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.
Ninfas
Cristina Branco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Por se dar cara ao triste que a seguia
Como por ter ouvido o doce canto
Às namoradas mágoas que dizia
Volvendo o rosto já sereno e santo
Toda banhada em riso e alegria
Cair se deixa aos pés do vencedor
Oh que famintos beijos na floresta
E que mimoso choro que soava
Que afagos tão suaves, que ira honesta
Que em risinhos alegres se tornava
Os que mais passam na manhã e na sesta
Que Vénus com prazeres inflamava
Melhor é experimentá-lo que julgá-lo
Mas julgue-o quem não pode experimentá-lo
These lyrics come from the song "Ninfas" by Cristina Branco. The song tells the story of a beautiful nymph (ninha) who initially tries to avoid attention from a sad follower, but ultimately gives in to his advances after hearing his sweet words of love. She falls, bathed in joy and laughter, at the feet of the victorious lover, who is consumed by pure love for her. The second stanza of the song describes the passionate kissing and gentle caresses that take place in the forest between the two lovers. The final line, "better to experience it than to judge it, but let those who cannot experience it judge it," suggests that the nature of their love is beyond understanding for anyone who has not felt it.
The song "Ninfas" is based on a poem by Portuguese writer and poet Fernando Pessoa. It was originally released on Cristina Branco's 2000 album Sensus, which was produced by Dutch musician and producer Frank van der Meijden. The song is characterized by a slow, melancholic melody and Branco's haunting vocals, which add to the dreamlike quality of the lyrics. The use of the word "Ninfas" in the title and lyrics refers to the nymphs of Greek mythology, who were often associated with love and beauty.
Line by Line Meaning
Já não fugia a bela Ninfa, tanto
The beautiful nymph no longer fled so much
Por se dar cara ao triste que a seguia
In order to face the sad man who followed her
Como por ter ouvido o doce canto
As well as for having heard the sweet song
Às namoradas mágoas que dizia
Of the lover's sorrows that it conveyed
Volvendo o rosto já sereno e santo
Turning her face already calm and holy
Toda banhada em riso e alegria
Entirely bathed in laughter and joy
Cair se deixa aos pés do vencedor
She lets herself fall to the feet of the conqueror
Que todo se desfaz em puro amor
Whoever completely dissolves in pure love
Oh que famintos beijos na floresta
Oh, what hungry kisses in the forest
E que mimoso choro que soava
And what a cute cry that sounded
Que afagos tão suaves, que ira honesta
What gentle caresses, what honest anger
Que em risinhos alegres se tornava
That turns into joyful giggles
Os que mais passam na manhã e na sesta
Those who mostly pass in the morning and in the afternoon nap
Que Vénus com prazeres inflamava
Whom Venus inflamed with pleasures
Melhor é experimentá-lo que julgá-lo
It's better to experience it than to judge it
Mas julgue-o quem não pode experimentá-lo
But let those who cannot experience it, judge it
Contributed by Sydney G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.