And, indeed, I will ask on my own account here, an idle question: which is better—cheap happiness or exalted sufferings? Well, which is better?---Fyodor Dostoevsky ---Notes from Underground Fyodor Dostoevsky ---Notes from Underground Even now, so many years later, all this is somehow a very evil memory. I have many evil memories now, but ... hadn’t I better end my “Notes” here? I believe I made a mistake in beginning to write them, anyway I have felt ashamed all the time I’ve been writing this story; so it’s hardly literature so much as a corrective punishment. Why, to tell long stories, showing how I have spoiled my life through morally rotting in my corner, through lack of fitting environment, through divorce from real life, and rankling spite in my underground world, would certainly not be interesting; a novel needs a hero, and all the traits for an anti-hero are expressly gathered together here, and what matters most, it all produces an unpleasant impression, for we are...
Hope
To be human is to be a miracle of evolution conscious of its own miraculousness — a consciousness beautiful and bittersweet, for we have paid for it with a parallel awareness not only of our fundamental improbability but of our staggering fragility, of how physiologically precarious our survival is and how psychologically vulnerable our sanity. To make that awareness bearable, we have evolved a singular faculty that might just be the crowning miracle of our consciousness: hope.--
Erich Fromm
Haydée Mercedes Sosa, sometimes known as La Negra, was an Argentine singer who was popular throughout Latin America and many countries outside the region. With her roots in Argentine folk music, Sosa became one of the preeminent exponents of El nuevo cancionero.Wikipedia
Sólo le pido a Dios (in English: I only ask of God) is a famous protest song, written by Argentine singer-songwriter León Gieco
Haydée Mercedes Sosa (9 July 1935 – 4 October 2009), known simply as Mercedes Sosa or La Negra (The Black One), was an Argentine singer who became one of the most influential figures in Latin American music and a foundational voice of the Nueva Canción (New Song) movement.
Her powerful, deep contralto voice transcended music, turning her into a symbol of social justice, political resistance, and pan-Latin American unity.
核心 (The Core: Nueva Canción)
In the 1960s, Sosa, alongside her first husband Manuel Óscar Matus and others, launched the Manifesto del Nuevo Cancionero (New Songbook Manifesto) in Mendoza. The movement sought to move folk music away from purely commercial or superficial themes, using it instead to give voice to the working class, rural struggles, and human rights.
Rather than sticking strictly to Argentine folklore, she embraced songwriters from across the continent, blending traditional folk rhythms with politically charged poetry.
Key Defining Works
While she recorded dozens of albums, several specific songs became universally fused with her legacy:
"Gracias a la Vida" (Thanks to Life): Written by Chilean icon Violeta Parra. Sosa’s 1971 rendition became the definitive version for millions worldwide—a poignant, bittersweet anthem of appreciation for existence amidst suffering.
"Solo le Pido a Dios" (I Only Ask of God): Written by León Gieco. Sosa turned this track into a massive, universal prayer for peace, empathy, and resistance against political indifference and the horrors of war.
"Alfonsina y el Mar" (Alfonsina and the Sea): A hauntingly beautiful interpretation of Ariel Ramírez and Félix Luna’s tribute to the Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni, who tragically walked into the sea.
Exile and Triumphant Return
During Argentina's brutal military dictatorship (1976–1983), Sosa’s music was banned, and she faced intense censorship and surveillance.
The 1979 Arrest: In 1979, during a concert in La Plata, military forces raided the venue, searching and arresting Sosa on stage along with her entire audience.
Exile: Following death threats and the ban on her performances, she fled to Europe, living in Paris and Madrid. This period deepened her international reach but caused her immense personal grief.
The 1982 Return: Just before the fall of the dictatorship, she returned to Argentina and performed a legendary series of concerts at the Teatro Ópera in Buenos Aires. These performances were a cultural watershed moment, signaling the return of democracy and intellectual freedom.
Global Impact
Sosa’s artistry went far beyond standard folk categorization. Later in her career, she collaborated across genres, performing with rock, pop, and classical musicians alike—ranging from Joan Baez, Sting, and Luciano Pavarotti to Charly García and Caetano Veloso. She served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and earned multiple Latin Grammy Awards, cementing her legacy not just as a musical giant, but as the collective "voice of the voiceless" for Latin America.
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