Branco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Se eu te desse a minha vida,
Que farias tu com ela?
- Tirava os brincos do prego,
Casava c'um homem cego
E ia morar para a Estrela.
Mas, Margarida,
Que diria tua mãe?
- (Ela conhece-me a fundo.)
Que há muito parvo no mundo,
E que eras parvo também.
E, Margarida,
Se eu te desse a minha vida
No sentido de morrer?
- Eu iria ao teu enterro,
Mas achava que era um erro
Querer amar sem viver.
Mas, Margarida,
Se este dar-te a minha vida
Não fosse senão poesia?
- Então, filho, nada feito.
Fica tudo sem efeito.
Nesta casa não se fia.
The lyrics of Cristina Branco's song "Margarida" depict a conversation between two individuals, where one person, the singer, asks Margarida what she would do if they were to give her their life. Margarida responds with various scenarios, each of which shows her willingness to make sacrifices for her loved one. She says that she would take her earrings down, marry a blind man, and move to the Star. When asked what her mother would say, she responds that her mother knows her very well and that she thinks the singer is a fool for offering their life. When asked what she would do if the singer were to die, Margarida says she would attend their funeral but believes that loving someone without living is a mistake. Finally, when asked what would happen if the singer's proposal was only a gesture of poetry, Margarida's reply is dismissive, giving the impression that she is uninterested in empty promises.
The lyrics of "Margarida" can be seen as a commentary on the nature of love and sacrifice. Margarida's responses to the singer's proposals show her willingness to make sacrifices for those she loves, but she also demonstrates a clear-headedness that the singer may lack. She is not willing to sacrifice her own life and agency for empty promises or grand gestures. The interaction between the two characters in the song reflects a tension between romantic ideals and practicalities, suggesting that love can involve sacrifice, but only if it is grounded in a meaningful and reciprocal relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Ai, Margarida,
Oh, Margarida,
Se eu te desse a minha vida,
If I gave you my life,
Que farias tu com ela?
What would you do with it?
- Tirava os brincos do prego,
Casava c'um homem cego
E ia morar para a Estrela.
- I would take off my earrings,
Marry a blind man
And go live in Estrela.
Mas, Margarida,
But, Margarida,
Se eu te desse a minha vida,
If I gave you my life,
Que diria tua mãe?
What would your mother say?
- (Ela conhece-me a fundo.)
Que há muito parvo no mundo,
E que eras parvo também.
- (She knows me well.)
That there are many fools in the world,
And that you are also a fool.
E, Margarida,
And, Margarida,
Se eu te desse a minha vida
No sentido de morrer?
If I gave you my life in the sense of dying?
- Eu iria ao teu enterro,
Mas achava que era um erro
Querer amar sem viver.
- I would go to your funeral,
But I think it would be a mistake
to want to love without living.
Mas, Margarida,
But, Margarida,
Se este dar-te a minha vida
Não fosse senão poesia?
But, Margarida,
If giving you my life was just poetry?
- Então, filho, nada feito.
Fica tudo sem efeito.
Nesta casa não se fia.
- Then, son, it's no use.
It all becomes meaningless.
In this house, we don't trust.
Contributed by Joshua F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@furtado74511
Hà muito tempo que gosto de Cristina Branco e Jorge Palma, !!!!!!!!
@MF861000
Música linda. Bons cantores. E um bom poema.