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)
Sueño Con Serpientes
Mercedes Sosa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
y son buenos.
Hay otros que luchan un año
y son mejores.
Hay quienes luchan muchos años
y son muy buenos.
Pero hay los que luchan toda la vida:
esos son los imprescindibles.
Sueño con serpientes, con serpientes de mar,
con cierto mar, ay, de serpientes sueño yo.
Largas, transparentes, y en sus barrigas llevan
lo que puedan arrebatarle al amor.
Oh, la mato y aparece una mayor.
Oh, con mucho más infierno en digestión.
No quepo en su boca, me trata de tragar
pero se atora con un trébol de mi sien.
Creo que está loca; le doy de masticar
una paloma y la enveneno de mi bien.
Ésta al fin me engulle, y mientras por su esófago
paseo, voy pensando en qué vendrá.
Pero se destruye cuando llego a su estómago
y planteo con un verso una verdad.
The lyrics of the song "Sueño Con Serpientes" by Mercedes Sosa tell a story about the dreamer's encounter with sea snakes. The dreamer dreams of sea snakes that are long, transparent, and carry within them everything they can snatch from love. The dreamer expresses his fear and confusion as he tries to fight or escape from the sea snakes, but he ultimately fails to do so. In the end, he finds himself inside the belly of a sea snake, where he walks around and contemplates what might happen next. However, he realizes that the truth he has to offer ultimately destroys the sea snake from the inside out.
The song is a loaded metaphor for life's challenges, struggles with love, and the inevitability of death. The sea snakes represent the obstacles we encounter throughout life that we can't escape or defeat. No matter how much we try, they are always one step ahead, and the harder we fight, the stronger they become. The dreamer's journey through the belly of the sea snake represents the inevitability of death, as he walks around and contemplates his fate, suggesting that even when we are within reach of death, we can still find moments of introspection, revelation, and growth.
Line by Line Meaning
Hay hombres que luchan un día y son buenos.
Some men fight for a day and do good.
Hay otros que luchan un año y son mejores.
Others fight for a year and become even better.
Hay quienes luchan muchos años y son muy buenos.
There are those who fight for many years and become very good.
Pero hay los que luchan toda la vida: esos son los imprescindibles. Bertolt Brecht
But the ones who fight all of their lives are the indispensable ones, according to Bertolt Brecht.
Sueño con serpientes, con serpientes de mar, con cierto mar, ay, de serpientes sueño yo.
I dream about sea snakes, in a certain sea; oh, I dream about snakes.
Largas, transparentes, y en sus barrigas llevan lo que puedan arrebatarle al amor.
Long and transparent, they carry in their bellies whatever they can steal from love.
Oh, la mato y aparece una mayor. Oh, con mucho más infierno en digestión.
Oh, I kill one and a larger one appears, with even more hell in its digestion.
No quepo en su boca, me trata de tragar pero se atora con un trébol de mi sien.
I don't fit in its mouth, it tries to swallow me but gets stuck on the clover on my temple.
Creo que está loca; le doy de masticar una paloma y la enveneno de mi bien.
I think it's crazy; I give it a dove to chew on and poison it with my goodness.
Ésta al fin me engulle, y mientras por su esófago paseo, voy pensando en qué vendrá.
Finally, it swallows me, and as I walk through its esophagus, I wonder what will come.
Pero se destruye cuando llego a su estómago y planteo con un verso una verdad.
But it destroys itself when I arrive in its stomach and express a truth with a verse.
Contributed by Sebastian E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Juan Giusti
Sueño con serpientes, con serpientes de mar,
Con cierto mar, ay, de serpientes sueño yo.
Largas, transparentes, y en sus barrigas llevan
Lo que puedan arrebatarle al amor.
Oh, la mato y aparece una mayor.
Oh, con mucho más infierno en digestión.
No quepo en su boca, me trata de tragar
Pero se atora con un trébol de mi sien.
Creo que está loca; le doy de masticar
Una paloma y la enveneno de mi bien.
Oh, la mato y aparece una mayor.
Oh, con mucho más infierno en digestión.
Ésta al fin me engulle, y mientras por su esófago
Paseo, voy pensando en qué vendrá.
Pero se destruye cuando llego a su estómago
Y planteo con un verso una verdad.
Oh, la mato y aparece una mayor.
Oh, con mucho más infierno en digestión.
Oh, la mato y aparece una mayor.
JosCh Pz
Es la primera vez que escucho esta cansion y estoy facinado. Mercedes Sosa tenia una voz privilegiada. Le daba un toque espiritual a su musica. Cansiones que no eran de su autoria las hacia sonar aun mejor que los autores mismos . Su imagen y su musica representaban fielmente la belleza del folklor sudamericano.
Fercholate Ley
Me hinco ante ésta versión!!!! Es maravilloso escucharla en la voz de esta gran mujer... Me erizó la piel....
globalboy65
La voz de Mercedes en su esplendor. plena de colores y matices. Muy bien acompañada, además.
Mércia Boaventura Santos
Que versão linda! Maravilhosa, simplesmente essa canção. 🥰🥰🥰
alfredo reinaldo Alberto
El clásico de Mercedes en su mejor momento. Arte y emoción en estado puro.
Eduardo s
Escutando essa obra prima em 2019!
Alfredo Murrugarra
Me too...yo también...!!!
Natalia San
Comenzando el 2020 escuchando esta maravilla.
Andres Araya Sagenev
Un aplauso hasta lo alto de tu memoria Mercedes.... x que dejamos de escuchar lo bueno?
Carlos Pellegrini
la letra de esta canción es una maravilla. realmente hermosa