Amendoeira was born in Santarém, Portugal in 1982, making her the youngest singer from Portugal performing fado around the world today. Her singing style is classic and traditional, yet her unique vocals bring a bright, new glow to fado.
In 1994, a young Amendoeira participated in the Lisbon Grand Fado Gala, where she received enthusiastic praise from the jury and the audience. In the following year, she won the “Female Interpreter Award” at the Oporto Gala. From that date on, she has been performing non-stop around Portugal and the world. Some of her favourite experiences include travelling to Budapest to perform in front of a remote Portuguese community, performing with fado legend Carlos do Carmo at the Radio Alpha Auditorium in Paris, and her first time in the Americas as a headliner at the Commemorations of the 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of Brazil.
Four years later her first album was released: 1998’s Olhos Garotos (Playful Eyes), thereby giving her the honour of being the youngest fado singer with a published CD. Her second CD followed shortly thereafter in 2000, when Aquela Rua (That Street) was released to outstanding reviews. This was also the year that Amendoeira began singing regularly at Clube de Fado (The Fado Club), one of most renowned fado houses in Lisbon.
Her growing international acclaim brought the fadista to more corners of the world, receiving invitations to sing in Japan, Moscow and Holland (at the prestigious Muziekcentrum Vredenburg). Meanwhile, back in her homeland of Portugal, Amendoeira was asked to take part in some of the top fado anthologies, such as Novas Vozes, Novos Fados (New Voices, New Fados) and Nova Biografia do Fado (Fado’s New Biography). She also contributed to the Moniz Pereira homage album, as well as the soundtrack to the TV series Jóia de África (African Jewel).
In 2003, her third CD, the self-titled Joana Amendoeira, received enthusiastic praise from fado devotees, reviewers and audiences alike. The album’s promotional tour sent Amendoeira once again through Europe, this time performing in Spain, France and Austria, to name a few. The tour also brought her to Canada for the first time, where she performed at Montreal’s Strictly Mundial.
Amendoeira achieved further success when she received the 2004 Revelation Award from Casa da Imprensa (The Portuguese Press Association). That same year she presented her first solo show at one of Lisbon’s oldest and most illustrious stages—The São Luiz Theatre. This performance would later be turned into her first live album, Ao Vivo Em Lisboa (Live in Lisbon), released in July 2005.
The complete biography and more info about this singer can be found on www.joanaamendoeira.com
Balada De Neve
Joana Amendoeira Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Como quem chama por mim.
Será chuva? será gente?
Gente não é, certamente
E a chuva não bate assim.
É talvez a ventania:
Mas há pouco, há poucochinho,
Na quieta melancolia
Dos pinheiros do caminho...
Quem bate, assim, levemente,
Com tão estranha leveza,
Que mal se ouve, mal se sente?
Não é chuva, nem é gente,
Nem é vento com certeza.
Fui ver. a neve caía
Do azul cinzento do céu,
Branca e leve, branca e fria...
. há quanto tempo a não via!
E que saudades, deus meu!
Olho-a através da vidraça.
Pôs tudo da cor do linho.
Passa gente e, quando passa,
Os passos imprime e traça
Na brancura do caminho...
Fico olhando esses sinais
Da pobre gente que avança,
E noto, por entre os mais,
Os traços miniaturais
Duns pezitos de criança...
E descalcinhos, doridos...
A neve deixa inda vê-los,
Primeiro, bem definidos,
Depois, em sulcos compridos,
Porque não podia erguê-los!...
Que quem já é pecador
Sofra tormentos, enfim!
Mas as crianças, senhor,
Porque lhes dais tanta dor?!...
Porque padecem assim?!...
E uma infinita tristeza,
Uma funda turbação
Entra em mim, fica em mim presa.
Cai neve na natureza
. e cai no meu coração.
The lyrics of the song Balada De Neve by Joana Amendoeira describe the peacefulness and beauty of a snowfall. It begins with the singer mentioning a light tapping sound as if someone was calling out to her. She wonders if it's the rain or people, but the sound is too light for people and too different for rain. She concludes that it must be the wind, but a while ago, there wasn't even a movement in the melancholic forest of pine trees along the path she's walking.
The singer then observes the falling snow through a window, and everything turns white like linen. As people pass by, the snow outlines their steps, and the singer can even see the tiny footsteps of children. She sees the marks left by their bare and sore feet on the snow and wonders why innocent children have to suffer. The snowfall gives her an overwhelming sadness and despair, which feels like it is clogging up her heart.
Overall, the song conveys the tranquility and peacefulness of a snowfall but also brings attention to the pain and suffering of innocent children, creating a melancholic and emotional atmosphere.
Line by Line Meaning
Batem leve, levemente, Como quem chama por mim.
Softly, lightly they beat, As if calling out to me.
Será chuva? será gente? Gente não é, certamente E a chuva não bate assim.
Is it rain? Is it people? It cannot be people, and rain does not beat like this.
É talvez a ventania: Mas há pouco, há poucochinho, Nem uma agulha bulia Na quieta melancolia Dos pinheiros do caminho...
Maybe it is the wind, but a little while ago, not a single needle stirred in the quiet melancholy of the pine trees on the path...
Quem bate, assim, levemente, Com tão estranha leveza, Que mal se ouve, mal se sente? Não é chuva, nem é gente, Nem é vento com certeza.
Who beats like this, so softly, with such strange lightness, that it is barely heard, barely felt? It's not rain, nor people, nor wind for certain.
Fui ver. a neve caía Do azul cinzento do céu, Branca e leve, branca e fria... Há quanto tempo a não via! E que saudades, deus meu!
I went to see. The snow was falling from the gray-blue sky, White and light, white and cold... How long had it been since I saw it! Oh how I missed it, my God!
Olho-a através da vidraça. Pôs tudo da cor do linho. Passa gente e, quando passa, Os passos imprime e traça Na brancura do caminho...
I watch it through the window. It has turned everything the color of linen. People pass by, and when they do, their steps imprint and trace on the whiteness of the path...
Fico olhando esses sinais Da pobre gente que avança, E noto, por entre os mais, Os traços miniaturais Duns pezitos de criança...
I keep looking at these signs Of the poor people moving on, And I notice, among others, The miniature marks Of little children's feet...
E descalcinhos, doridos... A neve deixa inda vê-los, Primeiro, bem definidos, Depois, em sulcos compridos, Porque não podia erguê-los!...
And barefoot, sore... The snow still shows them, First, well defined, Then, in long tracks, Because they couldn't lift them!...
Que quem já é pecador Sofra tormentos, enfim! Mas as crianças, senhor, Porque lhes dais tanta dor?!... Porque padecem assim?!...
Let sinners suffer torment in the end! But children, Lord, why would you give them so much pain?!... Why do they suffer like this?!...
E uma infinita tristeza, Uma funda turbação Entra em mim, fica em mim presa. Cai neve na natureza . E cai no meu coração.
And an infinite sadness, A deep disturbance, Enters me, stays trapped in me. Snow falls on nature . And it falls on my heart.
Contributed by Savannah F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Sonia Garcia
Decorei esse lindo poema ...qdo tinha doze anos...achei tão lindo..que o recito sempre p minhas netas..e bisneto...toca-me profundamente...(como melodia..ficou ainda mais sublime..)
Rachel Sala
Meu Deus foi minha primeira apresentação em público esse poema. Me superei pois era extremamente tímida.
Raquel Alexandre
❤❤