“If I make you cry I’m happy”

Fado undoubtedly is Portugal’s most famous music. The mournful tunes and lyrics usually performed by one singer and one or more guitar players can be heard in the taverns of Lisbon’s working class bairros every night. According to Portuguese Fado enthusiasts this music is probably the oldest folk music in the world, however it is not music for only old people.

Copyright Damiano Razzoli

In the beautiful narrow streets of the Alfama quarter of Lisbon, big-lettered signs with the promise “Fado tonight” on them grace the front of every tavern. A young Portuguese woman with long black hair and brown eyes talks to tourists who meander through Alfama. With her black t-shirt and stylish jeans, she does not look any different from other young women in Europe. But when she closes her eyes and starts to sing, her music goes right into your heart, touches your soul and suddenly you understand that the lady standing right in front of you is really special. Raquel Tavares (23) is one of the most popular young Fado singers in Portugal.

“I started singing Fado when I was five years old”, the Fadista says. “I performed in the bars and I loved it.” Asked why she started to sing the Portuguese traditional music Tavares answers “I just had to”, and explains: “You cannot learn Fado, you have to have it in you.” Raquel Tavares grew up in Alfama within half a kilometre’s distance from the “House of Fado”, a museum dedicated to the Portuguese music, so her career as a Fadista does not seem surprising but rather predestined. It was actually not her parents who brought her to Fado though. “My mother is a Fado singer as well, but she started later than I did. So she came to know Fado through me, not the other way round”, the multitalented artist who won the Portuguese version of ´Dancing with the Stars´ says. Since the age of 18 Raquel has been a professional Fadista performing all over Europe and also in the US. She is very proud of the characteristic music of Portugal. “It is our culture, our tradition. We have to show you what we have.”

New Fado

Copyright Diletta Pignedoli

Although Raquel is a member of a new generation of young Fado singers, she does not like the experimental Fado which is mixed with other music styles. “I do not believe in the new Fado”, she firmly says. Apparently that does not harm her popularity among young people. According to her, the age spectrum of her fans is wide and there are young and old people who come to hear her sing. “We have very young songwriters and very young poets as well”, the Fadista stresses.

Asked about the secret of Fado 23-year-old Tavares explains: “Fado is a way of being in life, but the most important thing is emotion. Many people do not understand one word of what I am singing about, but they feel my feelings.” Her songs thus mostly are about feelings, emotions and life and also about her hometown. “Lisbon is my inspiration”, the beautiful woman tells. As sharing your feelings with strangers sounds very intimate one might think it is hard to perform in front of a big crowd. Raquel though prefers a big audience to a little one: “I love to sing in front of many people. It is way harder for me to do it in front of a small group.” A success for the young lady is when she sees that she could really touch the hearts and souls of her listeners: “If I make you cry, I am happy”, the Fadista says.

Sabine Stang