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)
Zamba Para Olvidarte
Mercedes Sosa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Si ya empezaba a olvidar
No sé si ya lo sabrás
Lloré cuando vos te fuiste
No sé para qué volviste
Qué mal me hace recordar
La tarde se ha puesto triste
¿Para qué vamos a hablar
De cosas que ya no existen?
No sé para que volviste
Ya ves que es mejor no hablar
Qué pena me da
Saber que al final de este amor
Ya no queda nada
Sólo una pobre canción
Da vueltas por mi guitarra
Y hace rato que te extraña
Mi zamba para olvidar
Mi zamba vivió conmigo
Parte de mi soledad
No sé si ya lo sabrás
Mi vida se fue contigo
Contigo, mi amor, contigo
Qué mal me hace recordar
Mis manos ya son de barro
Tanto apretar al dolor
Y ahora que me falta el sol
No sé que venís buscando
Llorando, mi amor, llorando
También olvídame vos
Qué pena me da
Saber que al final de este amor
Ya no queda nada
Sólo una pobre canción
Da vueltas por mi guitarra
Y hace rato que te extraña
Mi zamba para olvidar
The lyrics of Mercedes Sosa's song "Zamba Para Olvidarte" talk about the pain and struggle of forgetting a past love. The singer questions why their former lover came back when they were finally starting to move on. They express the sadness they feel when remembering the times they cried after their lover left, and how it hurts to think about them again. The singer chooses to remain silent instead of discussing things that are no longer relevant. They lament the fact that the love they shared has turned into nothing, leaving only a sad song to remind them of what was once there. They speak of their loneliness and how their hands, which were once strong, now feel like they are made of clay. The singer tells their former lover to forget about them too, as it is too painful to continue holding on to the past.
Line by Line Meaning
No sé para qué volviste
I do not understand why you came back
Si yo empezaba a olvidar
Just when I was beginning to forget
No sé si ya lo sabrás
I am not sure if you already know
Lloré cuando vos te fuiste
I cried when you left
Qué mal me hace recordar
Memories hurt me so much
La tarde se ha puesto triste
The evening has turned sad
Y yo prefiero callar
I prefer to keep quiet
Para qué vamos a hablar
What's the point of talking
De cosas que ya no existen
About things that don't exist anymore
Ya ves que es mejor no hablar
You see it's better not to talk
Qué pena me da
It makes me so sad
Saber que al final de este amor
To know that at the end of this love
Ya no queda nada
Nothing remains
Sólo una pobre canción
Only a poor song
Da vueltas por mi guitarra
Keeps spinning around my guitar
Y hace rato que te extraña
And has missed you for a long time
Mi zamba para olvidar
My zamba to forget
Mi zamba vivió conmigo
My zamba lived with me
Parte de mi soledad
Part of my loneliness
Contigo, mi amor, contigo
With you, my love, with you
Mis manos ya son de barro
My hands are now made of clay
Tanto apretar al dolor
So much pain to bear
Y ahora que me falta el sol
And now that I am lacking the sun
No sé que venís buscando
I don't know what you are looking for
Llorando, mi amor, llorando
Crying, my love, crying
También olvídame vos
You should also forget me
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JULIO FONTANA, DANIEL TORO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Fabrizio Ayala
No sé para qué volviste
Si yo empezaba a olvidar
No sé si ya lo sabrás
Lloré cuando vos te fuiste
No sé para qué volviste
Qué mal me hace recordar
La tarde se ha puesto triste
Y yo prefiero callar
Para qué vamos a hablar
De cosas que ya no existen
No sé para que volviste
Ya ves que es mejor no hablar
Qué pena me da
Saber que al final de este amor
Ya no queda nada
Sólo una pobre canción
Da vueltas por mi guitarra
Y hace rato que te extraña
Mi zamba para olvidar
Mi zamba vivió conmigo
Parte de mi soledad
No sé si ya lo sabrás
Mi vida se fue contigo
Contigo, mi amor, contigo
Qué mal me hace recordar
Mis manos ya son de barro
Tanto apretar al dolor
Y ahora que me falta el sol
No sé que venís buscando
Llorando, mi amor, llorando
También olvídame vos
Qué pena me da
Saber que al final de este amor
Ya no queda nada
Sólo una pobre canción
Da vueltas por mi guitarra
Y hace rato que te extraña
Mi zamba para olvidar
Paula Gamba
I don't know why you came back
If I was beginning to forget
I don't know if you already know
I cried when you left
I don't know why you came back
how bad it makes me remember
The afternoon has turned sad
And I prefer to be silent
why are we going to talk
Of things that no longer exist?
I don't know why you came back
You see, it's better not to speak
How sad it makes me to know that in the end
Nothing remains of this love
just a poor song
that spins around my guitar
And I've been missing you for a long time
my zamba to forget
my zamba lived with me
part of my loneliness
I don't know if you already know
my life went with you
With you, my love, with you
how bad it makes me remember
My hands are already made of clay
so much squeezing the pain
And now that I lack the sun
I don't know what you come looking for
Crying, my love, crying
forget me too
How sad it makes me to know that in the end
Nothing remains of this love
just a poor song
Spin around my guitar
And I've been missing you for a long time
my zamba to forget
LaCielita Alarcon
Canción para llorar aunque no quieras, canción que aunque seas feliz retorna para doler un pasado y hacer catarsis valorando más la actual felicidad. Que magistral interpretación de Diego Torres y la gran oportunidad de cantar con una leyenda como Doña Mercedes. Amo esta versión más que ninguna de las otras.
Jesse Galvan
Maestros del solfeo los dos Doña Mercedes Sosa innolvidable
Coca Marelli
Que emoción escuchar a Mercedes Cerré los ojos para hacerlo y quede. Admirando pues Diego lo hizo con la perfección de la vos de esta mujer que tanto ama y quiere nuestro pueblo ❤❤❤
Nancy
A mí ya no me quedan lágrimas... sólo un dolor visceral que surge con su recuerdo.
Anita
La voz de Mercedes Sosa es puro arte...muy pocas voces transmiten sentimientos a través de las melodías. Pero la de ella era puro arte, que regalo el legado que dejó y que afortunada me siento el tener oídos y corazón para apreciar esta obra de arte.
Fabricio Fuentes
Cuánta verdad...las palabras justas.. excelente Diego Torres también
Marcela Carrillo
Él alma llora al escuchar tanto Qué grande Mercedes ❤❤
Mariel Prol
Bellísima interpretación... Mercedes una genia como siempre, inolvidable voz. Y Diego no se quedó atrás, excelente... Gracias
Ramon Loyola
No creo que esas canciones sean para llorar si no para decirnos que hay que vivir
Viviana Vidal
Me encanta la voz de Diego Torres en esta canción ❤