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
Testamento
Joana Amendoeira Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Do bairro mais velho e escuro
Deixo meus brincos, lavrados
Em cristal límpido e puro
E áquela virgem esquecida
Sonhando alto uma lenda
Deixo o meu vestido branco
E este meu rosário antigo
De contas da côr dos céus
Ofereço-o áquele amigo
Que não acredita em Deus
E os livros, rosários meus
Das contas doutro sofrer
São para os homens humildes
Que nunca souberam ler
Quanto aos meus poemas loucos
Esses que são só de dôr
E aquele que são de esperança
São para ti, meu amor
P’ra que tu possa, um dia
Com passos feitos de lua
Oferecê-los ás crianças
Que encontrares em cada rua
The lyrics of Joana Amendoeira's song "Testamento" speak of a person who is on their deathbed and is giving away their possessions to others as a form of inheritance. The first stanza mentions leaving behind earrings made of pure and clear crystal to a girl from the oldest and darkest neighborhood. In the second stanza, the singer refers to leaving her white lace dress to a virgin who dreams of a legend. The following stanza mentions an old rosary with blessed beads of sky color that is given to a friend who does not believe in God.
The next stanza reveals that the singer's books and rosaries are to be given to the humble men who never learned to read. As for the singer's wild poems of pain and hope, they are given to the one the singer loves. The final stanza instructs the love of the singer's life to offer these gifts of words to the children they find on their path one day. Overall, "Testamento" is a powerful and reflective song about what it means to leave behind a legacy and give to others even in our final moments of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Á rapariga mais nova
To the youngest girl
Do bairro mais velho e escuro
From the oldest and darkest neighborhood
Deixo meus brincos, lavrados
I leave my carved earrings
Em cristal límpido e puro
Made of clear and pure crystal
E áquela virgem esquecida
And to that forgotten virgin
Sonhando alto uma lenda
Dreaming high of a legend
Deixo o meu vestido branco
I leave my white dress
Todo tecido de renda
Entirely made of lace
E este meu rosário antigo
And this old rosary of mine
De contas da cor dos céus
With beads of the color of the sky
Ofereço-o áquele amigo
I offer it to that friend
Que não acredita em Deus
Who does not believe in God
E os livros, rosários meus
And my books, my rosaries
Das contas doutro sofrer
With beads of another suffering
São para os homens humildes
Are for the humble men
Que nunca souberam ler
Who never knew how to read
Quanto aos meus poemas loucos
As for my crazy poems
Esses que são só de dôr
Those that are only about pain
E aquele que são de esperança
And those that are about hope
São para ti, meu amor
Are for you, my love
P’ra que tu possa, um dia
So that you can, one day
Com passos feitos de lua
With steps made of moonlight
Oferecê-los ás crianças
Offer them to the children
Que encontrares em cada rua
That you find on every street
Contributed by Micah G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.