From the yt info:

Mercedes Sosa canta Gracias a la Vida - Letra de Violeta Parra

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.

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto
me ha dado el oido que en todo su ancho
graba noche y dia grillos y canarios
martillos, turbinas, ladridos, chubascos
y la voz tan tierna de mi bien amado.

Gracias a la Vida que me ha dado tanto
me ha dado el sonido y el abedecedario
con él las palabras que pienso y declaro
madre amigo hermano y luz alumbrando,
la ruta del alma del que estoy amando.

Gracias a la Vida que me ha dado tanto
me ha dado la marcha de mis pies cansados
con ellos anduve ciudades y charcos,
playas y desiertos montañas y llanos
y la casa tuya, tu calle y tu patio.

Gracias a la Vida que me ha dado tanto
me dio el corazón que agita su marco
cuando miro el fruto del cerebro humano,
cuando miro el bueno tan lejos del malo,
cuando miro el fondo de tus ojos claros.

Gracias a la Vida que me ha dado tanto
me ha dado la risa y me ha dado el llanto,
asi yo distingo dicha de quebranto
los dos materiales que forman mi canto
y el canto de ustedes que es el mismo canto
y el canto de todos que es mi propio canto.

Gracias a la Vida
Gracias a la Vida
Gracias a la Vida
Gracias a la Vida

Translate to English:

Mercedes Sosa - Thanks to life or Thanks Giving(Violeta Parra)

Thanks to life (Thanks Giving), which has given me so much.
It gave me two beams of light, that when opened,
Can perfectly distinguish black from white
And in the sky above, her starry backdrop,
And from within the multitude
The one that I love.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me an ear that, in all of its width
Records— night and day—crickets and canaries,
Hammers and turbines and bricks and storms,
And the tender voice of my beloved.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me sound and the alphabet.
With them the words that I think and declare:
"Mother," "Friend," "Brother" and the light shining.
The route of the soul from which comes love.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me the ability to walk with my tired feet.
With them I have traversed cities and puddles
Valleys and deserts, mountains and plains.
And your house, your street and your patio.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me a heart, that causes my frame to shudder,
When I see the fruit of the human brain,
When I see good so far from bad,
When I see within the clarity of your eyes...

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me laughter and it gave me longing.
With them I distinguish happiness and pain—
The two materials from which my songs are formed,
And your song, as well, which is the same song.
And everyone's song, which is my very song.

Thanks to life (Thanks Giving)
Thanks to life
Thanks to life
Thanks to life

Oh, and length 5:29. Now I have to watch again to catch what she said after the song!

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>> ^deputydog:
A hint of Tori Amos. Lovin' the trumpets.


Not trumpets. Trombones.

I thought you'd say something along those lines

How am I supposed to be #1 RNR all time if Tori cant be RNR??

Im back-ish.. not feeling that tingly business in my no no area about it anymore, but we will see

In reply to this comment by rasch187:
Tori is fantastic. And she is a musical genre herself, a strange combination of sensuality, soul and parts yet to be discovered. Nothing as simple as rock'n'roll though.

Good to see you posting vids again, ivy

In reply to this comment by inflatablevagina:
love Tori. I wanted to put this is rnr but wasnt sure if you'd allow it

In reply to this comment by rasch187:
Tori Amos is awesome. Neil Gaiman is one of her closest friends and he partly based one of his best characters on her.

Tori is fantastic. And she is a musical genre herself, a strange combination of sensuality, soul and parts yet to be discovered. Nothing as simple as rock'n'roll though.

Good to see you posting vids again, ivy

In reply to this comment by inflatablevagina:
love Tori. I wanted to put this is rnr but wasnt sure if you'd allow it

In reply to this comment by rasch187:
Tori Amos is awesome. Neil Gaiman is one of her closest friends and he partly based one of his best characters on her.

Tori Amos is awesome. Neil Gaiman is one of her closest friends and he partly based one of his best characters on her.

My life according to: Tori Amos!

Are you a male or female? Cornflake Girl

Describe yourself: Playboy Mommy

How do you feel? Caught a Lite Sneeze

Describe where you currently live: China

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?: Little Amsterdam

Your favorite form of transportation: Horses

Your best friend is: Father Lucifer

You and your best friends are: Beauty Queen[s]

What's the weather like? Raspberry Swirl

Favorite time of day: Bouncing off Clouds

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?: Putting the Damage On

What is life to you: Liquid Diamonds

Your current relationship: In the Springtime of his Voodoo

Your fear: Blood Roses

What is the best advice you have to give? Take to the Sky

Thought for the Day: Hey Jupiter

How I would like to die: Me and a Gun

My soul's present condition: Professional Widow

My motto: Pretty Good Year

Tags for this video have been changed from 'tori, amos, me, gun, live, rape, healing' to 'tori, amos, me, gun, live, rape, healing, havent seen barbados' - edited by calvados

Westy and gwiz665, you both make a good point. What you're speaking of could be called "emotional economy". It's the idea that we only place emotional investment in those close to us - those whom we expect will in return invest emotionally in us. This is the natural way of human civilization, and it is an important psychological defense mechanism. For instance, as i write this, someone somewhere in the world just died. If all people could feel the death of all other people (or creatures in general), we would all be overwhelmed by the constant flood of pain and emotion.

However, you fail to understand the nature of the situation. And while it is important to have a rational outlook on the subject of celebrities, it is also important to understand this next concept:

When you kill an animal for food (or buy a packaged, pre-killed, animal product) it is healthy to thank that animal for giving its life to sustain your own. Too many people thank God, or some other thing, but thanking the animal - so that you understand your own place in the natural order - is the true purpose of saying grace before eating.

Without that thanks, and without the understanding that comes with genuine gratitude for the sacrifice of another life for your own, a person begins to devalue the life of the creature they killed. The devaluation continues and grows in its own way, until eventually that person (and all people) come to believe themselves to be above less intelligent forms of life. Understand: Just because humans are higher on the food chain doesn't mean you are any more significant than a deer - or a bee. Or even a virus.

It is not possible to understand the meaning of this overnight. It is a kind of insight that must grow in you until the meaning becomes clear on its own. It is the same as when your parents push you to say "please" and "thank you" and to show respect in general and have good manners. As a very young child, you don't understand the necessity. But as you grow older and gain experience with other people and social situations, you begin to understand that the words "please", "thank you", "excuse me", "i'm sorry", and so on, have a deeper purpose that goes beyond mere manners.

And so it is with emotional expression. People form attachments to artists and performers. These attachments are, in truth, almost always made to the image that the artist is projecting of him- or herself. But even that projected image is a part of the person. Just as importantly however, it should be understood that celebrities /become/ celebrities not just because of the link between their image and their fans, but also because of the links between people who share a love or interest in what that famous person is doing. People tend to congregate around ideas (and ideals). That's why going to church is so popular. People could worship in the privacy of their own homes, yet many choose to go to a church (or temple, etc). Why? Because of the social aspect. Because of the shared links, not just between the congregation and the topic at hand, but also between all the people present! It is this way with all things.

Understand further that a person's emotional investment itself is so often times tied directly to some event in their life. Perhaps someone experienced her first kiss while Elvis was playing on the radio in the background. Perhaps a close family member died 20 or 30 years ago, and at that time, that person heard a song that echoed the same feelings he or she was feeling at that moment. There was a sense that "Yes, someone else out there /knows/ what i'm going through. Their lyrics comfort me. Their melody is a catharsis of my very soul." There's a gratitude there. And now that the musician has died, it is as if the person has lost a piece of themselves.

It may not seem rational, but it is most certainly logical.

Understand finally that this emotional connection to a person's outward persona is a fine and necessary substitution for having a direct emotional connection to them. (Regardless of whether they're a so-called "celebrity" or not.) The problem isn't that we have too much of that, it's that we don't have enough of it going around to more people. And what we do have is too often abused by unscrupulous journalism (ie: "The Media"). Perhaps you would find it interesting to know that i personally have more emotional resonance with Tori Amos than i do with any one of my blood kin. She and i don't know each other personally, but her actions (her music) have helped me through situations that none of them would or could have (and in fact, some of those situations were caused by them).

There's so much more that could be said on this subject, though i will simply close with this: All things in moderation. Balance.

Prepare to Meet Thy God
March 22, 2009

"Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." (Amos 4:12).

There is only one thing that everyone can know for sure. Not even death and taxes are certain, for some will never die. But "every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12).

Even those who don't believe in God, those who ridicule His Word, those who disobey His laws, those who worship false gods--everyone must some day meet God. There is no better advice than: "Prepare to meet thy God!"

If anyone should ask what God, the answer is the true God, the Creator. Not the false gods of pagan pantheism, not the natural systems and processes of evolutionism, but the one and only God of Creation. He is the one who knows the thoughts of man and "maketh the morning darkness" (Amos 4:13) for all who reject or ignore Him. The word here for "darkness" is used only one other time in Scripture and is synonymous with hell--"A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness" (Job 10:22).

In the coming judgment, "the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17). The message of Amos needs to be heard in every generation: "Prepare to meet thy God!" For "the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment" (Psalm 1:5), and the judgment is sure: "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment," and for those who die unprepared, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 9:27; 10:31).

The only way to come into His presence prepared, of course, is through Jesus Christ, who is Himself the Lord of all the hosts of Heaven. HMM

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Tori Amos, Silent All These Years' to 'Tori Amos, Silent All These Years, horse boots' - edited by calvados