Capo Verdean Singer Cesaria Evora - "Sodade" (video & lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a video of Capo Verdean singer Cesaria Evora singing her most famous song "Sodade". Cape Verdean Creole lyrics and English lyrics to this song are also included in this post. In addition, this post provides information about Capo Verde, information about the song "Sodade", and information about Morna music, the genre of music to which the song "Sodade" belongs.

The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Cesaria Evora for her musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT CAPO VERDE (formerly known as "Cape Verde")
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde
The Cape Verde archipelago is located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 570 kilometres (350 mi) off the coast of West Africa, near Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania...

The country is a horseshoe-shaped cluster of ten islands (nine inhabited) and eight islets,[24] that constitute an area of 4033 km²...

...Cape Verde's population in the 21st century is mostly creole; the capital city Praia accounts for a quarter of the country's population. Over 65% of the population in the archipelago lives in urban centers....

Cape Verdeans are mulattos (mestiços in Portuguese), who have mixed African and European origins; another term is creole meaning mixed black and white descent.. Later foreigners from all over the world settled in Cape Verde, including from Asia, South America and other countries in Europe. The high degree of genetic and ethnic mixture of individuals is a result of centuries of migration...

Cape Verde's official language is Portuguese. It is the language of instruction and government. However, the Cape Verdean Creole is used colloquially and is the mother tongue of virtually all Cape Verdeans. Cape Verdean Creole or Kriolu is a dialect continuum of a Portuguese-based creole."

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "SODADE" (in Portuguese: "Saudade" and translated as "Longing" in English)
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade
"Saudade ... is a Portuguese or Galician word that has no direct translation in English. It describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing may never return...

Saudade is the recollection of feelings, experiences, places or events that once brought excitement, pleasure, well-being, which now triggers the senses and makes one live again. It can be described as an emptiness, like someone (e.g., one's children, parents, sibling, grandparents, friends, pets) or something (e.g., places, things one used to do in childhood, or other activities performed in the past) that should be there in a particular moment is missing, and the individual feels this absence. It brings sad and happy feelings all together, sadness for missing and happiness for having experienced the feeling...

As with all emotions, saudade has been an inspiration for many songs and compositions. "Sodade" (saudade in Cape Verdean Creole) is the title of the Cape Verde singer Cesária Évora's most famous song"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT MORNA MUSIC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morna_(music)
"The morna (pronunciation in both Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole: [ˈmɔɾnɐ]) is a music and dance genre from Cape Verde.

Lyrics are usually in Cape Verdean Creole, and instrumentation often includes cavaquinho, clarinet, accordion, violin, piano and guitar.

Morna is widely considered the national music of Cape Verde[citation needed], as is the fado for Portugal, the tango for Argentina, the merengue for Dominican Republic, the rumba for Cuba, and so on.

The best internationally known morna singer was Cesária Évora. Morna and other genres of Cape Verdean music are also played in Cape Verdean migrant communities abroad, especially in New England in the US, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, West Africa and parts of Latin America...

Themes
The theme of the morna is varied, but there are certain subjects that are approached with more frequency. Besides universal subjects like love, typically Cape Verdean subjects are talked about, such as departure abroad, the return, the saudade, love for the homeland and the sea"...
-snip-
"lift2live1", a commenter on a discussion thread for another video of this song wrote that
"morna was created in cabo verbe, it's the sound of the fishermen and tocatiniero after long day of work." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfyqQwoFPLY.

I think that "tocatiniero" means "musicians" (i.e. "tocadores" in Spanish). Please correct this if I've guessed wrong.

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INFORMATION ABOUT CESARIA EVORA
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ces%C3%A1ria_%C3%89vora
"Cesária Évora... 27 August 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Diva" for performing without shoes,[1] she was also known as the "Queen of Morna".[2]

...Évora's international success came only in 1988 with the release of her first album La Diva Aux Pieds Nus, recorded in France.[2] Her 1992 album Miss Perfumado sold over 300,000 copies worldwide, and included one of her most celebrated songs, "Sodade".[5]

Her 1995 album Cesária brought her broader international success and the first Grammy Award nomination.[2] In 1997, she won KORA All African Music Awards in three categories: "Best Artist of West Africa", "Best Album" and "Merit of the Jury".[6] In 2003, her album Voz d'Amor was awarded a Grammy in the World music category.[2]"...

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SHOWCADE VIDEO: CESARIA EVORA - Sodade. Live In Paris at Le Grand Rex, April 2004. (HD).



ingoleg oleg, Uploaded on Oct 31, 2010

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LYRICS: SODADE
(Writers: Amandio Cabral, Luis Morais)

Sodade
Quem mostra' bo
Ess caminho longe?
Quem mostra' bo
Ess caminho longe?
Ess caminho
Pa Sao Tomé

Sodade sodade
Sodade
Dess nha terra Sao Nicolau

Si bo 'screve' me
'M ta 'screve be
Si bo 'squece me
'M ta 'squece be
Até dia
Qui bo voltà

Sodade sodade
Sodade
Dess nha terra Sao Nicolau

-snip-

English Version: #1*

Longing
Who showed you...
this distant way?
Who showed you...
this distant way?
This way ...
to Sao Tomé

Longing, longing,...
Longing,...
For this land of mine, Sao Nicolau*

If you write me letter,...
I will write you back
If you forget me,...
I will forget you...
Until the day...
You come back


Source: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/sodade-longing.html
-snip-
*There are two other English translations at that site.

**Sao Nicolau = Saint Nicholas, island in Cape Verde

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