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
Lisboa Amor E Saudade
Joana Amendoeira Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
E me entrego neste canto
Que em lisboa nasce em mim
É no tejo que eu me deito
E das janelas eu espreito
Sete colinas jardins
Senhora de fado e saudade
Seis letras nome cidade
Em espelhos feitos de mar
Onde em fados de luar
Os namorados se enleiam
Meu terreiro de paixões
Dos amores, das ilusões
Em tejos de tanto adeus
Por tudo isto te amo
No meu cante sempre chamo
O fado que é todo teu
É no tejo que eu me deito
Em lisboa é que eu me encontro
E me entrego neste canto
The lyrics to Joana Amendoeira's song "Lisboa Amor E Saudade" encapsulate the singer’s deep love and attachment to Lisbon. The song begins by expressing the idea that it is only in Lisbon that she truly finds herself and feels at home. Through her music, she feels that she exists in a space that only comes to life in Lisbon – a space that represents a deep-rooted sense of belonging.
The song goes on to describe the different elements of Lisbon that make it such a unique and special place – from the winding streets of Alfama to the seven hills that make up the city. The chorus speaks to the idea that Lisbon is a city of fado and saudade, a place that is synonymous with the iconic melancholy music genre that is so deeply embedded in Portuguese culture. The song describes how couples come together under the light of the moon to listen to and be moved by the music.
Overall, this song is a beautiful and heartfelt tribute to the city of Lisbon, capturing both its unique features and the deep sense of love and loss that are so inherent in Portuguese culture. The lyrics evoke a sense of nostalgia that is deeply connected to the unique experience of being in Lisbon.
Line by Line Meaning
Em lisboa é que eu me encontro
I find myself in Lisbon
E me entrego neste canto
And I surrender to this corner
Que em lisboa nasce em mim
That is born in me in Lisbon
É no tejo que eu me deito
It is in the Tagus that I lie down
E das janelas eu espreito
And I peek through the windows
Sete colinas jardins
Seven hills gardens
Senhora de fado e saudade
Lady of fado and saudade
Seis letras nome cidade
Six letters name city
Onde alfamas se penteiam
Where alleys comb themselves
Em espelhos feitos de mar
In mirrors made of sea
Onde em fados de luar
Where in moonlit fados
Os namorados se enleiam
Lovers embrace
Meu terreiro de paixões
My yard of passions
Dos amores, das ilusões
Of loves, of illusions
Em tejos de tanto adeus
In Tagus of so many goodbyes
Por tudo isto te amo
For all of this, I love you
No meu cante sempre chamo
In my song I always call
O fado que é todo teu
The fado that is all yours
É no tejo que eu me deito
It is in the Tagus that I lie down
Em lisboa é que eu me encontro
I find myself in Lisbon
E me entrego neste canto
And I surrender to this corner
Contributed by Claire T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.