GRACIAS A LA VIDA
Mercedes Sosa
Haydée Mercedes Sosa (9 July 1935 – 4 October 2009), known as La Negra (literally: The Black One), was an Argentine singer who was popular throughout Latin America and many countries outside the continent. With her roots in Argentine folk music, Sosa became one of the preeminent exponents of nueva canción. She gave voice to songs written by both Brazilians and Cubans. She was best known as the "voice of the voiceless ones".
Sosa performed in venues such as the Lincoln Center in New York City, the Théâtre Mogador in Paris and the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, as well as sell-out shows in New York's Carnegie Hall and the Roman Coliseum during her final decade of life. Her career spanned four decades and she has been the recipient of several Grammy awards and nominations, including three nominations which will be decided posthumously.
She served as an ambassador for UNICEF.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes_Sosa
Violeta Parra
Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She set the basis for "Chilean' New Song", the Nueva canción chilena, a renewal and a reinvention of Chilean folk music which would absorb and extend its influence far beyond Chile.
Her most renowned song, Gracias a la Vida (Thanks to Life), was popularized throughout Latin America by Mercedes Sosa and later in the US by Joan Baez. It remains one of the most covered Latin American songs in history. Other notable covers of this tragic, but widely beloved, folk anthem include the Italian guitar-vocal solo of Adriana Mezzadr and La Oreja de Van Gogh at the 2005 Viña del Mar International Song Festival.
It has been treated by classically trained musicians such as in the fully orchestrated rendition by conservatory-trained Alberto Cortez.
The song has been re-recorded by several Latin artists and Canadian Michael Bublé to gather funds for the Chilean people affected by the earthquake in Chile, February 2010.
The song is in waltz time (3/4) and thus suitable for romantic dance forms; it opens with a very common shift between A minor and E Major chords, then it goes to G7-C/C7 before returning to the Am/E motif.
"Gracias a la vida" was written and recorded following Parra's separation with her long-time partner and shortly before she took her own life. Parra's lyricism is ambiguous; at face value, Parra's lyricism may be read as a romantic celebration of life and individual experience, however the circumstances surrounding the song suggest that Parra also intended the song as a sort of suicide note, thanking life for all it has given her.
It may even be read as sarcastic or ironic, pointing out that a life full of good health, opportunity and worldly experience may not offer any consolation to grief and the contradictory nature of the human condition.
The song opens with a simple strumming at a leisurely tempo and exploits the poetic beauty of the Spanish language with consummate skill.
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
Translated into English the lyrical sentiment and ambiguity is best conveyed by personifying life;
Thank you life, you have given me so much
You gave me two eyes which when I open them
I can distinguish perfectly between black and white
And the starry depths of the sky above
And amongst the masses the man that I love
And the closing refrain "Gracias a la vida", ironically,
Thank you life
Thank you life
Thank you life
http://www.last.fm/music/Violeta+Parrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violeta_Parra
Joan Baez
Live at Festival des Vieilles Charrues
Carhaix, Bretagne
FRANCE, 2000
"This is one of Joan Baez's classics, although it's a cover of a song written by a Chilean folk singer and visual artist: Violeta Parra, who committed suicide in 1967.
Her song "Gracias a la vida", composed one year before her death, is one of the most covered Latin American songs"
*
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 oido que en todo su ancho
graba noche y dia 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 abedecedario
con él 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 el bueno tan lejos del malo,
cuando miro el 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 el mismo canto
y el canto de todos que es mi propio canto.
*
*
Thank you to life, which has given me so much
It gave me two beams of light, that when opened
Can perfectly distinguish black from white
And in the sky above, her starry backdrop
And from within the multitude
The one that I love
Thank you to life, which has given me so much
It gave me an ear that, in all of its width
Records— night and day—crickets and canaries
Hammers and turbines and bricks and storms
And the tender voice of my beloved
Thank you to life, which has given me so much
It gave me sound and the alphabet
With them the words that I think and declare
Mother, Friend, Brother and the light shining
The route of the soul from which comes love
Thank you to life, which has given me so much
It gave me the ability to walk with my tired feet
With them I have traversed cities and puddles
Valleys and deserts, mountains and plains
And your house, your street and your patio
Thank you to life, which has given me so much
It gave me a heart, that causes my frame to shudder
When I see the fruit of the human brain
When I see good so far from bad
When I see within the clarity of your eyes
Thank you to life, which has given me so much
It gave me laughter and it gave me longing
With them I distinguish happiness and pain
The two materials from which my songs are formed
And your song, as well, which is the same song
And everyone's song, which is my very song
To Read More see links below...
Mercedes Sosa
Violeta Parra
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