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Mariano

from Immigrant Songs by Wolf Loescher

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about

People immigrate to the United States for many reasons, most of which boil down to a search for either security or opportunity. In this wonderful little short story of a song, we hear a very common story of a simple man looking for honest work so he can send money to his family back home in central Mexico.

lyrics

The man outside he works for me, his name is Mariano
He cuts and trims the grass for me he makes the flowers bloom
He says that he comes from a place not far from Guanajuato
That’s two days on a bus from here, a lifetime from this room

I fix his meals and talk to him in my old broken spanish
He points at things and tells me names of things I can’t recall
Sometimes I just can’t but help but wonder who this man is
And if when he is gone will he’ll remember me at all

I watch him close he works just like a piston in an engine
He only stops to take a drink and smoke a cigarette
When the day is ended, I look outside my window
There on the horizon, Mariano’s silhouette

He sits upon a stone in a south-easterly direction
In my heart I know that he is thinking of his home
I’ve never been the sort to say I’m in to intuition
But I swear I see the faces of the ones he calls his own

Their skin is brown as potters clay, their eyes void of expression
Their hair is black as widow’s dreams, their dreams are all but gone
They’re ancient as a vision of a sacrificial virgin
Innocent as crying from a baby being born

They hover around a dying flame and pray for his protection
Their prayers are all but answered by his letters in the mail
He sends them colored figures that he cuts from strips of paper
And all his weekly wages, saving nothing for himself

It’s been a while since I have seen the face of Mariano
The border guards they came one day and took him far away
I hope that he is safe down there at home in Guanajuato
I worry though, I read there’s revolution every day

credits

from Immigrant Songs, released September 29, 2023
Words and Music by Robert Earl Keen
© BMG Bumblebee o/b/o Keen Edge Music

WL – Lead Vocals, Baritone Ukulele, Percussion
BP – Bass Guitar
SM – Acoustic Guitar
MB – Fiddle

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Wolf Loescher Longmont, Colorado

Wolf Loescher is a singer / storyteller based in Longmont, Colorado. He sings songs and tells stories from the Old World and the New, accompanying himself on his custom 8-string Irish bouzouki, tenor guitar, bodhran, and foot percussion. He is often joined by fabulous musicians from around the country in his backing band “The Growlers.” ... more

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