Gracias a la Vida 

 

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto,
Me dio el corazon 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, me ha dado el llanto. 
Asi yo distingo dicha que 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.
¡Gracias a la vida!

Thanks to life which has given me so much,
It's given me a heart that flutters in it's cage,
When I see the fruits of the human mind,
When I see the good that's so far from the bad,
When I see the depths of your clear eyes.

Thanks to life which has given me so much,
It's given me laughter, it's given me tears,
Thereby I distinguish the good from the ruins,
The two materials of which my song is made,
And that songs of yours which is the same,
And the song of all, which is my own song.
 thanks to life!



These are just two verses of this beautiful  song written by Violeta Parra, a famous Chilean folksinger and composer. Her  family was forced to flee Chile after the US backed right-wing military coup against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in 1973. Our favourite rendition of this song is sung by the Argentinian singer, Mercedes Sosa.It was also sung in a more upbeat way byJoan  Baez who released an album with the same name the year after the coup.

 

Lalitha's Nursery Rhymes Help