Por Qué Cantamos

If every hour came with its death
If time was a den of thieves
The winds were no longer good winds
Life was nothing but a moving target
You’ll ask why we sing

If our loved ones were left without hugs
The homeland almost dead from sadness
And the heart of man shattered
Before the shame could explode
You’ll ask why we sing

We sing because the river is flowing
And when the river flows, it makes a sound
We sing because the cruel have no name
Yet their fate has a name
We sing for the child and for everyone
And for some future and for the people
We sing because the survivors
And our dead want us to sing

If we went as far as the horizon
If trees and sky are left behind here
If every night was always an absence
And every waking was a missed encounter
You’ll ask why we sing

We sing because it rains on the furrow
And we are activists for life
And because we can’t and don’t want to
Let the song turn to ashes
We sing because the scream isn’t enough
And the tears and the anger aren’t enough
We sing because we believe in the people
And because we will overcome defeat
We sing because the sun recognizes us
And because the fields smell like spring
And because in this stem, in that fruit
Every question has its answer