Mercedes Sosa hospitalized with pneumonia

[Judi Lynn]

Xipe Totec posted her song here, "Gracias a la Vida" here, as it was sung by Violeta Parra. That was the first time I've ever heard of her, and later learned she was a good friend of Victor Jara, who was tortured and murdered in Chile by Pinochet's military at the Chile Stadium in Santiago. They were both considered "protest" singers during the dark, violent years of the right-wing military juntas and dictatorships, and Operation Condor, all supported by the U.S., unfortunately.

You may remember hearing and seeing Paraguay's new President Fernando Lugo singing, with Hugo Chavez a song by Mercedes Sosa, "Todo Cambia." It was posted here by Peace Patriot.

Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E8FLkZZB_8

Here's her voice singing "Todo Cambio"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf2cnIDyKL8



Also Xipe Totec posted her song here, "Sólo le Pido a Dios" by León Gieco:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zncwEGxjhEE

Here's her voice singing "Sólo le Pido a Dios"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIrot1Flczg

Monday, Mar. 30, 2009
Mercedes Sosa hospitalized with pneumonia

The Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Famed Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa has been hospitalized with pneumonia.

Fabian Matus, Sosa's son, says the singer was brought to a hospital after suffering from a fever and dehydration.

The illness forced 73-year-old Sosa to suspend the presentation of her latest album "Cantora," which she recorded with musical artists including Shakira, Julieta Venegas, Caetano Veloso and Vicentico, among others.

The folk singer has recorded more than 70 albums. Her signature song is "Gracias a la vida," or "Thanks to Life."

http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/744735.html

http://3.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_jUxwDJ1Xzc0/SB6on9C3LaI/AAAAAAAACzw/27olO1oRqcs/s400/Canta%2BMercedes%2BSosa.jpg http://latimesblogs.latimes.com.nyud.net:8090/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/11/fernandez.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyOJ-A5iv5I
You Tube, Mercedes Sosa, "Gracias a la Vida"

Violetta Parra, singing "Gracias a la Vida"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW3IgDs-NnA

Placido Domingo, singing "Gracias a la Vida"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWJHayBAh-E

Mercedes Sosa: A Voice of Hope
By LARRY ROHTER
Published: Sunday, October 9, 1988

~snip~
Ms. Sosa acknowledges that ''human and social problems'' are a primary source of artistic inspiration for her. ''Politics has always been an idealistic thing for me,'' she said. ''I am a woman of the left, though I belong to no party and think artists should remain independent of all political parties. I believe in human rights, injustice pains me, and I want to see real peace.'' But she balked at another term often used to describe her, that of a singer of songs of protest.

''I do not like that term,'' she said in an interview after a performance here last weekend, in which she and the electrified quartet accompanying her also showed a willingness to assay jazz and pop styles. ''It is like an invitation for someone to put a stamp on the songs that says 'prohibited' or 'interdicted.' The intelligence of the artist needs to be broader in the face of such possible barriers. Besides, artists are not political leaders. The only power they have is to draw people into the theater.''

Ms. Sosa's caution about the way her music is categorized derives from her own tribulations in Argentina. Exactly a decade ago, at the height of the military dictatorship responsible for the disappearance and deaths of at least 9,000 people, Ms. Sosa, already recognized as her country's premier singer of folk music thanks to records such as ''Homage to Violeta Parra'' and ''Mercedes Sosa Interprets Atahualpa Yupanqui,'' was the object of a campaign of official harassment and intimidation that led to her having to leave the country.

During a performance in the resort town of La Plata, Ms. Sosa had just launched into ''When They Have the Land,'' a call for agrarian reform that is still in her repertory today, when security forces suddenly appeared at the window of the concert hall. Almost before she knew it, troops had barged in to interrupt the show and she was under arrest, along with the musicians in her band, her son and the entire audience that had come to hear her sing.

''A policeman conducted a body search right there, touching me on the breasts in front of all those people just in order to humiliate me,'' she said recalled the other day. ''I remember that I was wearing a beautiful poncho of sky blue and white, the very colors of the Argentine flag, but that it did not deter him. Then, when he was finished, he kissed my hand and said, 'Forgive me, Dona Mercedes, but they have ordered me to do this.' ''

Released after being held for questioning, Ms. Sosa was determined not to let herself be intimidated, and immediately scheduled several new shows, which rapidly sold out. But anonymous bomb threats forced cancellation of the concerts, and then the military governor of Buenos Aires prohibited any further performances. With her music already barred from radio and television, it was clear that her career in her homeland had come to a halt, at least as long as the military remained in power.

''I do not pretend that I was saintly in my attitude,'' she said. ''Scheduling those shows was a way for us to push against the games of the dictatorship. I don't know why I thought I could win a struggle like that in a country in which so many people had been killed, but I tried.'' Deprived of her livelihood and recently widowed, she felt she could not remain in Argentina ''as some sort of decoration or ornament for the left. My work is to sing, my life is to sing.'' And so she left for Europe in January of 1979.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/09/arts/mercedes-sosa-a-voice-of-hope.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. I made it back too late to edit the article to post Xipe Totec also introduced her great song,

"Gracias a la Vida" to DU'ers.

What a phenomenal songwriter, musician, singer, and patriot. I'm referring to Mercedes Sosa, and possibly Xipe Totec!

[EFerrari]

2. What a beautiful woman. Gracias a la Vida was the second song

my oldest boy learned when he was like 2 years old! That video of Lugo and Chavez is hilarious. What a treat. :)

[Judi Lynn]

3. Had no idea her music reached all the way here, EFerrari. Awe inspiring learning

her music was respected and well known here, when people like me only found out about her after Xipe Totec posted one of her songs in the Latin America forum.

That's a deepening, beautiful song, too.

[EFerrari]

4. Joan Baez covered it. Here's a link to an audio clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Go87MWHi5I&feature=related

[Judi Lynn]

5. Whoa! Almost too beautiful, bringing tears to the eyes. Thank you. n/t

[rabs]

6. Mercedes is still in the hospital

Just checked and she will be under observation for another day or two. Should be out Friday.

Mercedes is known as "La Negra" in Argentina. Wonder what the critics of Lula (re the "white men with blue eyes" remark) would say about Mercedes being called that?

I was amused by the critics on that long thread. They do not realize that racism as seen through the prism of political correctness in the United States simply is not the same in Brazil and other hemisphere countries. Talk about "political-correctness imperialism."
:rofl:

The most popular cradle song in Latin America is called "Duerme Negrito." Mercedes sings that song too.

The anonymous song originated in the Colombia/Venezuela banana-growing region when slaves worked the plantations. The folklorist Atahualpa Yupanqui of Uruguay made the song famous some decades ago.

It is sung to a "negrito," a black baby, and the song says if he does not go to sleep, the "white devil" will come and eat his tiny feet. The "white devil" is the white plantation/slave owner. The song talks about el negrito's mother working in the field, the (impossible) promise that she will bring him quail, pork, fruit and other good things to eat, that she does not get paid, that she goes to work coughing. (I have the exact words if anyone would like to see them.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKgEBBUI6U4&feature=related

In other Argentina news, the country is in mourning. Former President Raul Alfonsin died last night. He was the president that followed the military regime and restored democracy to Argentina, despite fierce opposition from the then discredited military. Tens of thousands of Argentines have been paying homage all day and all night tonight as he lies in state in the national congress building. Funeral is tomorrow.

Obit from NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/world/americas/01alfonsin.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

The other reason Argentines are in mourning tonight is that Bolivia handed Argentina a historic humiliation in a World Cup qualifying match today. The 6-1 loss to Bolivia was the worst defeat for the national team in more than half a century.

Judi, the Estadio Chile in Santiago has been renamed. It is now the Estadio Victor Jara.