A successful Colombian music star, she had two number-one songs on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay charts. She won a 2004 Latin Grammy Award for the self titled album "Soraya" as "Best Album by Songwriter", which she produced, and a 2005 Latin Grammy Awards nomination for "Female Pop Vocal Album" for her album El Otro Lado de Mí (literally "The Other Side of Me"). She was the opening act for the 2005 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Her career spanned ten years, and she recorded five albums.
She was born Soraya Raquel Lamilla Cuevas in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, a year after her father, mother, and brother moved to the United States from their native Colombia. The family moved back to Colombia when she was a baby, but when Soraya was eight years old, they returned to New Jersey. "Soraya" is a very common name in the Middle East, and its meaning can be translated "rich" or "princess". Soraya's maternal side of the family was Lebanese Christians who emigrated from Lebanon to Colombia. Soraya's mother, Yamila Gharib Cuevas, had been a housewife in Colombia. Soraya's father, Gregorio, worked for an exporting company in Colombia; in the U.S., life was hard for the family, so to make ends meet, he worked three or four jobs.
Soraya first became interested in music at the age of five when she heard her uncle playing music in Colombia. Her uncle played "Pueblito Viejo", a Colombian traditional folk song using an instrument called the tiple, which is a kind of guitar with triple strings. Her parents bought her a guitar, which she taught herself how to play. She became proficient in classical violin, and her first 'public' performance was at Carnegie Hall in New York City as a member of the N.Y.C. Youth Philharmonic. She was valedictorian of her class at Point Pleasant Boro High School, where she began writing her own music.
Soraya was only twelve years old when her mother was first diagnosed with breast cancer; she was eighteen when her mother had a recurrence and twenty-two when her mother died, in 1992. Soraya had said that her sense of responsibility increased because she needed to take care of her mother and do all of the chores around the house. She would also go to the doctor's office with her mother; together they did breast-cancer research and participated in the Race for the Cure.
Soraya attended Rutgers University in New Jersey, where she studied English literature, French philosophy, and women's studies. Initially, Soraya worried she might be too shy to play before big crowds, but she eventually triumphed over her fear and realized her tremendous talent as a live performer when she played to rapt audiences at coffee houses and rallies around the sprawling Rutgers campus. She worked as a flight attendant before starting her music career.
Soraya obtained a record contract with Polygram Records/Island Records in 1996. Her first album, released simultaneously in both English and Spanish was titled "On Nights Like This / En Esta Noche". Both versions received positive critical acclaim and enabled her to tour in the U.S., Latin America, and Europe, as a guest performer in concerts for famous musicians such as Natalie Merchant, Zucchero, Sting, Michael Bolton, and Alanis Morissette.
Her songs climbed to the top of the charts just about everywhere in Latin American, European, and U.S.' Hispanic markets. Her first single "Suddenly/De Repente" reached #1 in Billboard Latin Pop listings, with the English version receiving some mainstream Adult Contemporary airplay. Her second album, Torre de Marfil / Wall of Smiles, titled after a song co-written with her idol Carole King was released in late 1997, and helped her attain worldwide recognition.
Unfortunately, in 2000, she was diagnosed with Stage III Breast Cancer, shortly after the release of her third album "Cuerpo y Alma / I'm Yours" — just days before she was about to tour and promote it. She took time off to fight this deadful disease.
Feeling healthy and in remission, Soraya returned to the music scene in 2003 with the release of her fourth and self-titled album "Soraya". The songs reflected her struggles, beliefs, and love for life. She composed, produced, and arranged this Latin Grammy winner for "Best Album by a Singer-Songwriter" and once again - Soraya was at the top.
She created one more successful album - "El Otro Lado de Mí", before she finally succumbed to the disease in 2006.
Soraya died of breast cancer on May 10, 2006, aged 37. She was first diagnosed in 2000, at the age of 31, after finding a lump while conducting a routine self-examination. She was diagnosed at Stage III and had a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction as well as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. In addition to her own death, Soraya lost her mother, a grandmother, and a maternal aunt to breast cancer.
Breast cancer advocateSoraya was a breast cancer advocate for support and education, especially of Hispanic women. Soraya became the first Latin spokesperson for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, touring the Americas to raise awareness. During September and October, she took a break from her music career to focus on breast awareness.
In order to encourage other women like herself, Soraya wrote and recorded "No One Else/Por Ser Quien Soy", a song that reflects her experience in fighting breast cancer. Both tracks can be downloaded on her official website. All proceeds benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
"I know there are many questions without answers, and that hope doesn't leave with me, and above all, that my mission does not end with my physical story" were Soraya's last words to her fans and the media before her passing.
Náufrago
Soraya Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The lyrics of Soraya's song Naufrago tell the story of someone lost at sea during a storm. The singer's soul is flooded, and they feel like they are losing their balance. They are fatigued and can't find the strength to fight anymore. However, suddenly they hear a voice, and they feel the weight of their body lifting like a pen in the air. The rays of the sun burn holes in the dark sky, and suddenly everything they feel is pure love. The singer sees the mainland on the horizon, and they are determined to reach it. They deny entrance to negative thoughts and doubts and believe in themselves. They feel aided by love, and suddenly the movement stops.
This song is a metaphor for overcoming difficult times in life. The storm represents the struggles people face, and the love discussed in the song is the hope that helps people get through difficult times. The singer's determination to reach the mainland and their refusal to give up represents the strength and resilience that people can have in the face of adversity. The love mentioned in the song can come from many sources, such as family, friends, or faith. It is a reminder that love is always there to help, especially during the hardest moments.
Line by Line Meaning
Lost in the sea during a storm
I am lost and alone in the midst of raging waters and unforgiving weather
My flooded soul no longer holds but the sky is hidden after a cloud blanket
My troubled heart is overwhelmed and cannot bear any more pain, but there is hope hidden beyond the dark clouds
Not to where I go nor what I leave atrás
I am unsure of where I am headed nor what I am leaving behind
No if is by day or if it is at night
I cannot distinguish between day and night as I am lost in the stormy waters
Not if it is tomorrow or if it is an endless today
I cannot tell if it is the future or if I am stuck in an eternal present of hopelessness
the waves noquean to me without mercy
The waves batter me relentlessly with no mercy
I feel that my balance goes away huir
I am losing my footing and feel like running away
Siento to me the fatigue in each one of my bones
I feel exhausted to the core of my being
the force to fight evaporates in my sweat
I am losing the strength to fight and the effort is making me sweat
the reason is leaving the dominion of my mind
I am struggling to keep my thoughts in order and my mind is becoming chaotic
I feel like prey in the chains of my dolor
I feel trapped and helpless in the chains of my pain and suffering
De sudden movement I listen to a voice
Suddenly, I hear a voice
Right away I feel an aid
Immediately, I feel a sense of help and support
All the weight of my body floats in air as a pen
All the burden on my body is lifted and I feel weightless like a feather
the rays of the sun Suddenly Burn hollows in the dark sky
The sun's rays pierce through the darkness and bring light to my life
Everything what I feel it is a love a love puro
All I can feel is a pure and unconditional love
A my around I see those that I have wanted
I see those whom I have loved and longed for
Those that has suffered and no longer they suffer but
Those who have suffered like me, but are no longer suffering
Removing on its wings from this danger
They rescue me and carry me away from danger
Taking me to another one lugar
Taking me to a new place
Se that it is not a dream never I have been but wide-awake
I realize that it is not a dream, and that I am fully awake
that crazy I am not felt to me but complete
I feel whole and complete, not crazy as I thought before
that I have much but to offer
I have much to offer to this new life
that in my life I have deep and full much hacer
I have a lot to do and accomplish in my life
Respiro mus lungs the salty air burning my skin
I breathe in the salty air that burns my skin
Everything becomes black and white
Everything around me becomes clearer and simpler
I surrender in the arms of this sencillez
I let go and surrender to the simplicity of this moment
Veo love mainland in the horizon
I see love and hope in the distance
This to a distance but I go to reach
I know that it is far, but I will strive to reach it
Barely I touch it the advanced water
I am close to reaching it, but the water prevents me from reaching it fully
Leaving to one hello atrás
Leaving behind any doubts or regrets
Toda my energy immense the fact forwards is nothing goes to block my road to La Paz
I feel immense energy and nothing can stop me from moving forward towards peace and harmony
I deny entrance to Him to negative thoughts
I refuse to let negative thoughts take hold of me
I do not doubt single I create and of the rest sudden movement is no mas
I have no doubt that I can create my own future, and the sudden movements of the past will not hold me back anymore
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: SORAYA LAMILLA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ángel Delducca
Soy adicto a esta canción, es una alabanza para mis oídos y corazón, descansa en Paz Soraya. Dios te tenga en su santa gloria...
Daniel Rojas Tovar
Cierto, la letra de esta canción es insuperable, magistral.
Elio Carrillo
Yo creo que por esta canción se ganó el Grammy a mejor album de cantautor. Es increíble
Ands R
2020 y aun vive Soraya ^_^
pedro Pabuena
2018 Sigo escuchando a soraya
Amira Rosso
Que letra 😭muy buen 👌
Jose Ortiz
Entre La Vida y La Muerte
Silvia Ardiles De Valencia
Gracias
Rosaura Francisco
soraya
Rosaura Francisco
soraya