Gracias a la vida
por Violeta Parra

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me dio dos luceros, y cuando los abro,
Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco,
Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado,
Y en las multitudes al 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 abecedario.
Con el 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, montanas y llanos,
Y la casa tuya, tu calle y tu patio.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto
Me dio el corazon, que agita su marco.
Cuando miro el fruto del cerebro humano,
Cuando miro al 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, me ha dado el llanto.
Asi yo distingo dicha de quebranto,
Todos 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.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me two eyes, and when I open them
I clearly distinguish black from white
And in the high sky, its starry depths,
And from the crowds, the man that I love.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me hearing, which in all its breadth
Day and night records crickets and canaries,
Hammers, turbines, barking, dark clouds,
And the tender voice of my beloved one.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me sound and the alphabet
And with it the words to think and speak
Mother, friend, brother, and the light that brightens
The path of the soul of my loved one.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has kept my tired feet walking
With them I walked through cities and puddles,
Beaches and deserts, mountains and plains
And your house, your street and your courtyard.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It gave me my heart, which shakes its frame
When I look at the fruit of the human brain
When I look at good ones so far from bad ones
When I look at the bottom of your light-color eyes.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me laughter and it has given me tears
Thus I distinguish between joy and pain,
They are all elements of my song
and of all your songs, which is the same song
and of everyone's song, which is my own song.

From http://www.lrc.salemstate.edu/spanishlyrics/vparra.htm#gracias
Violeta Parra was one of the artists that inspired the popular song movement in Chile that was so important in the years leading up to the election of President Allende.