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
Fado ao deus dara
Joana Amendoeira Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A pedir esmola na rua
Perguntei-lhe: "-Tens que idade?"
Ela disse: "Tenho a tua."
Quando a mão esquerda crescia
À caridade de alguém
Se algum dos olhos sorria
Erguia ao céu os dois braços
Pedindo uma esmola a Deus
E apressava os seus passos
Para chegar depressa aos meus
Mas deixou-me ao Deus-dará
Como um velho que descobre
Naquela esmola que dá
Uma razão para ser pobre
Eu percorri a cidade
Na ânsia de me ir embora
Que quem dá esmola à saudade
Nunca mais sabe onde mora
Vivo agora pelas ruas
Mais secretas, mais sozinhas
A pedir saudades tuas
A quem tem saudades minhas.
The lyrics of "Fado ao deus dara" by Joana Amendoeira depict a powerful portrayal of nostalgia and loss. The opening lines "Encontrei uma saudade / A pedir esmola na rua" translates to "I met a longing / Begging for alms on the street". This reference to meeting nostalgia on the street sets the tone for the melancholic lyrics of the rest of the song. The singer then asks the nostalgia how old it is, and it responds that it is as old as the singer himself.
The lyrics then continue to describe the relationship between those who give to charity and those who receive. The imagery of the left hand and right hand not knowing what the other is doing, despite both helping the needy, highlights the sense of isolation and detachment that can often come with charity work. The nostalgia in the song is described as lifting its arms up to the sky, asking for alms from God, and hurrying to get to the singer. However, the nostalgia eventually leaves the singer alone and destitute, like an old man who discovers a reason to be poor in the act of giving.
In the final verses, the singer describes wandering the streets in search of the nostalgia, longing for the past and reminiscing about lost memories. The lines "A pedir saudades tuas / A quem tem saudades minhas" translates to "Asking for your longings / From those who long for mine". This creates a sense of cyclical longing and loss, as though there is no escape from the pain of nostalgia.
Line by Line Meaning
Encontrei uma saudade
I encountered a feeling of nostalgia
A pedir esmola na rua
Begging for alms in the street
Perguntei-lhe: "-Tens que idade?"
I asked her: "How old are you?"
Ela disse: "Tenho a tua."
She replied: "I am the same age as you."
Quando a mão esquerda crescia
When the left hand was growing
À caridade de alguém
Through someone's charity
Se algum dos olhos sorria
If one of the eyes smiled
O outro dizia Ámen
The other said amen
Erguia ao céu os dois braços
She raised both arms to the sky
Pedindo uma esmola a Deus
Begging for alms from God
E apressava os seus passos
And hurried her steps
Para chegar depressa aos meus
To quickly reach my side
Mas deixou-me ao Deus-dará
But left me to fate's mercy
Como um velho que descobre
Like an old man who discovers
Naquela esmola que dá
In that alms he gives
Uma razão para ser pobre
A reason to be poor
Eu percorri a cidade
I wandered through the city
Na ânsia de me ir embora
In the eagerness to leave
Que quem dá esmola à saudade
For whoever gives alms to nostalgia
Nunca mais sabe onde mora
Never knows where they live
Vivo agora pelas ruas
I now live in the streets
Mais secretas, mais sozinhas
More secluded, more lonely
A pedir saudades tuas
Begging for memories of you
A quem tem saudades minhas.
From those who have memories of me.
Contributed by Lincoln S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.