University of California Office of the President

In Commemoration of Cesar Chavez

- fragmentos -

by Manuel Gomez, 1993

Solo el que carga el saco
Sabe lo que lleva adentro

Everyman carries his own memories
Even if I try to sing you his song
Only he who carries the burden
Knows what he carries inside

Solo el que carga el saco
Sabe lo que lleva adentro

This man has seen our eagle
being born
Fighting for our dignity
in the field, the factories
and the University.

This man stands tall
His feet firmly on the ground
with a good heart
He walks alone
offering flowers and songs
to the children.

Canto el canto de Cesar Chavez
Canto el canto de nuestro pueblo
Canto el canto del campesino
Que siembra semillas de us corazon
en el surco de la revolucion

y el tiempo tiembra
con sangre y esperanza
Tambien la tierra
Tiene su venganza

Asi como mi madre
despertaba en la madrugada
todavia oscuro
Florecio el movimiento
La tierra temblo
y grito huelga!
La palabras salieron como piedras

y la dulce risa
del rio del tiempo dice basta.
Unidos canta el viento
y las raices vomitan sangre
mientras mi padre
como el sol
muere de hambre.

Tierra Madre Padre Sol
Tierra Madre Padre Sol
Canto el canto de Cesar Chavez.

As long as one Chicano lives
As long as one Chicana loves
As long as one child cries
As long as one family sings
As long as one campesino toils in the sun
As long as one human being suffers -

There shall never be enough earth
to bury Cesar Chavez’ immense heart.

A thousand years will pass and we will
still remember
His flower-song
His fire-song
His huelga song
His chale-con-las-uvas song.

Cesar – the man – cannot be torn from us
His spirit cannot be torn from this land.

His roots stretch deeper now
His heart beats
across the oceans
of our scars
His soul sings
deeper now down into
the rivers of the land – still
not seeking fame
Forever new
yet always the same
His si-se-puede song
follows the wind
fighting in humble dignity
His Delano dust ridden roots
stretch deeper now
into infinity
where his love still grows.

Somos solo una rama
Solo una Raza humana
Que lucha
y ama
Canto el canto del movimiento
Canto el canto de Cesar Chavez
Muero para que nazca
la flor de nuestro amor
Renazco para sembrar
de Nuevo

Tierra Madre Padre Sol
Tierra Madre Padre Sol
Tierra Madre Padre Sol.