Mon Laferte – The Sadness That Turned Into Magic
Source: eldeber.com.bo
Heyyy everyone! Alma here, and welcome to another episode of Behind the Lyrics. If you’re new here, in this series we talk about artists who have transformed their pain, their past, their failures, and their deepest emotions into art. Artists who inspire us because they show that behind every chord, there’s a human story.
In previous episodes, we talked about figures like Demi Lovato, J Balvin, and Billie Eilish.
But today we’re talking about Mon Laferte, one of the most powerful and emotionally sensitive voices in Latin American music (and one of my favorite artists). A woman who turned her entire life into art.
Monserrat Bustamante, better known as Mon Laferte, was born in Viña del Mar, Chile. She grew up in a humble home, where music was both a refuge and a weapon. Since childhood, she sang at fairs, festivals, bars, anywhere they’d let her, trying to help her family financially.
That artistic childhood gave her a voice, but it also gave her an emotional sensitivity that would, with time, turn into deep wounds.
At just 13, she was already writing songs about sadness, loss, and loneliness. At 18, she became famous in Chile, but that early exposure also drowned her in enormous emotional pressure. Years later she confessed:
“I have always been very sad. Since I was a child. Singing was the only way not to break.”
That phrase says everything:
“For Mon, music didn’t begin as a dream. It began as a lifeline.”
One of the hardest moments in Mon’s life was a romantic relationship that ended abruptly and painfully. She has said openly that this heartbreak led her into: severe depression, losing her sense of purpose, quitting everything and moving alone to Mexico, and spending months not knowing how to keep living
In interviews she confessed:
“I fell in love like never before, and when it ended, I was left empty. I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle that pain.”
This didn’t just destroy her emotional stability, it pushed her into a depressive episode so deep that she nearly abandoned music altogether.
During this dark stage, Mon also faced one of the hardest challenges of her life: a diagnosis of thyroid cancer. She has said that this moment forced her to reevaluate her entire existence and filled her with a deep fear, losing her voice, which for her meant losing everything she was. Mon confessed:
“When they told me I might lose my voice, I felt like my life was over. Music was the only thing I had.”
Still, she fought. She went through treatment and kept moving forward. That experience marked her artistic and emotional identity in an irreversible way, becoming one of the toughest battles she has ever survived.
But, like many sensitive artists, Mon transformed that darkness into creative fire.
From that heartbreak came songs like: “Tu falta de querer,” “Tormento,” “Amor completo,” and “Si tú me quisieras.” And each one of them is an open wound turned into an anthem.
Mon has never hidden that she has lived through severe depressive episodes. She speaks openly about loneliness, anxiety, the fear of not being enough, and the deep pain she carried for years.
She said it herself:
“I spent years feeling unworthy of love. I sang so I wouldn’t cry.”
And in another interview:
“Depression stayed with me for a long time. It was hard to wake up, hard to sing, hard to live.”
Mon is not just an artist, she is an emotional survivor, and a real role model.
Some of her most emotional works (and my favorites) are:
“Tu falta de querer”
“Y yo estoy desesperada, en busca de tu querer…”
She wrote this during a crying attack after the heartbreak that devastated her. She has performed it crying more than once, and yet every time it sounds like a fresh wound.
“Tormento”
“Y me dejaste un dolor de cabeza horrible…”
A mix of anger, sadness, and the emptiness left by absence.
“Mi buen amor”
“Mi buen amor, ya no te espero…”
An emotional farewell so honest it trembles.
“Amárrame”
Even though its rhythm is upbeat, it was born from a time when Mon needed to feel desired to cover her wounds.
“Antes de ti” — A letter to her broken self
“Antes de ti no conocía el amor…”
She wrote it while healing, acknowledging how much she had suffered before.
After years of depression, heartbreak, and internal struggle, Mon found balance through: therapy, music, activism, feminism, and motherhood
She has said:
“I am not a strong woman. I am a woman who got tired of being afraid.”
And also:
“I turned my sadness into my way of making magic.”
Mon doesn’t romanticize pain—she transforms it.
The story of Mon Laferte reminds us that art isn’t born from perfection, but from truth.
That sadness, when embraced honestly, can become light.
That there is no vulnerability more beautiful than turning pain into something that heals others.
She is a reminder that darkness does not define you, what you do with it does.
If you’re struggling too, you don’t have to do it alone.
Your mental health matters, and talking about it is an act of courage.
Regis University Counseling Services
Coors Center 114
Monday–Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
303.458.3558
hcc@regis.edu
Colorado Crisis Line (24/7)
Call or text 988
Seeking help is a form of self-love.
And choosing yourself is always worth it.
In our next episode of Behind the Lyrics, we’ll talk about Selena Gomez, an artist whose life has been marked by illness, fear, depression, anxiety, and media pressure… but also by incredible resilience.
A woman who turned her vulnerability into global strength.
Don’t miss it! Byeee!