Cristina Branco was born in December, 1972, in Almeirim, Ribatejo, Portugal… Read Full Bio ↴Cristina Branco was born in December, 1972, in Almeirim, Ribatejo, Portugal, where she still lives. Her music is deeply rooted in tradition, yet essentially modern.

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.

Soluço
Cristina Branco Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Vasco Graça Moura / Pedro Moreira

aqui me tens agora toda nua
deitada junto a ti como se fosse
branco areal onde se espraia a lua
e o marulhar das vagas é mais doce

sou estrela-do-mar e sou molusco

sou mucosa e cetim de lés a lés,
sou de dor e prazer e sou um brusco
redemoinho de algas e marés,

sou a ninfa que vai desgovernada
feita de espuma a entrar no temporal,
sou vulcão, carne viva, uivo e golfada
de amor e de agonia em espiral,

sou garras, dentes, língua, turbilhão
da lava de carícias nas veredas

de me enroscar em ti e ao fim, então,
sou um longo soluço em labaredas.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Soluço" by Cristina Branco are beautifully poetic and describe the feeling of vulnerability and intensity that comes with being in love. The singer is describing herself as being completely exposed and vulnerable, lying next to her lover as if she were part of the moonlit beach. She describes herself as both delicate and rough, as if she were made of both delicate fabrics and harsh ocean elements. She is a nymph being tossed about by the stormy sea, but also a volcano, full of passion, love, and agony.

Throughout the song, the singer paints a vivid picture of the intense emotions and physical sensations that come with being in love. She describes herself as claws, teeth, and a whirlwind of lava-hot passion, enmeshing herself with her partner until the two of them become one. The final lines of the song suggest that the singer's love and passion will continue to burn bright, causing her to shake and tremble with a long "soluço," or a deep, shuddering sigh of desire.

Line by Line Meaning

aqui me tens agora toda nua
Here I am now, completely naked in front of you

deitada junto a ti como se fosse
Lying next to you as if

branco areal onde se espraia a lua
a white sand beach where the moon spreads out

e o marulhar das vagas é mais doce
and the sound of the waves is sweeter

sou estrela-do-mar e sou molusco
I am a starfish and I am a mollusk

sou mucosa e cetim de lés a lés,
I am mucus and satin from side to side,

sou de dor e prazer e sou um brusco
I am of pain and pleasure and I am a sudden

redemoinho de algas e marés,
whirlwind of seaweed and tides,

sou a ninfa que vai desgovernada
I am the nymph that goes uncontrolled

feita de espuma a entrar no temporal,
made of foam entering the storm,

sou vulcão, carne viva, uivo e golfada
I am a volcano, living flesh, moan and spout