From the depths of the mysterious world God sends up a tiny fountain Through the rocks of countless centuries To spring to light high up on the mountain And the spring becomes a rivulet And the rivulet becomes a stream And the stream runs down to the river And river runs by the village That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs And every morning at the crack of dawn Someone has to fetch the water From the river that runs down through El Salvador To cook the bread that feeds the campesinos That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs Dolores, which is sorrows, Cienfuegos, which is a hundred fires Dolores Cienfuegos which means The sorrows of a hundred fires Somewhere on a mountain in a village by the river In El Salvador Cienfuegos is the family in the village by the river In El Salvador A hundred fires are the fires we light When first we learn to stand and fight A hundred fires to set us free A hundred fires for liberty Guerrita, which is warrior, Cienfuegos, which is a hundred fires Guerrita Cienfuegos which means The warrior of a hundred fires Fire in the people's blood Fire in the people's heart And the river joins the people in the village to their neighbours In El Salvador And the river brings the news of every fireside by the river In El Salvador When I go to fetch the water I see reflected in the river All the faces of the people of El Salvador The river takes my tears down to the sea From the top of the mountain From those who fled oppression The river runs down to the city To where the poor have fled starvation That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs That's the way my children have gone The way the river runs And the river brings the bodies of the people who've been murdered in El Salvador By the army in their anger and their hatred of the people of El Salvador Guerrita, which means warrior, Cienfuegos, which is a hundred fires Guerrita Cienfuegos which means The warrior of a hundred fires Fire in the people's blood Fire in the people's heart From the top of the mountain The stream runs down to the river Nothing on earth can stop the river Running down into the sea And the sea becomes an ocean Joins the oceans over all the world Joins the rivers over all the world Joins the countries and the peoples That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs That's how surely the people will be free The way the river runs That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs That's the way the river runs Fire in the people's blood Fire in the people's heart