Channelling the spirit of Woody Guthrie, Josiah Flores delivers a compelling song in support of migrant workers’ rights. The lyrics of ‘La Lucha’ work as a conversation between the narrator – a worker – and the ‘owner’, the man in charge, who the narrator is toiling for. It pays homage to the struggles of his grandparents and their working lives.
Flores explains: “My grandma would tell me stories about how families would pile into railroad boxcars and be transported farm to farm this way. Once they reached the farm, they would hop out, work the field, get back into the boxcar, and then head to the next farm. She said trains would be so packed that you couldn’t even lay down, so she got used to taking little naps standing up. This kind of resilience and perseverance is not only inspiring but makes me proud to come from such strong people.”
It’s also a song for all those from different races and diverse immigrant communities, on whose labour the USA was founded and built. Flores continues: “I wanted to make an anti-manifest destiny song, one that addresses the idea that land may be bought, but the ones who build are the real stewards. Our families and communities have worked hard to be here. They’ve changed their names, forgotten their languages…a lot of them have never even left; were here before the country was formed. Generations upon generations of people resilient to those who try to tear down or disparage them.”
The song is sparse with delicate notes of guitar, plaintive harmonica and atmospheric pedal steel from Jacob Aranda, over which Flores delivers his words with a tuneful honesty and directness. Flores made the video himself from his family’s home movies, shot in Watsonville, California during the 1960s. That personal, visual connection to the past reinforces the song’s authentic feel and message about life in Flores’ community.
‘La Lucha’ is taken from “Doin’ Fine”, Flores’ brand new album, which is out now.
