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
Saudade Por Cantar
Joana Amendoeira Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De eu ter guardado na minha mão
O canto que foi roubado de um coração
O infinito vem á lembrança
Ouvindo o grito onde descansa
A viola que o Paquito deixou de herança
Presa á vontade que tenho de te encontrar
E o que foi feito do dia
Se quando a noite caía sobre o meu xaile bordado
Eu pressentia que a saudade me pedia
Para ir á Mouraria aprender o que é o fado
Quem me conhece vai reparar
Que há uma prece no meu olhar
Quanto a saudade se esquece de me abraçar
The lyrics to Joana Amendoeira's song "Saudade Por Cantar" speak about the deep emotional connection that exists between the Fado singer and their audience. Fado is a Portuguese style of music that is known for its melancholic and nostalgic themes, and the singer acknowledges that those who come to listen to Fado know the reason for her keeping the song close to her heart. The singer talks about how the song was taken from a heart, which could be interpreted as a lost love or a missed opportunity.
The song brings to mind a sense of infinity or eternity, as one can hear the cry and mournful notes of the guitar and imagine the long line of singers who have come before. The mention of the late Paquito and the violin he left behind as an inheritance adds to the idea of a legacy, a tradition of Fado that has been passed down through generations. The singer laments the "Saudade" (a Portuguese word that describes a deep feeling of longing or yearning for something that is gone or lost) that must be left unsung, bound by the desire to see the person they miss so much.
The final verse of the song speaks to the deeply emotional nature of the singer's connection to this music. The singer acknowledges that those who know her well will recognize the prayer in her eyes when she is overtaken by this feeling of Saudade. The song is a haunting tribute to memories of love and loss.
Line by Line Meaning
Quem vai ao fado sabe a razão
Those who attend fado know the reason
De eu ter guardado na minha mão
Why I've held onto
O canto que foi roubado de um coração
The song stolen from someone's heart
O infinito vem á lembrança
The infinite comes to mind
Ouvindo o grito onde descansa
Hearing the cry where it rests
A viola que o Paquito deixou de herança
The viola Paquito left as inheritance
Quanta saudade foi ficando por cantar
How much longing was left unspoken
Presa á vontade que tenho de te encontrar
Trapped by my desire to find you
E o que foi feito do dia
And what happened to the day
Se quando a noite caía sobre o meu xaile bordado
If when night fell on my embroidered shawl
Eu pressentia que a saudade me pedia
I sensed that longing was asking me
Para ir á Mouraria aprender o que é o fado
To go to Mouraria and learn what fado is
Quem me conhece vai reparar
Those who know me will notice
Que há uma prece no meu olhar
That there's a prayer in my eyes
Quanto a saudade se esquece de me abraçar
When longing forgets to embrace me
Contributed by Peyton W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Tiber Gursoy
supper