Known as the voice of inspiration to many people struggling for justice, Mercedes Sosa is a singer whose political activism has brought her international recognition. During her life, Sosa has experienced the pain of poverty, the oppression of Argentina’s dictatorship, and the banishment of herself and her music from her native country. She became one of the figureheads of the Latin American nueva cancion (new song) movement.
Sosa was born on July 9, 1935, in Tucuman, Argentina. She enjoyed singing as a child and, at the age of 20, won a singing competition, the award for which was a two-month contract with a local radio station. She made her professional singing debut at a regional folk music festival in Cosquin.
In 1962 Sosa joined with Armando Tejado Gomez and others in launching a musical manifesto, known as nueva cancion, that aimed to rehabilitate the music of the people and give it a new impetus. Up until then, native folk songs had only rarely acknowledged the limiting social conditions faced by campesinos (field workers). The “new” songs, while retaining the stylistic elements of the folk tradition, began to address social issues such as human rights, and the need for a realistic living wage and proper working conditions. When she was asked whether these were “protest” songs, Sosa said in an interview: “I've never liked that label. They were honest songs about the way things really are.”
During the 1970s, Sosa attracted a significant following with her warm voice, perfectly suited to the indigenous song styles. She occasionally wrote her own songs, but was known primarily for performing the body of “new” songs by Argentine artists such as Atahualpa Yupanqui and Leon Gieco. Toward the end of the 1970s, the songs she performed began to deal more pointedly with agrarian reform and democracy. This resulted in her being targeted for harassment by the military government. She was repeatedly arrested and, eventually, the government banned her music from Argentine radio and television. After her performances were banned in 1979, Sosa was unable to earn a living and was forced to leave the country in order to support herself.
Sosa lived in exile in France and Spain for the next three years, experimenting with other musical styles and performing throughout Europe, England, Canada, Colombia, and Brazil. The pain of exile exacted an emotional toll on Sosa. She said in a New York Times interview: “When you are in exile, you take your suitcase, but there are things that don't fit. There are things in your mind like colours and smells and childhood attitudes, and there is also the pain and the death you saw. You can’t deny those things because to do so can make you ill.”
Sosa returned to Argentina in 1982, shortly before the collapse of the military government, which was replaced with a new civilian government. Sosa performed for sell-out audiences in Buenos Aires for her old fans and new followers who shared her restored optimism and faith. She also appeared in Europe, in other parts of Latin America, and at Carnegie Hall in New York.
In 1995, during a tour of the U.S. and Canada, Sosa was honoured in a special ceremony in New York by UNIFEM, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, with their Anniversary Award. She continues her mission of building bridges between people through her music, offering herself as a voice and model for the under-represented.
David Brock
SEE ALSO:
CUBA; FOLK MUSIC; LATIN AMERICA.
FURTHER READING
Lacoren, Nelson. Mercedes Sosa Poems: The New Woman
(New York: Latin Culture Productions, 1990).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Canciones con fundamento;
Chants de ma terre et de monpeuple;
El gran concierto;
Lo mejor de Mercedes Sosa;
Mercedes Sosa Live in Argentine.