Folklore (or lore) consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called folkloristics. The word "folklore" was first used by the English antiquarian William Thoms in a letter published in the London journal The Athenaeum in 1846. In usage, there is a continuum between folklore and mythology. Stith Thompson made a major attempt to index the motifs of both folklore and mythology, providing an outline into which new motifs can be placed, and scholars can keep track of all older motifs.
Folklore can be divided into four areas of study: artifact (such as voodoo dolls), describable and transmissible entity (oral tradition), culture, and behavior (rituals). These areas do not stand alone, however, as often a particular item or element may fit into more than one of these areas.
Haydée Mercedes Sosa (9 July 1935 – 4 October 2009), known as La Negra (literally: The Black One), was an Argentine singer who was popular throughout South America and many countries outside the continent. With her roots in Argentine folk music, Sosa became one of the preeminent exponents of nueva canción. She gave voice to songs written by both Brazilians and Cubans. She was best known as the "voice of the voiceless ones".
Sosa performed in venues such as the Lincoln Center in New York City, the Théâtre Mogador in Paris and the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, as well as sell-out shows in New York's Carnegie Hall and the Roman Coliseum during her final decade of life. Her career spanned four decades and she has been the recipient of several Grammy awards and nominations, including three nominations which will be decided posthumously. She served as an ambassador for UNICEF.
Sosa was born on 9 July 1935, in San Miguel de Tucumán, in the northwestern Argentine province of Tucumán, of mestizo, French, and Quechua Amerindian ancestry. In 1950, at age fifteen, she won a singing competition organized by a local radio station and was given a contract to perform for two months. She recorded her first album, La Voz de la Zafra, in 1959. A performance at the 1965 Cosquín National Folklore Festival -where she was introduced and brought to the scene while seating among the public by fellow folk singer Jorge Cafrune-, brought her to the attention of her native countrypeople.
I've seen your mouth moving, heard others here say,
Those words are a piece of a part that you played
That sounds like your father, a teacher, the church
Didn't spring from the heart, but research
The only way I learn is put the fist in and get burned
Go get burned
Old wives, mystics, hearsay
Wise men, rich men, shamen and sage
When you're meek on the Earth, when you die you will pay
For accepting that lot, in the cheapest of graves
The sexes divided, men mustn't be weak
Sensitivity is a vice of which we shan't speak
And women are a plaything that are just made for men
To treat how the boss he respects treats him
And I am going to grow up like daddy wanted me to be
To impress all those, who so impressed me
And young boys melt into men
And we'll start the process again
Add a touch of mystique where the writing gets weak
Break up coherence with a cut-cut-cut up technique
When you've got nothing to say
Shut up or show that you're willing to play
With words that simply aren't out of touch
With the genuine feelings which lead to their birth
Most things are better not written or heard
When you open your mouth, out drops a turd
Hey you, will you be true
When you can see through what I do
Feel the pain in your brain, insane
Will I see my name in your scars
And you will see what you mean to me
Last between the lines
Do you feel the need
When the night comes down
And when the night comes down
A father is waiting
And you will see what you mean to me
Lost control and called your name
Left a home in the pouring rain
In a sea of guilt and shame
the tried to take complete control
they tried to keep us locked away
thought they brought silence to the world
they tried to take our voice away
and when all hope faded away
the child cried out and we were saved
we found our voices on that day
took back our voices on that day
we found our voices on that day
took back our voices on that day
we took the war to their front door
wouldn't be silenced anymore
took back the rights they stole away
never alone never afraid
never alone never afraid
took back our voices on that day
we can't be silenced anymore