Sosa was born in Tucumán, a northwestern province of Argentina, of mestizo descent from French and Amerindian (Quechuan) ancestry. In 1950, at age fifteen, she won a singing competition organized by a local radio station and was given a contract to perform for two months.
Sosa and her first husband Manuel Oscar Matus were key players in the mid-60s nueva canción movement (which was called nuevo cancionero in Argentina). Her first record was Canciones con Fundamento (Songs with Fundament), a collection of Argentine folk songs.
In 1967, Sosa toured with great success the United States and Europe. In subsequent years, she performed and recorded extensively, broadening her repertoire to include material from throughout Latin America.
In the early 1970s, Sosa released two concept albums in collaboration with composer Ariel Ramírez and lyricist Félix Luna: Cantata Sudamericana (South American Cantata) and Mujeres Argentinas (Argentine Women). She also recorded a tribute to Chilean poet Violeta Parra.
After the military dictatorship of Jorge Videla came to power, the atmosphere in Argentina grew increasingly oppressive. At a concert in La Plata (Buenos Aires) in 1979, Sosa was searched and arrested on stage, and the attending crowd was arrested. Banned in her own country, she moved to Paris and then to Madrid.
Sosa returned to Argentina in 1982, several months before the military regime collapsed as a result of the Falklands War, and gave a series of concerts at the Opera theater in Buenos Aires, where she invited many of her younger colleagues to share the stage. A double album of recordings from these performances became an instant best seller.
In the following years, Sosa continued to tour both in Argentina and abroad, performing in such venues as the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the Mogador in París.
Sosa's repertoire continued to broaden, and she made recordings in various styles. She collaborated frequently with Argentine musicians such as León Gieco, Charly García, Antonio Tarragó Ros, Rodolfo Mederos and Fito Páez, and other Latin American artists such as Milton Nascimento and Silvio Rodríguez.
Sosa participated in a 2001 production of the Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramírez.
Mercedes Sosa's website(in Spanish)
Canción Con Todos
Mercedes Sosa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Por la cintura cósmica del sur
Piso en la regio
Mas vegetal del viento y de la luz
Siento al caminar
Toda la piel de América en mi piel
Y anda en mi sangre un rio
Que libera en mi voz su caudal
Sol de alto Peru, rostro Bolivia estaño y soledad
Un verde Brasil besa a mi Chile cobre y mineral
Subo desde el sur hacia la entraña América y total
Pura raíz de un grito destinado a crecer y a estallar
Todas las voces, todas
Todas las manos, todas
Toda la sangre puede
Ser canción en el viento
Canta conmigo, canta
Hermano americano
Libera tu esperanza
Con un grito en la voz
Todas las voces, todas
Todas las manos, todas
Toda la sangre puede
Ser canción en el viento
Canta conmigo, canta
Hermano americano
Libera tu esperanza
Con un grito en la voz
The lyrics to Mercedes Sosa's song Canción Con Todos convey a strong sense of unity amongst all the countries and people of Latin America. The first verse speaks of walking through the southern cosmic waist, feeling the wind and light of the most vegetal region, and sensing the skin of all of America on oneself. The river that flows within oneself adds to the feeling of unity.
The second verse highlights the different characteristics of each country, with a high sun for Peru, Bolivia's face, tin, and solitude, a green Brazil kissing mineral Chile, and finally, sounding a strong call to the people to rise from the south towards the depths of America with a pure root of a scream destined to grow and explode.
The chorus speaks of everyone's voices, hands, and blood can become a song in the wind. The song ends with an urging to sing together, to free one's hopes with a scream in one's voice.
Overall, Canción Con Todos is a call to the people of América to forget their differences and come together as one. It speaks of a sense of pride in one's identity while still embracing others and singing together, allowing differences to be celebrated, not divided.
Line by Line Meaning
Salgo a caminar
I am embarking on a journey
Por la cintura cósmica del sur
I will traverse the southern belt of the cosmos
Piso en la regio
I tread upon the land
Mas vegetal del viento y de la luz
An area rich in plant life, wind, and light surrounds me
Siento al caminar
As I walk, I feel
Toda la piel de América en mi piel
The entirety of America's skin is on my skin
Y anda en mi sangre un rio
A river coursing through my bloodstream
Que libera en mi voz su caudal
Liberating its flow through my voice
Sol de alto Peru, rostro Bolivia estaño y soledad
The Peruvian sun, the face of Bolivia, tin, and solitude
Un verde Brasil besa a mi Chile cobre y mineral
Brazil's greenery kisses my copper and mineral-rich Chile
Subo desde el sur hacia la entraña América y total
I ascend from the south to the core of America in its entirety
Pura raíz de un grito destinado a crecer y a estallar
A pure root of a shout that is bound to grow and explode
Todas las voces, todas
All voices, all of them
Todas las manos, todas
All hands, every one
Toda la sangre puede
All blood is capable of
Ser canción en el viento
Becoming a song in the wind
Canta conmigo, canta
Sing with me, sing
Hermano americano
American brother
Libera tu esperanza
Release your hope
Con un grito en la voz
With a shout in your voice
Todas las voces, todas
All voices, every single one
Todas las manos, todas
All hands, every one
Toda la sangre puede
All blood is capable of
Ser canción en el viento
Becoming a song in the wind
Canta conmigo, canta
Sing with me, sing
Hermano americano
American brother
Libera tu esperanza
Release your hope
Con un grito en la voz
With a shout in your voice
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Armando Tejada Gomez, Julio Cesar Isella
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
gustavo reynaud
¡Que canción tan poderosa!
Cristian
Extraordinaria voz...desde Tucumán para el mundo.... Se te extraña negra linda.
Sandra Prado
Hay voces que se quedan para siempre.
Resonando en millones de corazones aún después de haber trascendido esta vida.
Mercedes Sosa presente 🫀🔥🎵
Mayra Susana Aguilar Jimenez
Que voz tan nítida y espectacular
David Sánchez
Como acaricia mi alma la voz de esta mujer 🤍
Marce lita
Por siempre La Negra!! Inigualable!! Cantaba esta hermosa canción en el coro del colegio!!
Isma Peric
como esto no tiene millones de vistas... al fin da igual el numero... esto es puro sentimiento
Kike Hernández
Nojoda que canción. ❤ Te amo Mercedes
Mauricio Fernandez
Tremenda ❤voz... inigualable Mercedes Sosa
Kike Hernández
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