In June 2001, a young Capeverdean singer, hardly 16 years old, completely unknown until then, won a gold medal at the Plays of Francophonie singing contest in Ottawa Hull in Canada among 35 competitors from around world. Mayra Curado Andrade obtained the first Gold medal for her country during an international singing competition.
This event was huge for Cape Verde , since music is one of the principal exported wealth for this small archipelago of ten islands lost in the Atlantic Ocean 500 kilometers of the coasts of Senegal . The young Mayra, who is today the figurehead of the rising generation of singers of her country, was born in Cuba from Capeverdean parents. Mayra lived in Senegal, in Angola, then in Germany.
At 13 years old, she was already noticed for her voice and her personality. She was selected to sing in Belgium during a conference dedicated to Dalaï LAMA' students. After her victory at the Francophonie in Canada, Mayra did not stop performing. She toured Cape Verde, in particular at Praia and Mindelo.
Then, in the mythical room the "Coliseu Dos Recreios" in Lisbon , she sang alongside Bau, former instrumentalist of Césaria Evora. It is in July 2002 that Mayra is invited for the very first time in France, to the Festival of Jazz of "Rendezvous de l'Erdre". On stage, at the sides of two great ladies of the international jazz, the New-Yorker Sheila Jordan and Armenian Datévik Hovanessian, Mayra obtained an enormous success.
She enchanted the Congress of the City of Nantes during the opening of the 24th International Festival of film of the three continents while singing "a Cappella". Then, it was at the "Festival de la Harpe" that Mayra was the headline for the first time. The invitations began to follow: at the Africajarc Festival, she performed beside Joe Zawinul, Ismael Lo, and Angélique Kidjo. She opened for Césaria Evora at New Morning in Paris, for Enrico Macias in the "Festopale" at Etaples and for the Cuban Ernesto Titos Puentes at the time of the "Festival of Jazz" of Valves.
Mayra imposes consequently her own style. She is astonishingly at ease with Morna, Funana, Coladera, and Batuque while adding a bit of jazz. Her personality and her talent bring a true new breath to the music of the islands of Cape Verde, heir of a mixture of rhythms of Africa, the Old man-Continent.
La Javanaise
Mayra Andrade Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mon amour
Avant d'avoir eu vent de vous
Mon amour
A votre avis qu'avons nous vu
De l'amour
De vous a moi vous m'avez eu
Ne vous déplaise
En dansant la Javanaise
Nous nous aimions
Le temps d'une chanson
Hélas avril en vain me voue
A l'amour
J'avais envie de voir en vous
Cet amour
Ne vous déplaise
En dansant la Javanaise
Nous nous aimions
Le temps d'une chanson
La vie ne vaut d'être vécue
Sans amour
Mais c'est vous qu'il avez voulu
Mon amour
Ne vous déplaise
En dansant la Javanaise
Nous nous aimions
Le temps d'une chanson
Hélas avril en vain me voue
A l'amour
J'avais envie de voir en vous
Cet amour
Ne vous déplaise
En dansant la Javanaise
Nous nous aimions
Le temps d'une chanson
La vie ne vaut d'être vécue
Sans amour
Mais c'est vous qu'il avez voulu
Mon amour
Ne vous déplaise
En dansant la Javanaise
Nous nous aimions
Le temps d'une chanson.
Mayra Andrade's La Javanaise is a beautiful, melancholic song that speaks about the rollercoaster of emotions that is love. The first two lines "J'avoue j'en ai bavé pas vous, Mon amour" (I admit I struggled, didn't you, my love) set the tone for the rest of the song, as it becomes evident that the singer has experienced some pain in the past before encountering the person they are addressing. The second stanza "A votre avis qu'avons nous vu, De l'amour, De vous a moi vous m'avez eu, Mon amour" (What, in your opinion, have we seen of love? From you to me, you had me, my love) speaks of how the person has won over the singer and overcome their past struggles.
The recurrent stanza "Ne vous déplaise, En dansant la Javanaise, Nous nous aimions, Le temps d'une chanson" (Don't be offended, while dancing la Javanaise, we loved each other, for the duration of a song) alludes to the idea of a brief encounter, a moment of fleeting passion that happened while dancing. The following stanzas express the singer's longing to experience love again with this person and the acknowledgment that life is not worth living without it.
Overall, this song beautifully encapsulates the intensity of emotions that come with love, the past struggles it may involve, and the fleeting nature of some encounters that stay with us for a lifetime.
Line by Line Meaning
J'avoue j'en ai bavé pas vous
I confess that I've struggled, haven't you? My love...
Avant d'avoir eu vent de vous
Before I ever heard of you, my love...
A votre avis qu'avons nous vu
What do you think we've seen, of love, my love?
De l'amour
Of love
De vous a moi vous m'avez eu
From you to me, you've won me over, my love
Ne vous déplaise
If you don't mind
En dansant la Javanaise
While dancing the Javanaise
Nous nous aimions
We loved each other
Le temps d'une chanson
The time of one song
Hélas avril en vain me voue
Unfortunately, April devotes me to love in vain
J'avais envie de voir en vous
I wanted to see in you, my love
Cet amour
That love
La vie ne vaut d'être vécue
Life isn't worth living
Sans amour
Without love
Mais c'est vous qu'il avez voulu
But you're the one I wanted, my love
Contributed by Chase C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.