Track #6: The Ballad of Mission Santa Cruz

Five soldiers sleep with our keep up against the Mission wall
Four days have past since the last attack came at the end of fall
Indians in the hill, they’re all up there still
They won’t surrender, they just refuse
But they wait through the days and with arrows ablaze they’ll return to Santa Cruz

At the first sign of dawn we were gone to hunt these pagans down
A rebel man we understand they call him Charquin in this town
In the cold December hail, we’ve spotted a trail
The Indian guides bring us the news
It’s Charquin and his men, they’ll attack us once again unless we find him for Santa Cruz

Chorus
Pero yo recuerdo estos dias
Con mi madre y mis tias por el mar
Y justo cada dia mi madre me decia,
“Hijo Mio tienes que andar”

We surrounded his camp in the damp moonless mountain night
A musket shot and it brought confusion, shouts and fright
But with the firelight we could see our clear victory
The devil Charquin and his men did lose
We bound them up in chains, with the pounding of the rains headed back to Santa Cruz

The rebels faced the law and they saw the wrath of Monterrey
The Governor was just, well he must send them all away
Charquin died in a cell, his life a living hell
In Santa Barbara, where he paid his dues
I spent these same days finding all the ways to protect Mission Santa Cruz

Chorus
Pero yo recuerdo ya mi casa
Suenos de la raza por el mar
Y justo cada dia mi madre me decia,
“Hijo Mio tienes que andar”

Years have gone by and now I find myself in Spain
Back in my town and all around a life far from the pain
But I dream every night of a God-awful sight
The face of Charquin that I must confuse
For he I have become
I’m a pagan on the run
A stranger in my own land in Santa Cruz