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)
Duerme Negrito
Mercedes Sosa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Que tu mama está en el campo negrito
Duerme, duerme, mobila
Que tu mama está en el campo, mobila
Te va a traer codornices
Para ti
Te va a traer rica fruta
Te va a traer carne de cerdo
Para ti
Te va a traer muchas cosas
Para ti
Y si el negro no se duerme
Viene el diablo blanco
Y zas, le come la patita
Chacapumba, chacapumba, apumba, chacapumba
Duerme, duerme, negrito
Que tu mama está en el campo, negrito
Trabajando
Trabajando duramente, trabajando sí
Trabajando y va de luto, trabajando sí
Trabajando y no le pagan, trabajando sí
Trabajando y va tosiendo, trabajando sí
Para el negrito chiquitito
Para el negrito sí
Trabajando sí, trabajando sí
Duerme, duerme, negrito
Que tu mama está en el campo
Negrito, negrito, negrito
The lyrics of the song "Duerme Negrito" by Mercedes Sosa are in Spanish and focus on a lullaby that a mother sings to her child to help him fall asleep. The song is rich in cultural significance, as it reflects the traditions of the Andean regions of South America, where indigenous people sing songs and lullabies to their babies. The first verse of the song is an invitation to sleep, as the mother tells her child to rest while she goes to work in the fields. The second verse of the song is an assurance to the child that his mother will bring him food and gifts when she returns home.
The third verse of the song is a warning to the child that if he doesn't fall asleep, the "white devil" will come and eat his little foot. The phrase "white devil" is a reference to a colonial-era system in which Spanish slaveowners forced indigenous people in the Andes to work on their farms. The fourth verse of the song is a reflection on the difficult working conditions that the mother faces as an indigenous woman in a colonial system, and describes the struggles of paying for their child's and their own survival. The last verse of the song is a repetition of the lullaby's opening lines, encouraging the child to rest while his mother is away working.
Line by Line Meaning
Duerme, duerme, negrito
Sleep, sleep, little black one
Que tu mama está en el campo negrito
Your mother is out working in the fields, little black one
Duerme, duerme, mobila
Sleep, sleep, little ebony one
Que tu mama está en el campo, mobila
Your mother is out working in the fields, little ebony one
Te va a traer codornices
She will bring you quails
Para ti
For you
Te va a traer rica fruta
She will bring you delicious fruit
Para ti
For you
Te va a traer carne de cerdo
She will bring you pork meat
Para ti
For you
Te va a traer muchas cosas
She will bring you many things
Para ti
For you
Y si el negro no se duerme
And if the black one doesn't sleep
Viene el diablo blanco
The white devil comes
Y zas, le come la patita
And snap! It eats its little foot
Chacapumba, chacapumba, apumba, chacapumba
Repeat of onomatopoeic sounds
Duerme, duerme, negrito
Sleep, sleep, little black one
Que tu mama está en el campo, negrito
Your mother is out working in the fields, little black one
Trabajando
Working
Trabajando duramente, trabajando sí
Working hard, yes, working
Trabajando y va de luto, trabajando sí
Working even though she's mourning, yes, working
Trabajando y no le pagan, trabajando sí
Working and not getting paid, yes, working
Trabajando y va tosiendo, trabajando sí
Working and coughing, yes, working
Para el negrito chiquitito
For the little black one
Para el negrito sí
For the black one, yes
Trabajando sí, trabajando sí
Working, yes, working
Duerme, duerme, negrito
Sleep, sleep, little black one
Que tu mama está en el campo
Your mother is out working in the fields
Negrito, negrito, negrito
Little black one, little black one, little black one
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Atahualpa Yupanqui, Hector Chavero
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kaushalbhattarai1983
I came across this masterpiece in an Indian baby cream advertisement. It was almost a decade and half ago. No internet back then. No idea who was the singer. Many years later I Shazammed this song and downloaded on my cellphone and perhaps listened to 100 times. Lots of love for Mercedes Sosa who created this beautiful song and the people of Argentina. Sending love from Nepal.🇳🇵
@luciolojr
Que maravilhoso que isso pode ser gravado e salvo. É um provilégio imenso poder ouvir esta apresentação com essa música tão representativa.
🥹
@alecanortiz
Me encanta cómo Mercedes dice "¿Les gustó?" con tanta humildad, como si no fuera la diosa máxima que es.
@LuisFlores-oe7fp
Esta canción la escuché cuando tenía 17 años y me gustó tanto que ahora que mi bb está pequeño siempre se la canto 😊
@deimo3763
My mum would sing this to me every night when I was little. Makes me cry to listen to it ❤
@mariasandramachadorivero9176
❤❤❤❤
@Gx6..
sleep negrito
@juliojesuspescador5385
Sleep my lil' n*gga
@agripinataveras9919
Mi hijo fue acuñado con esta canción, hoy sería adulto ; pero justo murió hace 2 años, de cáncer, a sus 18 años. Esta canción maravillosa me recuerda a él y su padre cantarle mientras yo trabajaba.
@daianaaguirre4565
💓💞que fuerte! Te mando un abrazo grande