The Morna of Mindelo: Hauntingly Sweet Music of Nostalgia

One of our guidebooks informs us that 11 out of 10 Cabo Verdeans consider themselves musicians. Having been here now for a few weeks, we think it might be more like 12 out of 10. Music is everywhere in Cabo Verde – in houses, on the streets, on the beach, and in clubs and restaurants. We have taken ample advantage of this, and we now always combine dinner out with music. The musicians are, to our ears, very accomplished, and we absolutely love the style of the morna singers.

There are lots of different styles of music here in Mindelo (including American pop songs, alas!), but the music Cabo Verde is most famous for is morna. It’s often quite simple: a singer, a guitar, and percussion. The songs are usually in the local Creole dialect. The music has a lyrical quality – much of it is poetry – and covers several subjects. A common one, not surprisingly, is love, but there are also songs about the sea, travel abroad, and Cabo Verde itself. Many of these themes were first developed by the poet, Eugénio Tavares (1867-1930).

A particularly poignant theme of morna directly related to Cabo Verdean life, is ‘saudade’, a state of longing or sadness for someone who is much loved but absent abroad. Given that there are about a million Cabo Verdeans and over half of them do not live in Cabo Verde, you can see why the theme would strike a particular chord. (The theme is also prominent in Portuguese fado music, going back to the time when so many Portuguese had set out for the colonies.)

The most famous Cabo Verdean singer is Cesária Évora, born right here in Mindelo in 1941. She was known as the “Barefoot Diva” from her habit of performing without shoes. If you have not listened to her, you should. She has an amazingly versatile voice, and can summon up great reserves of emotion, which draw you in, even when (as with us) you don’t exactly know what is being said. The song “Sodade” is her most famous and the groups we have heard cover it in every set. She won the Grammy for international music in 2004 for her album “Voz d’Amor,” and was nominated several other times.

We went to visit a small museum here in Mindelo honouring Évora. It’s a house which the state actually gave her in 1995, though she never lived in it. Today it houses re-creations of her stage life, some articles of clothing, her passports, and notices about her honours and awards (including one from the state of Rhode Island!). There are album covers galore, and dresses and jewelry that she wore when singing. There is also a listening station, including some hard-to-find albums.

We’re not really people who make sure to hear live music everywhere we go. But we have made that a priority here, and we’re really glad we did!