Leon Gieco - Sólo Le Pido A Dios

First performance: 14/09/2013


Coverinfo

Bruce covered the song only once: 
 
 
2013-09-14 Estadio G.E.B.A., Buenos Aires, Argentina
 
Bruce recorded a video of another Spanish language song, León Gieco's "Sólo le Pido a Dios". The video was uploaded to YouTube on September 16. Springsteen said on Twitter that he learned the song for the concert, but was not quite prepared in time. He intended to sing the song at the end of his first concert in Argentina in 25 years, so he told fans to look for it on his website instead. He delivered yesterday, posting a solo-acoustic, bilingual version of himself performing “Solo le pido a Dios” (“I Only Ask of God”), a song by the Argentine folk-rocker León Gieco that Springsteen learned from the late folk singer Mercedes Sosa. Springsteen introduced the song in Spanish as he described his visit to Buenos Aires in 1988 as part of Amnesty International’s Human Rights Now! benefit concerts.
 
 
 

Songinfo

Sólo le pido a Dios (in english: I only ask of God) is a famous protest song, written by Argentine singer-songwriter León Gieco. It is the first song of Gieco's 1978 album, IV LP. Gieco wrote it in 1978, in his childhood village of Cañada Rosquín, a small town in the north of Santa Fe Province, at his parents house. In fact, he wrote it in presence of his father, who told him that the song would be a "world-renowned" song, something it would eventually achieve. Gieco composed this song first trying out melodies with his harmonica and guitar. Then he began to write personal feelings, that gradually turned into phrases inspired by the harsh social events of the time, such as the military dictatorship of his country, Mercedes Sosa's exile and the threat of war between Chile and Argentina at the time. The author doubted whether or not to include the song on his album IV LP, believing it was "boring and monotonous", but finally followed the advice of Charly García to include it and, thereafter, Gieco sang it as his closing song and has played it in all his national and international tours.
 
 
 

Bruce on the artist

 
"Hello Buenos Aires, Hello Argentina! In 1988 I came to Buenos Aires for the Amnesty International tour, my memories are alive from that time. We came to Argentina when the country was going through a difficult times and struggling to have a future. For a foreigner Argentina was alive, promising. So it's a great inspiration for me to be back and I want to dedicate this song to the people of Argentina."
 
After singing first in Spanish, he switched to English on a song that Gieco wrote in 1978 in protest of the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976-83. It’s the latest tribute Springsteen has paid to local musicians and activists on the E Street Band’s South American tour. Before he he sang 'Manifesto' by the Chilean poet and songwriter Victor Jara during a concert in Santiago, Chile.
 
Leon Gieco tweeted afterwards :
 
" Gracias a Bruce Springsteen por esta cálida versión " 
" Thanks to Bruce Springsteen for this warm version "
 
Thanks to Patricia Calero for translating <3
 

Lyrics

Sólo le pido a Dios
Que el dolor no me sea indiferente
Que la reseca muerte no me encuentre
Vacío y solo sin haber hecho lo suficiente

Sólo le pido a Dios
Que lo injusto no me sea indiferente
Que no me abofeteen la otra mejilla
Después que una garra me arañó esta suerte

Sólo le pido a Dios
Que la guerra no me sea indiferente
Es un monstruo grande y pisa fuerte
Toda la pobre inocencia de la gente

Sólo le pido a Dios
Que el engaño no me sea indiferente
Si un traidor puede más que unos cuantos
Que esos cuantos no lo olviden fácilmente

Sólo le pido a Dios
Que el futuro no me sea indiferente
Desahuciado está el que tiene que marchar
A vivir una cultura diferente