This is an updated lyric inspired by the current political climate, using the song “Deportee”, music by Martin Hoffman and original lyrics by Woody Guthrie.
We crossed the big bridge to plead our asylum
they heard not a word of the story we told
they took my two children just four and eleven
and kept them for weeks in a detention hold
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
You won’t have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportees
my father’s own father, he waded the river
he fled from the contras who tore up his land
funded in secret they murdered his future
so without a choice, northward he ran
in chile, honduras and in guatemala
in nicaragua and el salvador
our leaders were ousted and our governments toppled
which left us with chaos, poverty and war
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
You won’t have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportees
we fled the cartels and we fled from the violence
we fled our abusers and the corrupt police
but they can’t see us as equal human beings
only as outlaws, as gangsters, as thieves
we have traveled for months to get to the river
we’ve paid off our passage, our lives are at stake
both sides of the river, we chase better futures
both sides of the river, we’ll die just the same
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
You won’t have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportees
who are these travelers who risked all they had
who are these drifters we call enemies
who are these friends, all scattered like dry leaves?
they’re known by no name except deportee
This song is for educational usage only and not for commercial use. Original lyrics and music are © 1961 (renewed) by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI).