DANIEL REDWOOD

Lyrics

He was one, one in a million
I was blessed to stand at his side
And to listen to the words he spoke in Spanish and in English
I remember the depth and strength I saw in Cesar’s eyes

And on a 36-day fast for the rights of all farmworkers
He was nourished by the spirit of Gandhi and Thoreau
And the Reverend Dr. King and countless men and women
And children whose names we’ll never know

And he understood the power of redemption
That echoes across the canyons of all we’ve left behind
And calls across the years of sacrifice and resurrection
And points in one direction
¡Adelante! We shall seek and we shall find

Born to migrant parents in the desert Southwest
He was humble, he was brave, showed us manhood at its best
The union was his mission, nonviolence his creed
He was a man of faith and action, in word and in deed

Hermanos y hermanas, cantemos De Colores
Y florecen los campos en eterna primavera
Y el arco iris cruce a una tierra de paz
Donde las manos de los pobres
Se llenarán con uvas

My brothers and my sisters, let us sing of all the colors
That blossom in the fields of an everlasting springtime
And the rainbow crosses over to a land of peace and plenty
Where hands that once were empty
Hold grapes up to the sun

César Chávez was a great American, California’s finest citizen
A Mexican-American, our brother and our friend
As we celebrate his legacy with hearts now overflowing
Let us recommit our lives and sacred honor once again

‘Til we understand the power of redemption
That echoes across the canyons of the ways we’ve left behind
And calls across the years of sacrifice and resurrection
And points in one direction
Adelante, we shall seek and we shall find
¡Adelante! ¡Adelante! ¡Adelante!

© 2023 Words and music by Daniel Redwood (ASCAP)