Bullets of Mexico (Phil Ochs)

Bullets of Mexico
Author	Phil Ochs
First published	1964
Type	Song

Lyrics

The peons of Mexico long have known suffering and pain

Zapata and Villa have died there, fighting in vain

Ruben Jaramillo kept up the tradition, he fought for the land once again

He lived for the land, and there on the land he was slain

Chorus:

Forty-five bullet has ended the life of a man who had lived by the gun

but all of the bullets of Mexico cannot undo all the work that he's done

The greedy capiques have stolen and plundered the land

With pistoleros they rule with a cold iron hand

The poor campesinos could stand it no longer, resistance was starting to grow

Jaramillo decided to fight for a new Mexico

Chorus

For twenty long years he fought and he struggled and tried

Epifania, his wife, always there at his side

Often surrounded, he always was hounded, they searched for him near, far and wide

A man of deep sorrow, but also a man of deep pride

Chorus

Two thousand peasants he led to their long-promised land

And the army's revenge killed the wife and the sons and the man

The assassins rejoiced with their whiskey and women, they laughed and they danced on his grave

Now the land waits again for another to ride on the wave