Portuguese Cape Verdian Singer Sara Tavares - "Longe do Mundo" & "Ginga"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents information about Portuguese Cape Verdian singer Sara Tavares and showcases one sound file of the song Longe do Mundo and one video of her singing "Ginga"

Portuguese lyrics and English translations of the song Longe do Mundo is also included in this post. Tat song are also included in this post.

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

All copyrights remain with their owner.

Thanks to Sara Tavares for her musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these YouTube examples.

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INFORMATION ABOUT SARA TAVARES
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Tavares
"Sara Alexandra Lima Tavares (born 1 February 1978) is a Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and percussionist. She was born and brought up in Lisbon, Portugal, where she still lives. Second-generation Portuguese of Cape Verdean descent, she composes African, Portuguese and North American influenced world music. She composes in Portuguese and Portuguese-based creole languages. Although Portuguese is the main language of her songs, it's not rare to find in her repertoire multilingual songs mixing Portuguese with Portuguese creole and even English in the same song (e.g."One Love").
Tavares won the 1993/1994 final of the Endemol song contest Chuva de Estrelas (performing Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time"), which helped her win the Portuguese Television Song Contest final in 1994, consequently earning a place in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Chamar a Música" reaching 8th place.

She's also known for singing the European-Portuguese version of "God Help the Outcasts" for the Disney movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," which won a Disney award for the best version of the original song. She also won a Portuguese Golden Globe for Best Portuguese Singer in 2000….

Her more recent work is much more influenced by jazz, soul and African music, and she has a strong following amongst jazz enthusiasts.

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
Example #1: Longe do Mundo - Sara Tavares (lyrics) [English translation: Far from the World]



Sandra Reis, Uploaded on Jan 6, 2008

Eu não sei se vais ouvir-me
Se estás aí ou não
Eu não sei se compreendes
Esta oração

Se eu p'ra ti sou uma estranha
Que o coração perdeu
É ao ver-te que eu pergunto
Se já foste como eu

Longe do mundo, perto de ti
Peço conforto de quem eu fugi
Perdida, esquecida eu oro a ti
Longe do mundo mas perto de ti

Peço conforto e nada mais
Na voz dos que sofrem padecem sinais
Vêm de longe e chegam por fim
Quem vai ouvi-los? quem sofre assim?

Eu não sei se vais lembrar-te
De um coração tão só
Coração tão vagabundo
Que perde, chora, todos os dias

Longe do mundo mas perto de ti
Peço conforto de quem eu fugi
Venho de longe e chego por fim
Quem vai ouvir-me chama assim
Perdida, esquecida, aqui ao orar
Longe do mundo mas perto de ti...


English translation [from Portuguese]

I do not know if you're gonna hear me
If you are there or not
I do not know if you understand
this prayer

If I'm a stranger you p'ra
The heart lost
It is to see you I ask
If thou wast as I

Far from the world near you
I beg comfort of who I ran away
Lost, forgotten, I pray thee
Away from the world but close to you

I pray comfort and nothing more
The voice of those who suffer suffer signs
They come from far and arrive finally
Who will hear them? those who suffer so?

I do not know if you will remember
A heart so alone
Heart so bum
You lose, cry, every day

Away from the world but close to you
I beg comfort of who I ran away
I come from far and arrive finally
Who will hear me call so
Lost, forgotten, here to pray
Away from the world but close to you ...

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Example #2: World Music Winners - Cape Verde - Sara Tavares - Female Guitar Virtuoso


Seka Moke Published on Jun 20, 2012

World Music Winners - Cape Verde - Sara Tavares - Female Guitar Virtuoso
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread

2013
Hermi Cruz
"My tiny country Cape Verde Islands has beautiful music due to the blend of all cultures that stopped by."

**
carlosrd68
"I am telling you. Not sure how it happened, Brazil, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde. They put out this sweet rhythm that just naturally lifts you up. The Portuguese, the African, and the Brazilian influence. Just shake my head and say this is good."

**
Susan Dhifaoui
"the music of Cape Verde is beautiful-'morna' music similar to the prado music of Portugal. If you like this, you might also like to search Cesaria Evora; also a great CV musician who sadly passed away Dec. 2011"

**
MsBlabladada
"Depois de tanto tempo sem amor... Obrigada pela magia, pela ginga, pelo sentimento de ser feliz, colado a mim... Esse pok pok, tun, tun... Mexe tudo aqui dentro. Alegria vai no vento, festa no meu coração... Vem com sentimento em ser feliz. Coisa boa! Danke!"
-snip-
Google translate from Portuguese to English:
After so long without love ... Thank you for the magic, the ginga, the feeling of being happy, glued to me ... This pok pok, tun, tun ... Move all here. Joy goes in the wind, party in my heart ... Come with feeling happy. Good thing! Danke!

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moneylu777
"whats the name of this song?"

**
Vania K.
"Ginga"

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2014
Bekimon
"I do not speak Cape Verdean Creole and Portuguese but this is just beautiful. I love Sara Tavares' music. It takes me somewhere. Does anybody have the complete lyrics and translation for 'Ginga'? I tried to Google it but nothing. Hugs from the Philippines. :)

**
Danila do Rosario Fernandes Morais
"Ginga have the same meaning of "shake body""

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humanrace
"Shake your body, or move with me

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2015
Anthony Thorne
"I hear Haitian music, long live African music if you know what I mean. This woman is great ... Sara Tavares I do agree with Marc. I am African Caribbean. She would be great at the St. Lucia Jazz Festival."

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2015
Be Plush
"Why isn't Sara playing at a music jazz festival. Where is she now? This is a very talented artist and needs to have more concerts in the US. Sara you have a gorgeous voice. Where are you? Come perform in New York."

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O'time
"What is this music genre ?"

**
Reply
MaRiNa KingsDaughter
"this music genre is called "Morna" and the Godmother of it is Cesaria Evora.. If you like this genre you will enjoy listening to Sara Mayra Andrade and Lura too... I looove Sara Tavares :)"

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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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