Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)
First release by Cisco Houston (1961)
- Music written by
- Martin Hoffman
- Lyrics written by
- Woody Guthrie
- Composition date
- February 3, 1948
- Language
- English
- Comments
- "Guthrie wrote this as a poem in response to the January, 1948 plane crash near Los Gatos Canyon, California. Mexican migrant workers on this flight were being sent home and their deaths were referenced not by names but rather the generic "Deportees." Guthrie was moved by this lack of respect to pen a memorial. Pete Seeger performed it in concert as a chant prior to it becoming a full-fledged musical composition. In 1958, California high school teacher Martin Hoffman composed a melody, resulting in a venerable "folk" song."
- Published by
-
LUDLOW MUSIC INC
BMI
- Licensing
- Request a synchronization license