Portuondo was born in October 1930 in Havana, one of three sisters; her mother came from a wealthy Spanish family, and had created a scandal by running off with and marrying a black professional baseball player. Omara started her career in 1945 as a dancer at Havana's Tropicana Club (following her older sister, Haydee). The two sisters used to sing for family and friends, however, and after a brief time in a band called Loquibambla Swing, in 1952 they got together with two friends (Elena Bourke and Moraima Secada) and formed the singing group Cuarteto las d'Aida, backed by pianist Aida Diestro. The group had considerable success, touring the United States, performing with Nat King Cole at the Tropicana, and recording an album for RCA Victor.
In 1959 Portuondo recorded a solo album, Magia Negra, involving both jazz and Cuban music. This didn't, however, mark the beginning of a solo career, and although Haydee left the group in 1961, Omara continued singing with Cuarteto las d'Aida until 1967.
In 1967 Portuondo embarked on a solo career, and in the same year represented Cuba at the Sopot Festival in Poland, singing Juanito Marquez' "Como un Milagro". Alongside her solo work, in the 1970s she sang with charanga band Orquestra Aragon, and toured with them.
In 1974 she recorded, with guitarist Martin Rojas, what would become one of her most critically acclaimed albums in which she sings praises to Salvador Allende and the people of Chile a year after the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet. Among many other hits from the album, she also praises the work of Ernesto "Che" Guevara in the beautiful "Hasta Siempre".
During the 1970s and 1980s Portuonda enjoyed considerable success at home and abroad, with tours, albums (including one of her most lauded recordings in 1984 with Adalberto Alvarez), film rôles, and her own television series. Her international profile was due to soar, however, in 1996.
Portuondo sang (duetting with Compay Segundo) on the album Buena Vista Social Club in 1996. This led, not only to more touring (including playing at Carnegie Hall with the Buena Vista troupe) and her appearance in Wim Wenders' film The Buena Vista Social Club, but to two further albums for the World Circuit label: Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo (2000) and Flor de Amor (2004). In July 2005 she presented a symphonic concert of her most important repertoire at the Berlin Festival Classic Open Air am Gendarmenmarkt for an audience of 7,000. The entire program was specially orchestrated by Roberto Sánchez Ferrer, a colleague with whom she had worked during her early years at Havana's Tropicana Club. Scott Lawton conducted the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg.
Killing Me Softly
Omara Portuondo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style
And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud
I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there
And he just kept on singing, singing clear and strong
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
He was strumming my pain, yeah, he was singing my life
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
With his song
The lyrics to Omara Portuondo's "Killing Me Softly" describe the experience of being moved by a singer's performance to the point of being emotionally overwhelmed. The singer describes a young boy, a stranger to her eyes, who is able to connect with her on a deep level through the power of his music. She is so affected by his performance that she feels as though he is telling her whole life story through his words and music. The lyrics repeatedly use the phrase "killing me softly" to convey the intense emotional impact of the singer's performance, suggesting that it is both beautiful and painful.
The opening lines of the song describe the singer "strumming my pain with his fingers" and "singing my life with his words," suggesting that his music has the power to evoke deeply personal emotions in the listener. The singer describes feeling embarrassed by the crowd and wishing that the singer would stop reading her letters out loud, indicating that what the singer is expressing may be too personal to share publicly. The singer also describes feeling as though the singer knows her "in all [her] dark despair," suggesting that his music is able to connect with deep-seated emotional pain.
The repeated refrain of "killing me softly" emphasizes both the beauty and the pain of the singer's performance. The singer is able to convey the singer's life story through his music, but this experience is also deeply affecting and even overwhelming. By the end of the song, the singer feels as though the singer is "strumming [her] pain" and "singing [her] life," suggesting that his music has become an intimate part of her own experience of the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Strumming my pain with his fingers
He plays his guitar in a way that brings forth all the emotional trauma I've ever experienced
Singing my life with his words
The lyrics of his song reflect my own personal experiences so clearly that it feels like he's singing about my own life
Killing me softly with his song
This song is hurting me emotionally but it's also something that I can't stop listening to
Telling my whole life with his words
This song is kind of like a biography of my life, with each verse revealing some new detail about me
I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style
Before I ever heard him sing, I had heard rumors that he was a talented musician with a unique style
And so I came to see him to listen for a while
Out of curiosity, I decided to go see him perform live and see if the rumors were true
And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes
When I arrived, I saw that he was a young man and someone I did not know
I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd
As he sang, I began to feel overwhelmed with emotion and uncomfortably aware of the people around me
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud
The lyrics of his song seemed to reflect my own private thoughts and feelings so accurately that it felt like he had somehow read my personal letters
I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on
Although I was becoming more and more uncomfortable, I couldn't bring myself to leave, and instead prayed for the song to end soon
He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair
The way he sang about my own personal struggles made it seem like he knew me and my problems intimately
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there
Despite the personal nature of his song, he seemed to not even notice me, as if he was just singing for himself and not for an audience
And he just kept on singing, singing clear and strong
He continued to sing the song with no falter in his voice, despite the pain it was causing me
He was strumming my pain, yeah, he was singing my life
The song was so personal that it felt like he was playing and singing about my own unique pains and experiences
With his song
The song was the tool with which he was able to communicate so effectively with me, despite not even knowing me
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Norman Gimbel, Charles Fox
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@cadoume
Son tantas las cosas
Que dice
canta mi historia esa voz
suave me mata su ritmo
esos acordes
yo he visto toda mi vida
pasando por sus palabras
su emoción!
oi que alguien cantaba
una buena canción
era una muchacha dulce
un ángel dije yo
que estilo aquel que suerte
tuve de conocerle!
toca mi piel cuando dice
ondas palabras de amor
suave me mata su ritmo
y al encontrarle
ya nada pareció extraño
me hizo sentir de nuevo la pasión!
pedazos de mi vida
narrava su canción
de donde me conoce?
que extraño pense yo!
cantaba mi esperanza y un poco mi dolor
suave me mata ese canto
sostiene mi vida esa voz
suave me mata este ritmo
esa mirada
su risa cambia mi vida
cantando con toda el alma
su canción!
atras quedan temores
toda la soledad
un nuevo sol alumbra
entera la ciudad
la conocí cantando
con su canción me encantó
una emocion increíble
canta mi vida esa voz
canción ke me esta matando
y me despierta
su ritmo
tan dulces sueños
dormidos nuevos caminos
de mi amor!
killing me softly!!!
toca mi piel cuando dice
ondas palabras de amor
suave me mata su ritmo
y al encontrarte
ya nada pareció extraño
me hizo sentir de nuevo la pasión!
@silviariveradepaz23
No me canso de escuchar esta magnífica interpretación de bella, hermosa Sra. Omara Portuondo. Se que tiene 92 años, el año pasado todavía visito la ciudad de Querétaro, México, hice fila para obtener un boleto pero no tuve suerte😪tiene un mundo de seguidores.
@rubeneduardomontenegro9367
Cadencia y ritmo perfectos. Ademas, bella mujer.¡
Gracias por compartir esta creacion en español . Omara, te he adoptado como la mejor voz femenina de Cuba. Gracias por este regalo a mis oidos.¡
@arthurgd5771
Escuchar esta canción con un mojito cayendo la tarde, eso es felicidad absoluta. Saludos desde Colombia.
@rosaibarguen1887
BELLA OMARA MIS RESPETOS SIEMPRE, TRANSPORTA LA CUBANIA , EL RITMO LA ARMONIA , EL TALENTO Y LA VOZ PRODIGIA QUE DIOS TE DIO , DIOS TE BENDIGA , Y GRACIAS POR EL LEGADO QUE SIEMPRE NOS HAS DADO NOS DAS Y NOS DEJARAS UN BESO DESDE NEW YORK
@jaimealayo
Omara es quiza, para mi gusto, la mejor exponente cubana contemporanea. Me fascina su estilo, su voz, su clase. Una fuera de serie. Que viva CUBA!!!!!!
@helizcastillo6799
El mejor cover pero por mucho🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
@adelestevezmercado
Viva Cuba y sus grandes artistas desde Republica Dominicana mucho amor!
@gloriabahamondes8211
Que hermoso...y hermosa usted Omara, su voz y esta canción de mis recuerdos colegiales y felicidades😔♥️🇵🇪🇨🇦🙏
@miguellambis812
no me canso de escuchar sus canciones.. Grande Omaraaaaaaaaa
@gretareinberg932
Caspita che ritmo! Me encantaria tener un compañero psra bailar!!!!!!!❤❤❤