Bracero

By Phil Ochs

Capo 2nd fret

Intro:Em

Em                               D
Wade into the river, through the rippling shallow watter
       C                          B7
Steal across the thirsty border, bracero
     Em                              D
Come bring your hungry bodies to the golden fields of plenty
       C                B7
From a peso to a penny, bracero
    C        D      G  Em
Oh, Welcome to California
Am                 D                Em
Where the friendly farmer will take care of you

Come labor for your mother, your father and your brother
For your sister and your lover, bracero
Come pick the fruit of yellow, break the flower from the berry
Purple grapes will fill your belly, bracero
Oh, Welcome to California
Where the friendly farmer will take care of you

And the sun will bite your body, as the dust will draw you thristy
While your muscles beg for mercy, bracero
In the shade of your sombrero, drop your sweat upon the soil
Like the fruit your youth can spoil, bracero
Oh, Welcome to California
Where the friendly farmer will take care of you

When the weary night embraces, sleep in shacks that could be cages
They will take it from your wages, bracero
Come sing about tomorrow with a jingle of the dollar
And forget your crooked collar, bracero
Oh, Welcome to California
Where the friendly farmer will take care of you

And the local men are lazy, and they make too much of trouble
Besides we'd have to pay the double, bracero
But if you feel you're fallin', if you find the pace is killing
There are others who are willing, bracero
Oh, Welcome to California
Where the friendly farmer will take care of you

Notes:

Chords supplied by Jim Lesses and corrected (twice) by James Barnett

Bill Everett provides this about the meaning of the word "bracero": "According to Random House, the word entered the written English language in 1915-20 from Spanish, literally meaning one who swings his arms, i.e., a laborer. Its English meaning, according to the dictionary, is a Mexican laborer admitted legally into the U.S. for a short period to perform seasonal, usu. agricultural, labor."

A few related links: The Bracero Program, Bracero Justice Project, A New Bracero Program for the 21st Century