Warren Zevon Lyrics

Album: Excitable Boy

Veracruz Lyrics

By Warren Zevon and Jorge Calderon

c. 1978 Zevon Music/BMI and Polite Music/ASCAP


I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns 

I heard Maria crying 

Late last night I heard the news 

That Veracruz was dying 

Veracruz was dying

Someone called Maria's name 

I swear it was my father's voice 

Saying, "If you stay you'll all be slain 

You must leave now - you have no choice 

Take the servants and ride west 

Keep the child close to your chest 

When the American troops withdraw 

Let Zapata take the rest"

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns 

I heard Maria calling 

Saying, "Veracruz is dying 

And Cuernavaca's falling"

Aquel dia yo jure (On that day I swore)

Hacia el puerto volvere (To the port I will return)

Aunque el destino cambio mi vida (Even though destiny changed my life) 

En Veracruz morire (In Veracruz I shall die) 

Aquel dia yo jure (On that day I swore)

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns 

I heard them in the harbor 

Saying, "Veracruz is dying"