Derecho de Vivir en Paz

Annotation

Víctor Jara - a pioneer of the Nueva canción latinoamericana genre and activist who wrote many political songs in protest against the government in Chile, and beyond12 Born on 28 September 1932 in Chillán Viejo, VIII Región del Biobío, Chile, he was tortured and killed during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet on 16 September 1973 in Santiago, Chile. In the song "El Derecho de vivir en Paz" ("The Right to Live in Peace") he turned his attention to the war in Vietnam, saying that the people there had a right to live in peace uner Hồ Chí Minh, the North Vietnamese leader. It referred to the killing as "genocide" and noted the use of "napalm" - chemical weapon Napalm B - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government extensively used this weapon during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973.123Sources1The New York Times: Victor jara↩2britannica.com: Victor Jara↩3Napalm, An American Biography (book website)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: The right to live / Poet Ho Chi Minh / Who strikes from Vietnam / At all humanity / No cannon will erase / The furrow of your rice field / The right to live in peace / Indochina is the place / Beyond the wide sea / Where they blast the flower / With genocide and napalm / The moon is an explosion / That fuses all the clamour / The right to live in peace / Indochina is the place / Beyond the wide sea / Where they blast the flower / With genocide and napalm / The moon is an explosion / That fuses all the clamour / The right to live in peace / Uncle Ho, our song / Is a fire of pure love / It is dove and dovecote / Olive of the olive grove / It is the universal song / A chain that will bring to triumph / The right to live in peace / It is the universal song / A chain that will bring to triumph / The right to live in peace / The right to live in peace __________ Spanish: El derecho de vivir / Poeta Ho Chi Mi / Que golpea de Vietnam / A toda la humanidad / Ningún cañón borrará / El surco de tu arrozal / El derecho de vivir en paz / Indochina es el lugar / Más allá del ancho mar / Donde revientan la flor / Con genocidio y napalm / La luna es una explosión / Que funde todo el clamor / El derecho de vivir en paz / Indochina es el lugar / Más allá del ancho mar / Donde revientan la flor / Con genocidio y napalm / La luna es una explosión / Que funde todo el clamor / El derecho de vivir en paz / Tío Ho, nuestra canción / Es fuego de puro amor / Es palomo palomar / Olivo del…

About the artist

he was tortured and killed during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet on 16 September 1973 in Santiago, Chile

Themes

Anti-War · Ho Chi Minh · Napalm · Genocide

In collections

Latin & Central American, & Caribbean Music · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]