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.

Toada em Realejo
Cristina Branco Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A tristeza poisa em mim
Como folha em parapeito
Desliza pelos recantos
Mais secretos, do meu peito

Cai a noite nos meus olhos
Que entardeceram cansados
E as minhas mãos vacilantes

São roseirais desfolhados

O silêncio chega e pára
Mesmo em frente da vidraça
Na janela onde o meu rosto
Desenha uma imagem baça

E ao poisar devagarinho
Sobre mim, sem dôr nem estrago

A tristeza tem o jeito
E a doçura de um afago>

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Toada em Realejo" by Cristina Branco convey feelings of sadness and melancholy. The first verse describes how sadness settles on the singer like a leaf on a windowsill, slipping into the deepest corners of her heart. She speaks of the nightfall in her tired eyes, of her drifting thoughts and trembling hands like rose bushes losing their petals. The second verse mentions the silence that surrounds her, stopping in front of the window where her face is devoid of any color, and the way sadness slowly emerges upon her without causing any harm, but rather embracing her in a gentle way.

The song seems to be about the acceptance of sadness as part of life, even though it can be hard to bear. Despite the weariness and emptiness, there is some solace found in the beauty of the melancholy itself. The way the singer describes her sadness is both somber and comforting, allowing her to find some peace in her pain. The chorus repeats the line "Ai meu amor", which seems to be spoken to someone who is not there, perhaps someone who might understand her pain but is absent. Overall, the song is a beautiful and introspective expression of the complex, yet universal, emotion of sadness.

Line by Line Meaning

A tristeza poisa em mim
Sorrow lingers upon me, like a leaf on a windowsill

Como folha em parapeito
Drifting through the secret corners of my chest

Desliza pelos recantos
The night falls within my tired eyes

Mais secretos, do meu peito
As my faltering hands wither like roses

Cai a noite nos meus olhos
Silence comes to a stop before the window

Que entardeceram cansados
Where my tired face is drawn vaguely

E as minhas mãos vacilantes
As the sorrow lands upon me, softly and without pain

São roseirais desfolhados
With the gentleness of an embrace

Contributed by Grayson I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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