| Its 14 gem-like songs remain true to the deepest traditions of fado, the breathtakingly lyrical and melancholic music of Portugal. |
| The Lisbon fado started at the beginning of the 19 th century in pubs in the slums of the city. |
| They often have fairly anonymous facades but are the haunt of local Portuguese and are closer to the true popular spirit of fado. |
| At fado restaurants, diners are periodically regaled by heart-rending renditions of these woe-stricken ballads, thus allowing a pause for digestion. |
| Nostalgia for the past and for the homeland is represented in the sentiments of Sebastianismo and saudade and in the lyrics of the fado. |
| Her mother cooked in a restaurant in Alfama where fado was sung and like many other fado-singers she grew up with it. |
