Violeta Parra, the Chilean folk singer, songwriter and artist, recorded “Gracias a la Vida” (thanks to life) in 1966, on her last album. Each verse thanks life for one gift: eyes to see the stars and the one she loves, ears to hear birds and voices, the alphabet and words, tired feet that carried her through cities and mud, a heart that beats, and laughter and tears alike.
Parra died the following year, which gives the song a bittersweet weight. The Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa's version carried it across the world, and it has been sung by countless artists since.
For learners it's a gentle masterpiece: slow, clear, built on a repeated structure (gracias a la vida que me ha dado…), and full of the basic vocabulary of the body and the senses.