Gracias a la Vida

"Gracias a la vida" (English: Thanks to life) is a song composed and first performed by Chilean musician Violeta Parra, one of the artists who set the basis for the movement known as Nueva Canción. It was released in Las Últimas Composiciones (1966), the last album Parra published before committing suicide in 1967.

The song is one of Parra's most renowned and is performed throughout the world, and remains as one of the most covered Latin American songs in history. The song was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.^[1]

Folk singer Joan Baez brought the song to the American audiences in 1974 when she included a cover of the song on her Spanish language album of the same name. It remains a concert staple of Baez' to this day.

Finnish singer Arja Saijonmaa recorded this song in both Finnish (Miten voin kyllin kiittää) and Swedish (Jag vill tacka livet).^[2] Her Swedish interpretation is one of the most well-known of her Swedish-language oeuvres, and she sung it during Olof Palme's funeral in March 1986.^[3] Marie Bergmann also recorded a Swedish version of "Jag vill tacka livet" on her album Hjärtats Lust in 1981.

Canadian singer/songwriter Nancy White recorded her English translation (with permission of Warner Chappell Music Argentina (SADAIC))on her 1998 Borealis cd "Gaelic Envy".

One of the artists most associated with "Gracias a la vida" is the Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa. "Gracias a la vida" became something of a personal anthem for Sosa and was a constant in all of her performances up until her death.

BBC Radio 4's program, "Soul Music," devoted an episdoe to the song, first aired on November 25, 2014, consisting of conversations with individuals for whom the song had a particularly meaningful place in their lives.^[4]

Cover versions

• Cecilia en Gracias a la vida (1970)
• Isabel Parra on Los Parra de Chile (1970)
• Chagual on Tu canto viola doliente (1970)
• Mercedes Sosa on Homenaje a Violeta Parra (1971)
• Alberto Cortez on Ni poco... ni demasiado (1973)
• Joan Baez on Gracias a la vida (1974), Ring Them Bells (1995), and live at Festival des Vieilles Charrues, Carhaix, France, 2000^[5]
• Gabriella Ferri on Remedios (1974)
• Raphael on Recital hispanoamericano (1975)
• Elis Regina on Falso Brilhante (1976)
• Maria Farantouri on "Tragoudia Diamartyrias apo olon ton Kosmo" (1977)
• Sonia la Única on Sonia canta a Violeta Parra (1980)
• Richard Clayderman on América latina mon amour (1992)
• Plácido Domingo on De Mi Alma Latina (1994) and Canciones de amor (2003)
• Nana Mouskouri on Nana Latina (1996)
• Luis Jara on Lo Nuestro... ayer y hoy (1999)
• Claudia Acuña on Wind from the South (2000)
• Issac Delgado on La formula (2000)
• Los Bunkers on Después de vivir un siglo (2001)
• Alberto Cortez on Leyendas: Alberto Cortez (2005)
• Yasmin Levy on La Judería – Ladino meets Flamenco (2005)
• La Oreja de Van Gogh on Festival de Viña del Mar (2005)
• Amaury Pérez and Frank Fernández on Los dúos (2006)
• Jorge González on Cantores que reflexionan: sintiendo a Violeta (2007)
• Los Tres on Cantores que reflexionan: sintiendo a Violeta (2007)
• Verónica Garay Opaso on Así (2007)
• Ángel Parra on Violeta se fue a los cielos (2007)
• Gloria Simonetti on 40 años de gloria (2007)
• Rosario Flores on Cuéntame (2009)
• Pasión Vega on Gracias a la vida (2009)
• Michael Bublé on Gracias a la vida: Voces unidas por Chile (2010) to gather funds for the Chilean people affected by the earthquake in Chile, February 2010^[6]
• Margareth Menezes on Naturalmente Acústico (2010)
• Carlos do Carmo & Bernardo Sassetti on Carlos do Carmo/Bernardo Sassetti (2011)
• Margarita ('La diosa de la cumbia') on her DVD Sinfonica (2011)
• Erwin Schrott on Rojotango (2011)
• Miri Mesika (2013)
• Daniela Andrade (2014)
• Laura Pausini live in concert
• Óscar Chávez on 16 exitos de oro
• Nicole Natalino's performance of Gracias a la vida was controversial

References

1. "Latin GRAMMY Hall Of Fame". Latin Grammy Award. Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
2. "Jag vill tacka livet" (in Swedish). Svensk mediedatabas. 1979. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
3. "Arja Saijonmaa på Visfestival Holmön" (in Swedish). Finnish Embassy in Stockholm. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
4. "Gracias A La Vida". Retrieved December 17, 2015.
5. On Youtube
6. Official website of the campaign.

External links

• "Gracias a la Vida" at MusicBrainz (information & list of recordings)
• Gracias a la vida گراسیاس آلا ویدا (+ translation into twelve languages)