Lyrics Phil Ochs – Bullets Of Mexico

The peons of Mexico long have known suffering and pain
Zapata and Villa have died there, fighting in vain
Rube’n 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

A 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 ruled 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

A 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

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

A 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

Two thousand peasants he led to their long-promised land
And the army’s revenge killed the wife and the sons and the man
His 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 waves

A 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