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.
Que Fazes aí Lisboa
Cristina Branco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De olhos fincados no rio
Os olhos não são amarras
Para prender o navio
O barco que ontem partiu
Partiu e não volta mais
Chora lágrimas de pedra
Lisboa, velha Lisboa
Mãe pobre á beira do rio
Seja o xaile dos eus ombros
O orgulho do teu frio
The song Que Fazes aí, Lisboa by Cristina Branco is a lament for the city of Lisbon. The singer is addressing the city directly, wondering what it is doing there with its eyes fixed on the river. The singer points out that the eyes are not anchors that can hold onto the ships, which leads us to the idea of loss and the fact that the singer is mourning something that has already happened. The ship has left and will not return, and the city is weeping tears of stone on every corner of the dock. These tears might represent the memories of the city, which are solid and enduring but also sad and heavy.
As the song continues, we get a sense of the city's history and its identity as a mother figure to its people. The singer describes Lisbon as an old, poor mother by the side of the river. Despite her humble circumstances, she wears a shawl with pride, and it is the pride of her coldness, her distance from the tragedies and losses of her inhabitants. This pride is a double-edged sword: it gives her strength and dignity, but it also makes her seem distant and unapproachable. At the end of the song, the singer seems to be pleading with the city to let down her guard, to embrace her sorrow and her people with warmth and compassion.
Overall, Que Fazes aí, Lisboa is a beautiful and haunting song that captures the complex emotions of a city and its people. The imagery of tears, stone, and coldness creates a sense of both strength and vulnerability, of a place that has endured much but still bears the scars of its past.
Line by Line Meaning
Que fazes aí, Lisboa
What are you doing there, Lisbon?
De olhos fincados no rio
With eyes fixed on the river
Os olhos não são amarras
Eyes are not anchors
Para prender o navio
To hold the ship
O barco que ontem partiu
The boat that left yesterday
Partiu e não volta mais
Left and will not come back
Chora lágrimas de pedra
Crying tears of stone
Em cada esquina do cais
At every corner of the dock
Lisboa, velha Lisboa
Lisbon, old Lisbon
Mãe pobre á beira do rio
Poor mother on the edge of the river
Seja o xaile dos eus ombros
May the shawl on your shoulders
O orgulho do teu frio
Be the pride of your coldness
Contributed by Bentley P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
afonso zayas zayas
Cristina Branco é única porque põe o coração na voz e a emoção que sente consegue transmitir a quem a ouve. Ela é maravilhosa.
Futuro Justo
BELO, MARAVILHOSO e SUBLIME!! Modinhas de Homenagem à Nossa LINDA e BELA LISBOA PARABÉNS!!!!! CRISTINA BRANCO, que bem que canta . PORTUGAL!! PORTUGAL!!! meuAmor
Maria Fera Da Silva
Só agora descobri a maravilhosa e inconfondivel vóz de Cristina Branco Beijinhos
Maria Loureiro
Que bela voz. Que lindo poema.A Cristina,é sem favor, a mais bela voz deste país sofredor.
Stefan Nedelchev
Cristina`s singing is so touching! The best fado intepretation!!
Emma Rose
One of my favorites by her...the best voice in fado today!
jose alberto Ramos Loureiro
Quanto mais velho estou, mais me gosta esta voz maravilhosa,profunda,amorosa.Cada vez cantas melhor. Cada vez estás mais bonita,
manuelespinosa02
Sim!
Juan Bautista Dos Reis De Sousa
LINDO FADO BIEN INTERPRETADO
philipjobo
Wow, that teardrop that falls from her eye... It says it all.