He founded, in 1971, the recognized independent record label Ayuí/Tacuabé in order to promote and support valuable Uruguayan musical expressions, along with other musicians like José "Pepe" Guerra, Braulio López, Coriún Aharonián, Myriam Dibarboure, María Teresa Sande and Edgardo Bello,
He has performed the works of Cuban Nueva Trova stars Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés and Brazil's Chico Buarque and Edu Lobo and has worked with Cuban composer and arranger Leo Brouwer. His recordings are widely available, especially "Trópicos" (1972).
Viglietti was imprisoned in 1972 by his own government. He was supported by the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre as an international man of conscience, a voice for peace, and an opponent of the fascism and tyranny that plagued South America in the 1970s. Rumors about possible mistreatment against him forced the authorities to bring him out in front of television cameras to show that, in particular, his hands were fine. However, Viglietti spoke out that his treatment in police custody was much better than what other political prisoners received. He was a peer of the late Chilean poet and folk singer Victor Jara and composer and activist Violeta Parra.
Niña Gris
Daniel Viglietti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Niña de grises
Con su vida triste
Tras la piel lunar.
Rara tristeza
Sintió mi alma
Al ver la pureza
De sus ojos claros.
Se ha detenido,
El tiempo mirándola está.
Pequeña figura
Que allí palpita
Su soledad.
Y esa mirada
Que dice tanto,
Con luz que recuerda
Un amanecer.
No quiero hallarla
En mi sendero,
No ansío siquiera
Soñar que ella existe.
Cuando la vida
Se torne vacío
A mi alma esa niña
Temblando vendrá
Y me dirá,
Con palabras sin voz:
Â"Nadie está solo,
Los hombres luchan,
Ve junto a ellos,
Aprende a vivir.Â"
The song Niña Gris by Daniel Viglietti tells the story of a young girl with a sad life. She is described as being painted in grays and having a lunar skin, which suggests a certain ethereal quality to her appearance. When the singer sees her, he feels a rare sadness in his soul upon seeing the purity of her clear eyes. The girl seems to be frozen in time, with life itself having stopped around her. She is a small figure that palpitates with solitude, and her look says so much with its bright light that reminds the singer of a sunrise. Despite the singer's desire not to find her in his path, he knows that when life turns empty, the girl will come to him trembling and tell him with voiceless words that no one is alone, that people fight and he should learn to live alongside them.
Line by Line Meaning
La vi pintada,
I saw her painted,
Niña de grises
A girl of greys
Con su vida triste
With her sad life
Tras la piel lunar.
Behind her lunar skin.
Rara tristeza
Rare sadness
Sintió mi alma
My soul felt
Al ver la pureza
When seeing the purity
De sus ojos claros.
Of her clear eyes.
A su lado la vida
Life next to her
Se ha detenido,
Stopped.
El tiempo mirándola está.
Time is looking at her.
Pequeña figura
Small figure
Que allí palpita
Palpitating there
Su soledad.
Her loneliness.
Y esa mirada
And that gaze
Que dice tanto,
That says so much,
Con luz que recuerda
With the light that reminds
Un amanecer.
A sunrise.
No quiero hallarla
I don't want to find her
En mi sendero,
On my path,
No ansío siquiera
I don't even yearn
Soñar que ella existe.
To dream that she exists.
Cuando la vida
When life
Se torne vacío
Becomes empty
A mi alma esa niña
That girl to my soul
Temblando vendrá
Will come trembling
Y me dirá,
And she will tell me,
Con palabras sin voz:
With voiceless words:
Nadie está solo,
Nobody is alone,
Los hombres luchan,
Men fight,
Ve junto a ellos,
Go with them,
Aprende a vivir.
Learn to live.
Contributed by Owen I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.