“Solo le pido a Dios”

“Solo le pido a Dios” (“All I Ask of God”) is one of the most iconic songs of “música de protesta” or protest music in Latin America. Whether approaching the song from the perspective of its original composer, the Argentine León Gieco, or from the perspective of Mercedes Sosa, an Argentine singer whose voice helped immortalize the song, “Solo le pido Dios” presents a window into the sociopolitical history of most Latin American countries during the 1970s and 1980s. The powerful lyrics provide a historical record of the lived experience of both of these singers, and of Argentine society in general, during a time that came to be known as the guerra sucia , or dirty war, from 1976 to 1983, headed primarily by Rafael Videla. The present analysis places this song within its sociopolitical context, highlighting the way in which revolutionary ideals and faith interplay in order to promote and ultimately bring about change. The overall concept exemplified by “Solo le pido a Dios” is that neither political denunciation nor faith alone were sufficient to alter the course of Latin American history at this juncture in time.