Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy composed this tribute to the people of Nicaragua. Born in Somoto and always composing and singing folk music, he brought to Nicaragua an important contribution to the Nueva Cancion movement, in which testimonial music set to accessible, simple musical styles told the stories of the humility and suffering of the people of Nicaragua, in a way which honors and dignifies them. In this song, the mystical connection of corn, the ancestral food of the indigenous people, becomes a source of sustenance and a symbol of resistance to the aggressions of the US government against a people struggling to determine their own destiny. Nicaraguan music has taken a grand direction through his contributions in songs such as this one, which carried the sentiments of suffering and resistance for a generation of people during the Nicaraguan Revolution.
I am from a small people
little like a sparrow.
With half a century of dreams,
of shame and of courage.
I am from a simple people,
Like the name "Juan",
Like the love I give you,
Like the love you give me.
I'm from a people born
Of rifle and song.
Who, from so much suffering
Have so much to teach.
Brother of so many people
That they have tried to separate.
Because they know that we are small,
But together, we are a volcano.
I am from a people of poets,
Whose verses were written
On walls and on doors
With blood, rage and love.
I am from a proud people
Of a thousand lost battles
I am from a victorious people
Whose wounds still ache.
I am from a recent people,
Whose pain is ancient
Illiterate and now
Half a century in rebellion.
I am from the people that a child
From Niquinohomo dreamt;
I am the people of Sandino
and of Benjamin Zeledon.
I am from a simple people
Fraternal and friendly
Who plants and defends
Its revolution.
Yo soy de un pueblo pequeño
Pequeño como un gorrión
Con medio siglo de sueños
De vergüenza y de valor
Yo soy de un pueblo sencillo
Como la palabra Juan
Como el amor que te entrego
Como el amor que me dan
Yo soy de un pueblo nacido
entre fusil y cantar
Que de tanto haber sufrido
tiene mucho que enseñar
Hermano de tantos pueblos
Que han querido separar
Por que saben que aun pequeños
Juntos somos un volcán
Por que saben que aun pequeños
Juntos somos un volcán
Yo soy de un pueblo que es poeta
Y sus versos escribió
En los muros y en las puertas
Con sangre rabia y amor
Yo soy de un pueblo orgulloso
Con mil batallas perdidas
Soy de un pueblo victorioso
que aun le duelen las heridas.
Yo soy de un pueblo nacido
entre fusil y cantar
Que de tanto haber sufrido
tiene mucho que enseñar
Hermano de tantos pueblos
Que han querido separar
Por que saben que aun pequeños
Juntos somos un volcán
Por que saben que aun pequeños
Juntos somos un volcán
Yo soy de un pueblo reciente
Pero antiguo su dolor
Analfabeta vigente
Medio siglo en rebelión
Yo soy el pueblo que un niño
En Niquinohomo soñó
Soy del pueblo de Sandino
Y Benjamín Zeledón
Yo soy de un pueblo sencillo
Fraterno y amigo
Que siembra y defiende
Su revolución.
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