Sodade

There's something amazing about not being able to understand lyrics but still being able to comprehend what a song means.

Cesaria Evora.

I have been listen a lot to Cesaria Evora lately (sparked by a conversation with someone over the weekend.) I was watching a Youtube video of her show at the Grand Rex in Paris back in April 2004. There was one song in particular that really got me. It is called “Sodade” which I learned translates to “longing” or something approximate. I don’t know a word of Portuguese but I’ve listened this song over and over again. There’s something amazing about not being able to understand lyrics but still being able to comprehend what a song means. I really can’t say if this has anything to do with my upcoming trip to Liberia and thinking about the emotions I might confront by being so close to the suffering there, but the song always leaves me with an immense feeling of sadness.

Further Reading

R.I.P. Cesária Évora

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yffEiWHIoZI&w=600&h=349]

This morning, Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora passed away in Mandelo, São Vicente, the island were she was born. One of the many meanings of “Sodade” — that most difficult to translate Creole word — …