Parra was born in San Fabián de Alico, near San Carlos, Ñuble Province, a small town in southern Chile on 4 October 1917, as Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval. Violeta Parra was a member of the prolific Parra family. Among her brothers were the notable modern poet, better known as the "anti-poet", Nicanor Parra, and fellow folklorist Roberto Parra. Her son, Ángel Parra, and her daughter, Isabel Parra, are also important figures in the development of the Nueva Canción Chilena. Their children have also mostly maintained the family's artistic traditions.
Her father was a music teacher and her mother worked on a farm, but sang and played the guitar in her spare time. Two years after Violeta's birth, the family moved to Santiago, then, two years later, to Lautaro and, finally, in 1927, to Chillán. It was in Chillan that Violetta started singing and playing the guitar, together with her siblings Hilda, Eduardo and Roberto; and soon began composing traditional Chilean music.
After Parra's father died in 1929, the life circumstances of her family greatly deteriorated. Violeta and her siblings had to work to help feed the family. In 1932, at the insistence of her brother Nicanor, Parra moved to Santiago to attend the Normal School, staying with relatives. Later, she moved back with her mother and siblings to Edison street, in the Quinta Normal district.
The Parras performed in nightclubs, such as El Tordo Azul and El Popular, in the Mapocho district, interpreting boleros, rancheras, Mexican corridos and other styles. In 1934, she met Luis Cereceda, a railway driver, whom she married four years later, and with whom she had two children. Her husband was a militant communist, and, at his side, Parra became involved in the progressive movement and the Communist Party of Chile, taking part in the presidential campaign of Gabriel González Videla in 1944. Parra began singing songs of Spanish origin, from the repertoire of the famous Argentinian singers Lolita Torres and Imperio Argentina. She sang in restaurants and, also, in theatres, calling herself Violeta de Mayo. In 1945, she appeared with her children Isabel and Angel in a Spanish show in the Casanova confectionery. In 1948, after ten years of marriage, Parra and Luis Cereceda separated. Parra and her sister Hilda began singing together as "The Parra Sisters", and they recorded some of their work on RCA VICTOR. Also in 1946, Violeta met and married Luis Arce. Their daughter Carmen Luisa was born in 1949. Parra continued performing: she appeared in circuses and toured, with Hilda and with her children, throughout Argentina.
In 1952, Parra's second daughter, Rosita Clara, was born. In that same year, driven by her brother Nicanor, Violeta began to collect and collate authentic Chilean folk music from all over the Chile. She abandoned her old repertoire for folk songs, and began composing her own songs based on traditional folk forms. She gave recitals at universities, presented by Enrique Bello Cruz, a founder of cultural magazines. Soon, Parra was invited to the "Summer School" at the University of Concepción. She was also invited to teach courses in folklore at the University of Iquique. In Valparaiso, she was presented at the Chilean-French Institute.
Parra's two singles for EMI-Odeon label: "Que Pena Siente el Alma" and "Verso por el Fin del Mundo", and "Casamiento de Negros" and"Verso por Padecimiento" brought her a good measure of popularity.
Don Isaiah Angulo, a tenant farmer, taught her to play the guitarrón, a traditional Chilean guitar-like instrument with 25 strings.
Along the way, Parra met Pablo Neruda, who introduced her to his friends. In 1970, he would dedicate the poem "Elegia para Cantar" to her.
Between January and September 1954, Parra hosted the immensely successful radio program "Sing Violeta Parra" for Radio Chilena. The program was most often recorded in places where folk music was performed, such as her mother's restaurant in Barrancas. in the end of 1954, Parra participated in another folkloric programme, for Radio Agriculture.
Violeta was invited to the "World Festival of Youth and Students", in Warsaw, Poland, in July 1955. She then moved to Paris, France, where she performed at the nightclub "L'Escale" in the Quartier Latin. Meanwhile, back in Santiago her daughter Rosita Clara died. Violeta made contacts with European artists and intellectuals. Through the intervention of the anthropologist Paul Rivet she recorded at the National Sound Archive of the "Musée de l'Homme" La Sorbonne in Paris, where she left a guitarrón and tapes of her collections of Chilean folklore. She travelled to London to make recordings for EMI-Odeon and radio broadcasts from the BBC. Back in Paris, in March 1956, she recorded 16 songs for the French label "Chant du Monde" which launches its first two records with 8 songs each.
In November 1956, Violeta returned to Chile, and recorded the first LP of the series "The folklore of Chile" for the EMI Odeon label: "Violeta Parra and her guitar" which included three of her own compositions. In 1957 she followed with "La cueca" and "La tonada" (EMI Odeón) and "Composiciones de Violeta Parra".
In the following years she built her house “Casa de Palos” on Segovia Street, in the municipality of La Reina. She continued giving recitals in major cultural centers in Santiago, travelling all over the country to research, organize concerts and give lectures and workshops about folklore. She travelled north to investigate and record the pagan religious festival "La Tirana". Violeta Perra exerted a significant influence on Héctor Pavez and Gabriela Pizarro, who would become great performers and researchers in their own right. The product of this collaboration is evident in the play "La Celebración de la Minga" staged at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago.
She composed the music for the documentary "Wicker" and "Trilla", contributed to the film "Casamiento de negros", performed by Sergio Bravo.
She wrote the book "Cantos Foklóricos Chilean" which gathered all the research conducted so far, with photographs by Sergio Larraín and musical scores performed by Soublette Gaston (Santiago, Nascimento, 1979). She also wrote the "Décimas autobiográficas", work in verse recounting her from her childhood to her trip to Europe.
She started a serious interest in ceramics, painting and arpillera embroidery As a result of a severe hepatitis in 1959 that forced her to stay in bed, her work as a painter and arpillerista was developed greatly, so much so that the same year she exhibited her oil paintings and arpilleras at the First and also the Second Outdoor Exhibition of Fine Arts of the Forest Park. On 4 October 1960, the day of her birthday, she met Swiss flautist Gilbert Favre with whom she became romantically involved. In 1961 she traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she exhibited her paintings, appearing in TV, giving recitals at the Teatro IFT and recording an album of original songs for EMI Odeon - which was banned.
In June 1962 she returned to Santiago. With her children Isabel and Angel, and her granddaughter Tita, she embarked, with the Chilean delegation, for Finland to participate in the 8th "World Festival of Youth and Students" held in Helsinki. After touring the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy and France, Violeta Parra moved to Paris, where she performed at La Candelaria and L'Escale, in the Latin Quarter, gave recitals at the "Théâtre Des Nations" of UNESCO and performed on radio and television with her children. Then she started living with Gilbert Favre in Geneva, dividing her time between France and Switzerland, where she also gave concerts, appeared in TV and exhibited her art.
In 1963 she recorded in Paris, revolutionary and peasant songs, which would be published in 1971 under the title "Songs rediscovered in Paris" She wrote the book "Popular Poetry of the Andes". The Parras took part in the concert of "L'Humanité" (official newspaper of the French Communist Party). An Argentine musician friend recorded at her home a version of "El Gavilán" ("The Hawk"),interpreted by Violeta Parra accompanied by her granddaughter on percussion. Violeta accompanied her children in the LP "Los Parra de Chillán" for the Barclay label. She began playing the cuatro, an instrument of Venezuelan origin, and the charango, an instrument of the high plateaus.
In April 1964 she did an exhibition of her arpilleras, oil paintings and wire sculptures in the Museum of Decorative Arts of the Louvre - the first solo exhibition of a Latin American artist at the museum. In 1965, the publisher François Maspero, Paris, published her book "Poésie Populaire des Andes". In Geneva, Swiss television made a documentary about the artist and her work, "Violeta Parra, Chilean Embroiderer".
Favre and Parra returned to South America, in June 1965. Violeta recorded two 45s, one with her daughter Isabel and another to instrumental music for cuatro and quena with Gilbert Favre, whom she christened "El Tocador Afuerino" (The outsider musician) Her music now incorporated the Venezuelan cuatro and the charango from the plateaus of the northern. The EMI Odeon circulated the LP "Remembering Chile (a Chilean in Paris)," whose cover was illustrated with her own arpilleras.
However, Favre and Parra broke up, provoked by his desire to live in Bolivia where he was part of a successful Bolivian music act, Los Jairas.
Parra’s energy was invested in reviving a unique version of the Peña (now known as La Peña de Los Parra), a community center for the arts and for political activism. Some have stated she established the first 'peña', but as said by the RAE, places such as these had been called that at least since 1936.
Parra’s Peña was a tent (somewhat similar looking to a circus tent) that she set up on a 30 x 30 meter piece of land in the Parque La Quintrala, at number 340 Carmen Street, in today’s La Reina municipality of Santiago, in the area once known as la Cañada. Her tent hosted musical spectacles where she often sang with her children, and she and her children also lived on the same land. In La Reina, at La Cañada 7200, she also established a cultural center called "La Carpa de la Reina" inaugurated on 17 December 1965. She also installed a folk peña in the International Fair of Santiago (FISA), where she was invited. On the same year, she participated in numerous national television programs and signed a contract with Radio Minería which would be the last radio station to be used as a platform for her work.
Under the EMi Odeón label, in 1966 was released the LP "La Carpa de La Reina" featuring three songs performed by Violeta Parra and nine by guest artists announced at the carpa by Violeta herself. She travelled to La Paz, Bolivia, to meet with Gilbert Favre, where she regularly appeared in the Peña. She came back to Chile with Altiplano groups, presenting them in her carpa, on television and in her children's Peña. She also performed in concert at the Chilean southern cities of Osorno and Punta Arenas, invited by René Largo Farias, under the "Chile Ríe y Canta" ("Chile Laughs and Sings") program. Accompanied by her children and Uruguayan Alberto Zapicán, she recorded for RCA Victor the LP "The Last Compositions of Violeta Parra". In that year, Favre returned briefly to Chile with his group, but declined to stay, because in the meantime he had established a life and married in Bolivia.
Her most renowned song, Gracias a la Vida (Thanks to Life), was popularized throughout Latin America by Mercedes Sosa, in Brazil by Elis Regina and later in the US by Joan Baez. It remains one of the most covered Latin American songs in history. Other notable covers of this tragic, but widely beloved, folk anthem include the Italian guitar-vocal solo of Adriana Mezzadri and La Oreja de Van Gogh at the 2005 Viña del Mar International Song Festival.
It has been treated by classically trained musicians such as in the fully orchestrated rendition by conservatory-trained Alberto Cortez.
The song has been re-recorded by several Latin artists and Canadian Michael Bublé to gather funds for the Chilean people affected by the earthquake in Chile, February 2010.
It opens with a very common shift between A minor and E major chords, then it goes to G7-C/C7 before returning to the Am/E motif.
"Gracias a la vida" was written and recorded in 1964-65 following Parra's separation with her long-time partner. It was released in Las Últimas Composiciones (1966), the last album Parra published before committing suicide in 1967.
Parra's lyrics are ambiguous at first: the song may be read as a romantic celebration of life and individual experience, however the circumstances surrounding the song suggest that Parra also intended the song as a sort of suicide note, thanking life for all it has given her. It may even be read as ironic, pointing out that a life full of good health, opportunity and worldly experience may not offer any consolation to grief and the contradictory nature of the human condition.
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto
Me dio dos luceros que cuando los abro
Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco
Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado
Y en las multitudes el hombre que yo amo
Translated into English:
Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It gave me two bright stars that when I open them,
I perfectly distinguish the black from white
And in the sky above, her starry backdrop
And within the multitudes the man I love
Another highly regarded original, the last song she wrote, "Volver a los Diecisiete" ("Being Seventeen-Old Again") similarly celebrates the themes of youthful life, in tragic contrast to her biography. Unlike much popular music, it moves through minor key progression creating an introspective if not melancholy mood and thus has lent itself to classical treatment as well as popular music.
Despite its originality, Parra's music was deeply rooted in folk song traditions, as is the case with Nueva Canción in general.
Parra committed suicide in 1967 by a gunshot to the head. Several memorials were held after her death, both in Chile and abroad. She was an inspiration for several Latin-American artists, such Victor Jara and the musical movement of the "Nueva Cancion Chilena", which renewed interest in Chilean folklore. In 1992, the Violeta Parra Foundation was founded at the initiative of her children, with the aim to group, organize and disseminate her still-unpublished work. In 1997, with the participation of Violeta Parra Foundation and the Department of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, her visual work was exhibited in the Museum of Decorative Arts of the Louvre Museum, Paris. In 2007, the 90th anniversary of her birth was commemorated with an exhibition of her visual work at the Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda and the release of a collection of her art work titled, "Visual Work of Violeta Parra".
Violeta Went to Heaven (Spanish: Violeta se fue a los cielos) is a 2011 Chilean biopic about singer and folklorist Violeta Parra, directed by Andrés Wood. The film is based on an eponymous book, a biography, written by Ángel Parra, Violeta's son with Luis Cereceda Arenas. Parra collaborated on the film, The film was selected as the Chilean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. It was awarded the World Cinema Jury Prize (Dramatic) at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and had good reviews.Jeannette Catsoulis, in The New York Times, wrote:
By turns charming, selfish, passionate and dismissive, Parra (beautifully played by Francisca Gavilán) poured herself into her songs, emotionally resonant wails of romantic pain and social injustice. (...) [and] bulldozed all obstacles.
(...)"Violeta" has a wild, impressionistic tone that prizes emotion over fact. Skipping around in time, the director, Andrés Wood, skates over Parra’s involvement with Communism to focus on a personality awash in contradictions. Husbands and children appear as mere adjuncts to her art, whether dragged around the countryside while she collects traditional songs or abandoned for years while she frolics in Europe with her young lover, the Swiss flautist Gilbert Favre (Thomas Durand).
(...)Mr. Wood has created a poignant portrait of an artist unable to escape the stamp of her class or the burdens of aging. The grand exhibition tent she erects on a hilltop becomes, in the end, an apt metaphor for dashed dreams, its canvas unable to keep out the rain and its empty seats unable to turn back time.
Discography
Studio albums
Chants et danses du chili Vol. 1 (1956)
Chants et danses du chili. Vol. 2 (1956)
Violeta Parra, Canto y guitarra. El Folklore de Chile, Vol. I (1956)
Violeta Parra, acompañada de guitarra. El Folklore de Chile, Vol. II (1958)
La cueca presentada por Violeta Parra: El Folklore de Chile, Vol. III. (1958)
La tonada presentada por Violeta Parra: El Folklore de Chile, Vol. IV. (1958)
Toda Violeta Parra: El Folklore de Chile, Vol. VIII (1960)
Violeta Parra, guitare et chant: Chants et danses du Chili. (1963)
Recordandeo a Chile (Una Chilena en París). (1965)
Carpa de la Reina (1966)
Las últimas composiciones de Violeta Parra (1967)
Posthumous discography
Violeta Parra y sus canciones reencontradas en París (1971)
Canciones de Violeta Parra (1971)
Le Chili de Violeta Parra (1974)
Un río de sangre (1975)
Presente / Ausente (1975)
Décimas (1976)
Chants & rythmes du Chili (1991)
El hombre con su razón (1992)
Décimas y Centésimas (1993)
El folklore y la pasión (1994)
Haciendo Historia: La jardinera y su canto (1997)
Violeta Parra: Antología (1998)
Canciones reencontradas en París (1999)
Composiciones para guitarra (1999)
Violeta Parra - En Ginebra, En Vivo, 1965 (1999)
Violeta Parra: Cantos Campesinos (1999)
Further reading
Alcalde, Alfonso: Toda Violeta Parra (biography plus anthology of songs and poems) Ediciones de la Flor. Buenos Aires 1974
Escobar, A., 2012. Violeta Parra, una aproximación a la creación interdisciplinaria. Master Thesis. Universitat de Barcelona: Spain. URL:
MANNS, Patricio. Violeta Parra. Madrid: Júcar, 1978; 2ª ed. 1984
PARRA, Ángel. Violeta se fue a los cielos. Santiago de Chile: Catalonia, 2006
PARRA, Eduardo. Mi hermana Violeta Parra. Su vida y su obra en décimas. Santiago de Chile: LOM, 1998.
PARRA, Isabel. El libro mayor de Violeta Parra. Madrid: Michay, 1985.
PARRA, Violeta. Violeta Parra, Composiciones para guitarra. Eds. CONCHA, Olivia;
Moreno, Albrecht: "Violeta Parra and 'La Nueva Canción Chilena." Studies in Latin American Popular Culture 5 (1986): 108—26.
SUBERCASEAUX, Bernardo y LONDOÑO, Jaime. Gracias A La Vida. Violeta Parra, testimonio. Buenos Aires: Galerna, 1976
Defensa de Violeta Parra
Violeta Parra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Arpillerista azul, verde y granate
Grande enemiga de la zarzamora
Violeta Parra.
Chillaneja locera y costurera
Bailarina del agua transparente
Árbol lleno de pájaros cantores
Has recorrido toda la comarca
Desenterrando cántaros de greda
Y liberando pájaros cautivos
Entre las ramas.
Preocupada siempre de los otros
Cuando no del sobrino de la tía
Cuándo vas a acordarte de ti misma
Viola piadosa.
Tu dolor es un círculo infinito
Que no comienza ni termina nunca
Puesto que siempre has sido lo que eres
Ánfora plena.
Cuando se trata de bailar la cueca
De tu guitarra no se libra nadie
Hasta los muertos salen a bailar
Cueca valseada.
Cueca de la Batalla de Maipú
Cueca del Hundimiento del Angamos
Cueca del Terremoto de Chillán
Todas las cosas.
Ni bandurria ni tenca ni zorzal
Ni codorniza libre ni cautiva
Tú, solamente tú, tres veces tú
Ave del paraíso terrenal.
Charagüilla gaviota de agua dulce
Todos los adjetivos se hacen pocos
Todos los sustantivos se hacen pocos
Para nombrarte.
Pero resulta que los secretarios
Andan con la cabeza para abajo
Y te declaran una guerra a muerte Violeta Parra.
Porque tú no te compras ni te vendes
Porque tú no te vistes de payaso
Porque tú nos aclaras en el acto
Viola volcánica
¡Porque tú los aclaras en el acto!
Tu corazón se abre cuando quiere
Tu voluntad se cierra cuando quiere
Y tu espíritu sopla cuando quiere
Aguas arriba!
Cómo van a quererte me pregunto
Cuando son unos tristes funcionarios
Grises como las piedras del desierto
¿No te parece?
En cambio tú, Violeta de los Andes
Flor de la cordillera de la costa
Eres un manantial inagotable
De vida humana.
¡Nadie puede quejarse cuando tú
Cantas a media voz o cuando gritas
Como si te estuvieran degollando
Violeta Parra.
Lo que tiene que hacer el auditor
Es guardar un silencio religioso
Porque tu canto sabe adónde va
Perfectamente.
Rayos son los que salen de tu voz
Hacia los cuatro puntos cardinales
Vendimiadora ardiente de ojos negros
Violeta Parra.
Se te acusa de esto y de lo otro
Yo te conozco y digo lo que eres
¡Oh corderillo disfrazado de lobo!
Violeta Parra.
Yo te conozco bien hermana vieja
Norte y sur del país atormentado
Valparaíso hundido para arriba
¡Isla de Pascua!
Sacristana cuyaca de Andacollo
Tejedora a palillo y a bolillo
Arregladora vieja de angelitos
Violeta Parra.
Los veteranos del Setentaynueve
Lloran cuando te oyen sollozar
En el abismo de la noche oscura
¡Lámpara a sangre!
Cocinera, niñera, lavandera
Niña de mano, todos los oficios
Todos los arreboles del crepúsculo
Viola Parra.
Yo no sé qué decir en esta hora
La cabeza me da vueltas y vueltas
Como si hubiera bebido cicuta
Hermana mía.
Dónde voy a encontrar otra Violeta
Aunque recorra campos y ciudades
O me quede sentado en el jardín
Como un inválido.
Para verte mejor cierro los ojos
Y retrocedo a los días felices
¿Sabes lo que estoy viendo?
Tu delantal estampado de maqui.
Tu delantal estampado de maqui.
¡Río Cautín!, ¡Lautaro!, ¡Villa Alegre!
¡Año mil novecientos veintisiete
Violeta Parra!
Pero yo no confío en las palabras
¿Por qué no te levantas de la tumba
A cantar, a bailar, a navegar
En tu guitarra?
Cántame una canción inolvidable
Una canción que no termine nunca
Una canción no más, una canción
Es lo que pido.
Qué te cuesta mujer árbol florido
Álzate en cuerpo y alma del sepulcro
Y haz estallar las piedras con tu voz
Violeta Parra.
The song "Defensa de Violeta Parra" is a tribute to the Chilean folk singer and artist Violeta Parra, who was a symbol of resistance against oppression and a defender of the cultural heritage of her country. The song describes her as a neighbor of the green jungle, a weaver of arpilleras (multi-colored patchwork textiles), a dancer of transparent water, and a tree full of singing birds. She is portrayed as someone who has traveled around the region, unearthing clay pots and freeing captive birds from captivity. Although she is always concerned about others, the lyrics question whether she thinks of herself as a pious soul.
The song also acknowledges Parra's musical talent, especially with the cueca, a traditional dance of Chile. She is known to have played the cueca using her guitar, which was so good that even the dead would rise to dance. The song lists various cuecas associated with significant events in Chile's history, such as the Battle of Maipú, the Sinking of the Angamos, and the Chillán Earthquake. The lyrics convey a sense of deep admiration and respect for Violeta Parra, who is celebrated as a unique and irreplaceable personality.
Line by Line Meaning
Dulce vecina de la verde selva
Violeta Parra, you are a sweet neighbor of the green forest
Arpillerista azul, verde y granate
You are a craftswoman who works with blue, green, and maroon fabrics
Grande enemiga de la zarzamora
You hate blackberry fruit
Chillaneja locera y costurera
You are a potter and seamstress from Chillán
Bailarina del agua transparente
You dance gracefully in clear water
Árbol lleno de pájaros cantores
You are a tree full of singing birds
Has recorrido toda la comarca
You have traveled throughout the region
Desenterrando cántaros de greda
You uncover earthenware jars
Y liberando pájaros cautivos
You free captive birds from cages
Entre las ramas.
They fly freely among the branches.
Preocupada siempre de los otros
You always worry about others' needs
Cuándo vas a acordarte de ti misma
When will you remember to take care of yourself?
Viola piadosa.
You are a compassionate person who cares for others
Tu dolor es un círculo infinito
Your pain is an endless cycle
Que no comienza ni termina nunca
It never starts or finishes
Puesto que siempre has sido lo que eres
Because you have always been who you are
Ánfora plena.
You are a vessel overflowing with emotion.
Cuando se trata de bailar la cueca
When it comes to dancing cueca
De tu guitarra no se libra nadie
No one can resist your guitar's sound
Hasta los muertos salen a bailar
Even the dead come out to dance
Cueca valseada.
You are the queen of the part waltz, part cueca.
Cueca de la Batalla de Maipú
A combination of cueca and the battle of Maipú
Cueca del Hundimiento del Angamos
A combination of cueca and the sinking of the Angamos ship
Cueca del Terremoto de Chillán
A combination of cueca and the earthquake in Chillán
Todas las cosas.
You mix everything.
Ni bandurria ni tenca ni zorzal
Not even mandolins, tenchas, or thrushes can compare to you
Ni codorniza libre ni cautiva
Not even quails, whether free or captive, can compare to you
Tú, solamente tú, tres veces tú
You, and no one else, three times over
Ave del paraíso terrenal.
You are a bird from earthly paradise.
Charagüilla gaviota de agua dulce
You are a guillemot from freshwater
Todos los adjetivos se hacen pocos
Adjectives fall short to describe you
Todos los sustantivos se hacen pocos
Nouns fall short to name you
Para nombrarte.
You are beyond description.
Pero resulta que los secretarios
But it turns out that secretaries
Andan con la cabeza para abajo
Have their heads down
Y te declaran una guerra a muerte Violeta Parra.
And they declare a war against you, Violeta Parra.
Porque tú no te compras ni te vendes
Because you refuse to buy or sell yourself
Porque tú no te vistes de payaso
Because you refuse to dress up like a clown
Porque tú nos aclaras en el acto
Because you clarify things for us immediately
Viola volcánica
You are a volcanic person who erupts with passion and emotion.
¡Porque tú los aclaras en el acto!
Your clear explanations prevent confusion.
Tu corazón se abre cuando quiere
Your heart opens at its own will
Tu voluntad se cierra cuando quiere
Your willpower closes when it wants
Y tu espíritu sopla cuando quiere
Your spirit blows when it wants
Aguas arriba!
Against the current!
Cómo van a quererte me pregunto
I wonder how they can love you
Cuando son unos tristes funcionarios
When they are sad bureaucrats
Grises como las piedras del desierto
As gray as desert stones
¿No te parece?
Don't you agree?
En cambio tú, Violeta de los Andes
Instead, you, Violeta of the Andes
Flor de la cordillera de la costa
A flower from the coastal mountain range
Eres un manantial inagotable
You are an endless spring
De vida humana.
Of human life.
¡Nadie puede quejarse cuando tú
No one can complain when you
Cantas a media voz o cuando gritas
Sing softly or scream loudly
Como si te estuvieran degollando
As if someone were slitting your throat
Lo que tiene que hacer el auditor
The audience has only one job
Es guardar un silencio religioso
And that is to listen in pure silence
Porque tu canto sabe adónde va
Because your song knows exactly where it's going
Perfectamente.
It's perfect.
Rayos son los que salen de tu voz
Rays come out of your voice
Hacia los cuatro puntos cardinales
In all four cardinal directions
Vendimiadora ardiente de ojos negros
You are a passionate grape picker with black eyes
Se te acusa de esto y de lo otro
You were accused of things left and right
Yo te conozco y digo lo que eres
But I know you and say who you are
¡Oh corderillo disfrazado de lobo!
Oh, innocent lamb disguised as a wolf!
Yo te conozco bien hermana vieja
I know you well, old sister
Norte y sur del país atormentado
North and south of the tormented country
Valparaíso hundido para arriba
Valparaíso sunk from the top down
¡Isla de Pascua!
Easter Island!
Sacristana cuyaca de Andacollo
You are a sacristan from Andacollo
Tejedora a palillo y a bolillo
You weave with knitting needles and bobbins
Arregladora vieja de angelitos
You fix old angel statues
Los veteranos del Setentaynueve
The veterans of 1979
Lloran cuando te oyen sollozar
Cry when they hear you sobbing
En el abismo de la noche oscura
In the abyss of the dark night
¡Lámpara a sangre!
You are a blood lamp, shining light in the darkness.
Cocinera, niñera, lavandera
Cook, nanny, launderer
Niña de mano, todos los oficios
Handy girl, mistress of all trades
Todos los arreboles del crepúsculo
All the colors of the sunset
Viola Parra.
That's you, Violeta Parra.
Yo no sé qué decir en esta hora
I don't know what to say in this moment
La cabeza me da vueltas y vueltas
My head spins and spins
Como si hubiera bebido cicuta
Like I drank hemlock
Hermana mía.
My sister.
Dónde voy a encontrar otra Violeta
Where will I find another Violeta?
Aunque recorra campos y ciudades
Even if I search fields and cities
O me quede sentado en el jardín
Or just sit in my garden
Como un inválido.
Like an invalid.
Para verte mejor cierro los ojos
To see you better I close my eyes
Y retrocedo a los días felices
And go back to happy days
¿Sabes lo que estoy viendo?
Do you know what I see?
Tu delantal estampado de maqui.
I see your apron with maqui berries printed on it.
¡Río Cautín!, ¡Lautaro!, ¡Villa Alegre!
Cautín River! Lautaro! Villa Alegre!
¡Año mil novecientos veintisiete
The year 1927.
Violeta Parra!
That's you, Violeta Parra!
Pero yo no confío en las palabras
But I don't trust words
¿Por qué no te levantas de la tumba
Why won't you rise from the grave
A cantar, a bailar, a navegar
To sing, to dance, to sail
En tu guitarra?
On your guitar?
Cántame una canción inolvidable
Sing me an unforgettable song
Una canción que no termine nunca
A song that never ends
Una canción no más, una canción
Just one song, that's all I ask
Es lo que pido.
That's all I want.
Qué te cuesta mujer árbol florido
What does it cost you, flowery tree-woman?
Álzate en cuerpo y alma del sepulcro
Rise up bodily and spiritually from the grave
Y haz estallar las piedras con tu voz
And shatter the stones with your voice.
Contributed by Vivian D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Patricio Valladares
Esto es lo que quería decirte
Continúa tejiendo tus alambres
Tus ponchos araucanos
Tus cantaritos de Quinchamalí
Continúa puliendo noche y día
Tus toromiros de madera sagrada
Sin aflicción
................... sin lágrimas inútiles
O si quieres con lágrimas ardientes
Y recuerda que eres
Un corderillo disfrazado de lobo
KANJUR
Dulce vecina de la verde selva
Arpillerista azul verde y granate
Grande enemiga de la zarzamora
Violeta Parra
Chillanera
locera
costurera
Bailarina del agua transparente
Árbol lleno de pájaros cantores
Violeta Parra
Has recorrido toda la comarca
Desenterrando cántaros de greda
Y liberando pájaros cautivos
Entre las ramas
Preocupada siempre de los otros
Cuando no del sobrino
o de la tía
Cuándo vas a acordarte de ti misma
Violeta Parra
Tu dolor es un círculo infinito
Que no comienza ni termina nunca
Puesto que siempre has sido lo que eres
Ánfora plena
Cuando se trata de bailar la cueca
De tu guitarra no se libra nadie
Hasta los muertos salen a bailar
Cueca valseada
Cueca de la Batalla de Maipú
Cueca del Hundimiento del Angamos
Cueca del Terremoto de Chillán
Todas las cosas
Ni bandurria
ni tenca
ni zorzal
Ni codorniza libre ni cautiva
Tú
solamente tú
tres veces tú
Ave del paraíso terrenal
Charagüilla
gaviota de agua dulce
Todos los adjetivos se hacen pocos
Todos los sustantivos se hacen pocos
Para nombrarte
Pero resulta que los secretarios
andan con la cabeza para abajo
Y te declaran una guerra a muerte
Violeta Parra
Porque tú no te compras ni te vendes
Porque tú no te vistes de payaso
¡Porque tú los aclaras en el acto!
Viola volcánica
Tu corazón se abre cuando quiere
Tu voluntad se cierra cuando quiere
Y tu espíritu sopla cuando quiere
Aguas arriba!
Cómo van a quererte
me pregunto
Cuando son unos tristes funcionarios
Grises como las piedras del desierto
¿No te parece?
En cambio tú
Violeta de los Andes
Flor de la cordillera de la costa
Eres un manantial inagotable
De vida humana
¡Nadie puede quejarse cuando tú
Cantas a media voz o cuando gritas
Como si te estuvieran degollando
Violeta Parra
Lo que tiene que hacer el auditor
Es guardar un silencio religioso
Porque tu canto sabe adónde va
Perfectamente
Rayos son los que salen de tu voz
Hacia los cuatro puntos cardinales
Vendimiadora ardiente de ojos negros
Violeta Parra
Se te acusa de esto y de lo otro
Yo te conozco y digo lo que eres
¡Oh corderillo disfrazado de lobo!
Violeta Parra
Yo te conozco bien
hermana vieja
Norte y sur del país atormentado
Valparaíso hundido para arriba
¡Isla de Pascua!
Sacristana cuyaca de Andacollo
Tejedora a palillo y a bolillo
Arregladora vieja de angelitos
Violeta Parra
Los veteranos del setenta y nueve
Lloran cuando te oyen sollozar
En el abismo de la noche obscura
¡Lámpara a sangre!
Cocinera
niñera
lavandera
Niña de mano
todos los oficios
Todos los arreboles del crepúsculo
Violeta Parra
Yo no sé qué decir en esta hora
La cabeza me da vueltas y vueltas
Como si hubiera bebido cicuta
Hermana mía
Dónde voy a encontrar otra Violeta
Aunque recorra campos y ciudades
O me quede sentado en el jardín
Como un inválido
Para verte mejor cierro los ojos
Y retrocedo a los días felices
¿Sabes lo que estoy viendo?
Tu delantal estampado de maqui
Tu delantal estampado de maqui
¡Río Cautín!
¡Lautaro!
¡Villa Alegre!
¡Año mil novecientos veintisiete
Violeta Parra!
Pero yo no confío en las palabras
¿Por qué no te levantas de la tumba
A cantar
a bailar
a navegar
En tu guitarra?
Cántame una canción inolvidable
Una canción que no termine nunca
Una canción no más
una canción
Es lo que pido
Qué te cuesta mujer árbol florido
Álzate en cuerpo y alma del sepulcro
Y haz estallar las piedras con tu voz
Violeta Parra
Patricio Valladares
Esto es lo que quería decirte
Continúa tejiendo tus alambres
Tus ponchos araucanos
Tus cantaritos de Quinchamalí
Continúa puliendo noche y día
Tus toromiros de madera sagrada
Sin aflicción
................... sin lágrimas inútiles
O si quieres con lágrimas ardientes
Y recuerda que eres
Un corderillo disfrazado de lobo
puntoseguido
"Cantame una cancion inolvidable una cancion que no termine nunca Una cancion no mas una cancion es lo que pido"
Patricio Valladares
Yo tb.
Darío Gallegus
Esto es una obra maestra ¡¡ gracias por compartirlo... genios chilenos.
alex_hernandex168
Ajá si
Claudia González Castro
Se me eriza la piel al escuchar, tanto amor. Que aríamos sin los artistas, los simples mortales, en este mundo creado con la emocion del odio y el miedo.
Jose Del Valle
Cómo van a quererte
............................... me pregunto
Cuando son unos tristes funcionarios
Grises como las piedras del desierto
¿No te parece?
IMPECABLE FRAGMENTO. Los Parras, familia de artistas que defienden al más débil con sus poemas y canciones.
Adrian Gutierrez
maravilloso nicanor eres de los grandes poetas chilenos que apesar que en mexico hay muchos nicanor eres envidiable tu poesia es tan unica y viva chile y sus poetas ... desde mexico
Juan Bautista
La defensa de Violeta Parra es la defensa de la mujer chilena, la gran ausente de nuestra historia, pero también la que nos ha permitido sobrevivir.
pelusipop
uy! monton de emoción, esta realmente hermoso! gran aporte!