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)
Cristal
Mercedes Sosa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hecho pedazos
Rota mi emocion
En este dia
Noches y mas noches
Sin descanso
Y esta desazon
Del alma mia.
Cuantos, cuantos años
Han pasado
Grises son los dias
De mi vida
Loca, casi muerta
Destrozada
Con mi espiritu amarrado
A nuestra juventud.
Mas fragil que el cristal
Fue el amor junto a ti
Cristal tu corazon
Tu mirar, tu reir
Tus sueños y mi voz
Y nuestra timidez
Temblando suavemente
En tu balcon
Y ahora que lo se
Que todo se perdio
La tarde de mi ausencia.
Ya nunca volvere
Lo se bien, nunca mas
Tal vez me esperaras
Junto a dios
Mas alla.
The lyrics to Mercedes Sosa's song "Cristal" deal with heartbreak and the shattered pieces of love that have left the singer broken and emotionally overwhelmed. The first two lines express the brokenheartedness of the singer, and the next lines amplify this emotion with the phrase "rot my emotions on this day." The singer then goes on to discuss how they have spent countless sleepless nights, their soul overcome with desolation, as they reflect on their life. They express their devastation as they realize that many years have passed and the days have been dull, and that their youth, vitality, and spirit have been lost.
The second stanza explores the fragility of love and how easily it can be shattered. The singer describes their love as "fragile as crystal," and they reflect on the good moments they shared with the subject of the song. The singer remembers how they used to gaze into each other’s eyes, laugh together, and dream, and how their love was innocent and pure. They end by telling their loved one that they know they will never return and expresses hope that someday they may reunite in the afterlife.
Line by Line Meaning
Tengo el corazon
My heart is broken
Hecho pedazos
Shattered into pieces
Rota mi emocion
My emotions are wrecked
En este dia
On this day
Noches y mas noches
Night after night
Sin descanso
Without rest
Y esta desazon
This unease
Del alma mia.
Of my soul.
Cuantos, cuantos años
How many, oh how many years
Han pasado
Have gone by
Grises son los dias
The days are gray
De mi vida
In my life
Loca, casi muerta
Crazy, almost dead
Destrozada
Destroyed
Con mi espiritu amarrado
With my spirit tied down
A nuestra juventud.
To our youth.
Mas fragil que el cristal
More fragile than glass
Fue el amor junto a ti
Love with you was fragile
Cristal tu corazon
Your heart like glass
Tu mirar, tu reir
Your gaze, your laughter
Tus sueños y mi voz
Your dreams and my voice
Y nuestra timidez
And our shyness
Temblando suavemente
Trembling gently
En tu balcon
On your balcony
Y ahora que lo se
And now that I know
Que todo se perdio
That everything was lost
La tarde de mi ausencia.
The afternoon of my absence.
Ya nunca volvere
I will never return
Lo se bien, nunca mas
I know it well, never again
Tal vez me esperaras
Maybe you'll wait for me
Junto a dios
Next to God
Mas alla.
Beyond.
Contributed by Cameron W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
omar vera
sin palabras se nos fue un grande pero con su musica siempre estara con nosotros !!!
Juan Jorba
hermoso tema hermosas imagenes!!!!! excelente!!!!
Juan Carlos Peña Duran
una maravilla y que voces...
MultiMiguelarcangel
Ya estaran juntos en el cielo tocando y cantando Cristal. Descansen en paz Negra y el maestro Mores
Rubén Monje
Esto si que es DARCE UN LUJO! ! ! ...- Muy buen gusto por la mùsica el tuyo amigo........
Agus Lombardo
genios los dos el maestro con su musicaque llega hasta el alma!!!!!!
Jair Pineda
Hermosa versión de este poema llevado al canto
Betty Villalba
Un musico genial, una cantante extraordinaria.
ROSITA Lescano
LOS DOS INOVIDABLES
manuel estevez moscoso
Dos grandes Argentinos que artistas