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.
Saudade
Cristina Branco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Folhas tremendo nos ramos,
Canas murmurando � beira-rio,
Aves cantando no c�u azul,
Fr�mito, murm�rios, can��o:
Tantas! E mais disformes que sonhos.
Mais ainda: De todas as esferas celestes;
Invade a imensid�o da praia, sem
Nunca por�m, um gr�o de areia expulsar.
Em atropelo, ou�o-as segredar,
Ora agrestes, ora ternas, duras ou sinceras;
De tanta fartura, ainda dou em louco,
Esque�o quem sou e torno-me um outro.
As que s�o tristes, mais tristes me soam;
Agora que sei outro recurso n�o ter,
Que ficar de novo encalhado
Nas margens do eterno sofrer.
Tamb�m as felizes, se tornam mais tristes,
Pois para sempre se esvaneceram:
Beijos, luxos, palavras do passado,
S�o como frutos que em mim morreram.
Nada mais tenho que recorda��es,
A minha vida j� h� muito se foi.
Como pode um morto cantar ainda?
Em mim j� nenhum canto tem vida.
Nas margens dos grandes mares,
Na funda escurid�o dos bosques,
Ou�o ainda o grande rumor despertar
E nenhuma voz que o fa�a libertar.
The song Saudade by Cristina Branco is a nostalgic reflection on memories and their emotional impact. The singer describes their memories as abundant and varied, likening them to the rustling of leaves, the murmur of canes by the river, and the singing of birds in the blue sky. The memories are overwhelming - more numerous and erratic than dreams. The singer goes as far as to say that they forget themselves and become someone else, so enveloped are they in their recollections.
The tone of Saudade turns somber as the singer acknowledges the sadness that accompanies even happy memories. They feel trapped by the past, unable to move on from the fleeting moments that have vanished like grains of sand. The singer mourns the loss of even the joyful memories, as they cannot be relived or recaptured. The song ends with the singer questioning whether they have any life left to sing, as they feel like a dead person with no song left in them.
Overall, Saudade captures the bittersweet essence of memory and how it can both comfort and torment us. The nostalgia in the song is palpable, and the sense of loss is universal.
Line by Line Meaning
Tenho tantas recorda��es como
I have so many memories as numerous as
Folhas tremendo nos ramos,
leaves trembling on branches,
Canas murmurando � beira-rio,
reed murmuring at the riverbank,
Aves cantando no c�u azul,
birds singing in the blue sky,
Fr�mito, murm�rios, can��o:
thrills, murmurs, song:
Tantas! E mais disformes que sonhos.
So many! and more distorted than dreams.
Mais ainda: De todas as esferas celestes;
Moreover, from all celestial spheres,
Como a onda, que ao quebrar,
Like the wave which breaks,
Invade a imensid�o da praia, sem
Invading the vastness of the beach, without
Nunca por�m, um gr�o de areia expulsar.
Expelling a single grain of sand.
Em atropelo, ou�o-as segredar,
In a hurry, I hear them whispering,
Ora agrestes, ora ternas, duras ou sinceras;
Sometimes savage, sometimes tender, harsh or sincere;
De tanta fartura, ainda dou em louco,
So much abundance makes me go crazy,
Esque�o quem sou e torno-me um outro.
I forget who I am and become another person.
As que s�o tristes, mais tristes me soam;
The sad ones sound even sadder to me;
Agora que sei outro recurso n�o ter,
Now that I know I have no other resource,
Que ficar de novo encalhado
Than to get stuck again
Nas margens do eterno sofrer.
On the banks of eternal suffering.
Tamb�m as felizes, se tornam mais tristes,
Even the happy ones become sadder,
Pois para sempre se esvaneceram:
As they fade away forever:
Beijos, luxos, palavras do passado,
Kisses, luxury, words of the past,
S�o como frutos que em mim morreram.
Are like fruits that died in me.
Nada mais tenho que recorda��es,
I have nothing left but memories,
A minha vida j� h� muito se foi.
My life has been gone for a long time.
Como pode um morto cantar ainda?
How can a dead person still sing?
Em mim j� nenhum canto tem vida.
In me, there is no more life in any song.
Nas margens dos grandes mares,
On the banks of the great seas,
Na funda escurid�o dos bosques,
In the deep darkness of the woods,
Ou�o ainda o grande rumor despertar
I still hear the great rumor awaken
E nenhuma voz que o fa�a libertar.
And no voice frees it.
Contributed by Adalyn Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.