No Jobs In Texas
From the Album Well May The World Go (Smithsonian Folkways)
No jobs in Texas
Up north I must go
Away from my family
In the barrio
To work in the factories
To work in the fields
Where the black earth keeps turning
Paying the bills
La noche alumbrada
Llena de canto
The strings of my guitar
Sings until dawn
This love I am feeling
As wide as the sea
That blows like the prairie
Winds into me
The same as my father
Grandmother, Granddad
The same as the geese
We return to this land
La noche alumbrada
Llena de canto
The strings of my guitar
Sings until dawn
Six dollars an hour
Is what we get paid
My dad works by night
My mother by day
From spring into summer
From summer to fall
Then head back to Texas
When the snow falls
La noche alumbrada
Llena de canto
The strings of my guitar
Sings until dawn
Some will go to college
Some will marry young
To travel the highway
Beneath the hot sun
To work in your factories
To work in your fields
Where the black earth keeps turning
Paying the bills
La noche alumbrada
Llena de canto
The strings of my guitar
Sings until dawn
Words & Music by Larry Long
Copyright Larry Long 1996 | BMI
*According to the workers I have talked to, the experience of many Latinos in the United States has been a hard one. Many migrant laborers earn only meager wages, while the recruiters are well paid for each worker they bring in. Many migrant workers still experience discrimination and exploitation. Yet their lives are also filled with hope and ambition. In the words of Anna Bell Rodriquez, who inspired this song:
“My name is Anna Bell Rodriquez. I’m sixteen years old. My family decided to come here (up north) ‘cause there’s no jobs in Texas.
“Last year when we left Texas for here we were eight cars long. Our food ran out and some White ladies gave us sandwiches and Cokes. We ate them until our stomachs were full, and were happy. One of my uncles lived here and came here before We got a temporary job at a corn plant. We take out the corn that isn’t good. (that’s) all rotten and has worms.
“A lot of people work here. There’s a trailer court where people stay. Twenty trailers. All Spanish speaking community. I get two hundred and twelve dollars a month. Take aweay Social Security, one hundred and ninety-six dollars. Out of that I only get fifty dollars, the rest my Mom keeps for the family to put in the bank. We use the money to build a new house in Texas. Our house has holes, and all the paint is splattered off.
“It takes more money down there to buiild a house. If we don’t finish it, we will come back here to work to make more money.”
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