I missed the fact that great Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa passed away last October.
I had pleasure to visit her concert 2 years ago.
In the first moment when she came to the scene I didn’t believe she can sing for us during 2 hours but I quickly forgot it when she started to sing. It was amazing and very strong although I didn’t understand her songs words.
Mercedes Sosa fell foul of the military junta that ruled her nation between 1976 and 1983
In her 60 years career she released 70 albums.
One of her most memorable UK appearances was at London’s Royal Festival Hall in October 1999, shortly after the infamous detention in Britain of Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet.
“I cannot believe I am in London singing these songs, with Pinochet under house arrest,” she cried, before launching into an emotional rendition of Todo Cambia (Everything Changes) another nueva canción standard which had long been part of her repertoire.
He always was and will be a symbol of liberty for all South American people and for rest of the world as well
Here is the most famous and beautiful of her songs.
Gracias a la vida
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d_h5CZPyjQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
(Violeta Parra)
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me dio dos luceros, que cuando los abro,
Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco
Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado
Y en las multitudes el hombre que yo amo.
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado el oído que en todo su ancho
Graba noche y día, grillos y canarios,
Martillos, turbinas, ladridos, chubascos,
Y la voz tan tierna de mi bien amado.
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado el sonido y el abecedario;
Con el las palabras que pienso y declaro:
Madre, amigo, hermano, y luz alumbrando
La ruta del alma del que estoy amando.
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la marcha de mis pies cansados;
Con ellos anduve ciudades y charcos,
Playas y desiertos, montañas y llanos,
Y la casa tuya, tu calle y tu patio.
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me dio el corazón que agita su marco
Cuando miro el fruto del cerebro humano,
Cuando miro al bueno tan lejos del malo,
Cuando miro al fondo de tus ojos claros.
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la risa y me ha dado el llanto.
Así yo distingo dicha de quebranto,
Los dos materiales que forman mi canto,
Y el canto de ustedes que es mi mismo canto,
Y el canto de todos que es mi propio canto.
English Translation
Thanks Be to Life
Thanks be to life that gave me so much
It gave me two eyes, and when I open them,
I can perfectly distinguish black from white,
And up there in the sky, a layer of stars,
And from among the multitudes, the man I love.
Thanks be to god that gave me so much.
Thanks be to life that gave me so much.
It gave me hearing, with my ears wide open,
Recording crickets and canaries night and day;
Hammers, turbines, barks, storms,
And the tender voice of my beloved.
Thanks be to life that gave me so much.
Thanks be to life that gave me so much.
it gave me a voice and letters
With which to think words and say:
Mother, friend, light that illuminates
The path to the soul that I love
Thanks be to life that gave me so much.
Thanks be to life that gave me so much.
Life to let me walk with tired feet;
And so I crossed cities and swamps,
Beaches and deserts, mountains and plains,
To your house, your street, your courtyard.
Thanks be to life that gave me so much.
It gave me a heart that begins to flow over
When I see the depths of your clear eyes.
Thanks be to life that gave me so much.
It gave me laughter and crying
So I can distinguish happiness from sadness,
Both components of my song,
And your song that is mine too