one thing i'll say about Project Hail Mary is that nobody had warned me about the Gracias a la Vida needledrop in the middle of the movie and it felt like getting punched straight in the chest. immediate tears. i'm really happy it'll make more people maybe look into it and find out about Violeta Parra, and her deeply beautiful, deeply bittersweet work, and the way her life's story colors it. She's one of the most important figures of Chilean folklore, and one of the artists most dear to my heart. I remember learning about her in school as a child, and the profound impact it had on me.
This song in specific is a lovely choice for the film's themes and the moment it was placed in was really beautiful and moving. I wanted to share why, but I think anyone who's seen the movie and reads the lyrics/listens to the song will understand.
She was also a painter and a textile artist.
Here's some of her work and the full english lyrics translated by yours truly, because I'm unsatisfied with the translations I found online:
Thank you to life
Which has given me so much
It gave me two bright stars,
that when I open them
I perfectly distinguish
black from white
And in the high sky, its starry background
And among the crowds
The man that I love
Thank you to life
Which has given me so much
It gave me hearing
Which in all its breadth
Records night and day
Crickets and canaries
Hammers, turbines, barks
Downpours
And the tender voice of my beloved
Thank you to life
Which has given me so much
It gave me sound, and the alphabet
And with it the words
I think and declare
Mother, friend, brother, and light illuminating
The path of the soul of the one I
Love
Thank you to life
Which has given me so much
It gave me the stride
Of my tired feet
With them I walked
Through cities and puddles
Beaches and deserts, mountains
And plains
And your house, your street
And your yard
Thank you to life,
which has given me so much
It gave me the heart,
which rattles its frame
When I look at the fruit
of the human brain
When I see the good
so far from the bad
When I see the depths in
your clear eyes
Thank you to life,
which has given me so much
It has given me laughter and
has given me weeping
That way I distinguish
joy from pain
The two materials that make up
my song
And the song of you all, which is the same song
And the song of everyone
which is my own
song
I urge project hail mary fans that don't speak spanish to look up the lyrics of gracias a la vida I can't put into words how emotionally devastating it was
