María, María [English translation]

Maria, Maria is a gift

She's the dream, the pain

Of a strength that alerts us

a woman who deserves to live and to love

just like any other woman of the planet

Maria, Maria is the sun,

she's colour, she's sweat and a tear

that flows slowly, of a people who laugh

when they should cry

and they barely live, they barely can bear it.

But strength is needed,

nerve is needed, the want is needed always

In the body and the marks

Maria, Maria confuses pain with joy.

But the morning is needed, grace is needed

Dreams are always needed

In the skin and those marks

she has the strange obsession to believe in life.

A woman who deserves to live and to love

Just like any other woman of the planet

of a people who laugh

when they should cry

and they barely live, they barely can bear it.

• Artist:Mercedes Sosa
• Album:Como un pájaro libre (1983)