Henry's Songbook

The good ship Granma lies at anchor in the harbour
Waiting for the evening tide to bring high water
It's bound for Cuba she must go across the Gulf of Mexico
And the Caribbean ocean
She's carrying a human cargo, eighty-three good compañeros
Each one burning with determination to be free

Ten days on from Mexico these compañeros
Landed on the Cuban beach Los Colorados
Fidel said, This year we'll see our country and its people free
Or else we'll be martyrs
We've only guns enough for twenty, the enemy has arms a-plenty
Meet him, then defeat him and he'll keep us well supplied

Five weeks later in the canyon Del Arroyo
The people's army numbered eighteen compañeros
Hungry, weak, but unafraid, they're learning revolution's trade
In the high Sierra Maestra
And in the mountains winds are blowing bearing seeds of hope and sowing
Crops and Cuban earth that mark the birth of victory

2nd chorus:
On compañeros, to El Uvero
Courage was their only armour
As they fought at Fidel's side with Che Guevara

They fought their way across the peak of El Turquino
Joined by peasant bands and men from Santiago
They faced Batista's tanks and planes and drove them down into the plains
From the high Sierra Maestra
They drove the gangsters from Las Villas straight across the Cordilleras
Santa Clara fell to Che Guevara and was free

The fire lit on that Cuban beach by Fidel Castro
Shines all the way to Tierra del Fuego
Sparks are blown upon the breeze and men rise up from off their knees
When they see the night is burning
It blazes up in Venezuela, Bolivia and Guatemala
Lights the road that men must go in order to be free

Final chorus:
On compañeros, Americanos
For a peoples' free America
Fidel has shown the way with Che Guevara

As sung by Dick Gaughan