Thanks to life
November 11, 2019 2:31 AM   Subscribe

 
Now that's a music post. I think I've learned something from you about how to do them right.

Also, a really lovely performance of a really beautiful song.
posted by nangar at 4:17 AM on November 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


That took me down a rabbit hole. I read the entire Wikipedia article on the song's original composer, Violeta Parra, which led me to a biopic of her, Violeta Went to Heaven. I found it for $3.99 on YouTube.

Thank you for the post, growabrain!
posted by KleenexMakesaVeryGoodHat at 5:08 AM on November 11, 2019 [4 favorites]


What a voice, and what a song. Thank you.
posted by restless_nomad at 5:41 AM on November 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


Please warn when link are going to autoplay audio/video!
posted by mkuhnell at 6:39 AM on November 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


This is my favorite love song <3
posted by eviemath at 6:53 AM on November 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


A recording of Violetta Parra herself.

Lindi Ortega has a nice version too.

I originally heard it on the album of a concert that Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert did together, which is also great. I can't find that recording on YouTube though.
posted by eviemath at 6:59 AM on November 11, 2019 [3 favorites]


Not going to listen because hearing even one bar of that song guarantees the weeping and already had enough of that for one morning listening to Katallus' Young Marble Giants post. I never imagined that in my old age I'd have to meter out beautiful art to be able to handle it emotionally.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 8:12 AM on November 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


This is one of my favorite songs. Here's the version, recorded live in 1982 in Buenos Aires by Mercedes Sosa, that makes me cry every time I listen to it.

I haven't found a good translation of the lyrics online, but here's a serviceable one:

Thank you to life, that has given me so much :
it gave me two bright stars, and when I open them
I can perfectly distinguish white from black
and in the high heavens, their starry depths
and out of the multitudes, the man I love .

Thank you to life, that has given me so much :
it has given me my hearing, that in all its breadth
records night and day, crickets and canaries ,
hammers, turbines, howls, and torrential rains ,
and the tender voice of my beloved .

Thank you to life, that has given me so much :
it has given me sound, and the alphabet
and with these the words that I think and declare :
mother, friend, brother, and light illuminating
the path of the soul that I am loving .

Thank you to life, that has given me so much :
it has given me the stride of my tired feet —
with them I have traversed cities and puddles ,
beaches and deserts, mountains and plains ,
and your house, your street and your patio .

Thank you to life, that has given me so much :
it gave me my heart, that shakes in its frame
when I look at the fruits of the human brain ,
when I look at the good, so far from the bad ,
when I look into the depths of your clear eyes .

Thank you to life, that has given me so much :
it has given me laughter and it has given me tears —
that’s how I can tell bliss from agony ,
the two materials that form my song ,
and your song, which is the same song
and everyone’s song, which is my own song .
Thank you to life…
posted by nikoniko at 11:44 AM on November 11, 2019 [10 favorites]


That's not only serviceable, but excellent. Thank you, nikoniko.
posted by nangar at 2:50 PM on November 11, 2019


That's a fine translation, good job.
posted by signal at 2:52 PM on November 11, 2019


To be clear, I didn't translate the song! Apologies for giving that impression.

(I do speak Spanish fluently, which is why I made that value judgement.)
posted by nikoniko at 3:09 PM on November 11, 2019


I got a hit of nostalgia hearing this, but I only knew the cover version by Finnish artist Arja Saijonmaa, singing in Swedish.
posted by Harald74 at 11:22 PM on November 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


Here is Nancy White’s English translation of the song, from her album “Gaelic Envy.”
posted by kentk at 1:06 AM on November 12, 2019 [1 favorite]


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