I woke up to read the sad news that Mercedes Sosa, the legendary songstress from Argentina whose voice has brought me and many others to tears, passed away today at age 74. She has been in the hospital struggling with liver, kidney and heart ailments.

The Grammy award winning artist was born Haydé Mercedes Sosa on July 9th, 1935 in San Miguel de Tucumán. Her career spanned 60 years and her voice represented so much of Latin America’s history and political activism. She is considered part of the nueva cancion movement which was the musical representation of much of the protest movements in Latin America, especially in South America, in the 1960′s.

From the Washington Post:

Here are the lyrics of “We’re Still Singing,” which she sang accompanied by the large Andean drum called the bombo: “I was killed a thousand times. I disappeared a thousand times, and here I am, risen from the dead. . . . Here I am, out of the ruins the dictatorship left behind. We’re still singing.” Ms. Sosa came under official harassment and intimidation by the right-wing, nationalist junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. The government was responsible for the deaths and disappearances of an estimated 30,000 real and perceived leftists, and Ms. Sosa transformed her sold-out concerts into rallies against the abuses of power.

Her songs were banned from Argentine radio and television, and she courted arrest by singing anthems of agrarian reform such as “When They Have the Land” at one performance in the university city of La Plata. Many in attendance were arrested by security forces, and Ms. Sosa was publicly humiliated by an officer who walked onstage and conducted a body search.

Teresa Parodi, a friend of Sosa said of her:

“…Mercedes, salmo en los labios
amorosa madre amada
mujer de América herida
tu canción nos pone alas y hace que la patria toda
menudita y desolada no se muera todavía,
no se muera porque siempre cantarás en nuestras almas…”

…Mercedes, psalm on the lips
loving and loved mother
woman of wounded America
your song puts wings on us and makes the entire
small and desolate homeland
does not die yet,
you will always sing in our souls…

If there is a heaven, I imagine her there with Victor and Violetta and so many others, and they are all singing.